Business OpportunitiesChandra takes over DNA's mgmt responsibility
Media baron Subhash Chandra has taken over the management responsibility of Daily News and Analysis (DNA), a broadsheet newspaper headquartered in Mumbai.
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Chandra and the Agarwals of Dainik Bhaskar Group hold equal stake in DNA’s publisher Diligent media Corp. Chandra is the co-chairman on the board of Diligent Media.
Chandra told Business Standard that he would be looking after the newspaper from now onwards “from the perspective of shareholders”. He, however, denied that there had been any change in the shareholding pattern and Essel Group was not increasing its stake.
Chandra said: “Sudhir and Girish Agarwal (promoters of Dainik Bhaskar Group) have some other priorities. Hence, I am looking after DNA. The paper is managed by K U Rao who is the CEO.” The overall day-to-day affairs of the company were earlier overseen by the Agarwals.
Chandra family members, however, said the change was part of an understanding between the two shareholders to rotate management responsibility of the newspaper. However, this could not be independently verified.
DNA, a general newspaper, is published from Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Surat, Ahmedabad and Jaipur. According to the Indian Readership Survey, the newspaper had a readership of 676,000 in April 2008 and was among the eight largest English dailies in the country. DNA, which started in Mumbai in 2005, has already taken the number two slot in the city.
While its plans to expand to Delhi have been stalled because of the slowdown, it is expected that this may be revived, with Chandra taking over the day-to-day operations of the daily.
Sources close to the developments said Chandra had been attending the DNA office in Mumbai over the past few weeks, was closely interacting with the management and the editorial team, and was also looking at the financials.
Some key employees, including Ayaz Memon, sports journalist & editor-at-large, and Ishu Bhalla, head of revenues, have quit in the past few days.
The company is also restructuring its finance department after Bhalla quit. DNA’s CEO K U Rao said, “With Ishu Bhalla quitting, all regional revenue managers will report to me directly.”
When contacted on the rumours over his plan to sell stake in DNA, Girish Agarwal, director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, said: “If something were to happen, it will be documented and we will speak then. As of now, it’s baseless.”
The Zee Group has been restructuring its various businesses, including TV news, and has hinted at a larger role in the news media space. Chandra demerged Zee’s regional channels from Zee News on October 29 this year on the ground that the demerger of the regional general entertainment channels would lead to a higher focus on the news operations of the company.