Deccan Chronicle launches Coimbatore edition

The English daily will be available on the newsstands of Coimbatore today.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings informed BSE that it is launching the Coimbatore edition of its English daily, Deccan Chronicle, on December 28.

The new edition will bear a cover price of Re 1 from Monday to Friday; and Rs 2 on Saturdays and Sundays. Along with the main edition, Deccan Chronicle will also have a tabloid sized supplement titled Coimbatore Chronicle. It will also have the other regular supplements that are distributed in other markets.

The main edition of the English daily, on an average, will have 18-24 pages. The group is positioning the new edition as the newspaper 'for young minds'.

The Coimbatore edition has an invitation advertising rate of Rs 400 per sq. cm for colour ads and Rs 330 per sq. cm for black and white ads. The advertising and content ratio will be similar to that followed by the other editions of Deccan Chronicle.

Talking about the distribution model for the city, Amit Shukla, chief executive officer, Deccan Chronicle, says, "Deccan Chronicle distributes almost all its copies (more than 97 per cent) as fully paid copies through the hawkers and the same model will be followed in Coimbatore as well."

With The Times of India (TOI) all set to enter Coimbatore soon, how is Deccan Chronicle bracing up for the competition it will soon face from BCCL?

Shukla says, "TOI has been there in many of our markets - for almost a decade in some places - and Deccan Chronicle's growth has been robust and unhindered. We expect robust growth in Coimbatore, too, with or without TOI."

Apart from TOI, which is slated to be launched in January 2011 in Coimbatore, Deccan Chronicle will face competition from The Hindu and Indian Express. The Hindu bears a cover price of Rs 3.25 on weekdays and Rs 4 on Sundays.