India Today to launch site and mobile mags

India Today includes print, television, radio and music assets. Its print and television content will be adapted on various digital platforms including PCs, mobiles and handheld devices.

The media group started by revamping the sites of its magazines, India Today, Prevention, Money Today, Business Today and Men’s Health. All those websites are being redesigned in preparation for their inclusion in a general umbrella portal, which will be launched in early 2008.

There are also plans to launch mobile magazines and a mobile Internet portal.

This makeover follows changes in current reading habits. “There is a decline in the reading habit per se, but people are still seeking information and the younger people prefer digital media. This is an attempt to expand our audience,” says Sanjoy Narayan, COO of India Today Group Digital.

Another advantage of digital media is that it “cuts through the frequency”, he explains. Therefore, readers of a magazine can get instant updates on a particular story, instead of waiting for the next issue to arrive. Most of all, it makes business sense. “Online ad revenues are growing and we want a share in it,” says Narayan.

The already revamped websites offer interactive interfaces to the users. For instance, they can ask questions to the India Today’s editor, Prabhu Chawala, in the popular Ask Prabhu column. The company is going to tread carefully about user-generated content: “UGC requires some amount of moderation and we have to ensure that the content generated by users on our sites conforms to the credibility of our media brands as well as the values that our group represents. Besides, we have so much of
Our own content to offer the reader,” says Narayan. He adds that though the portal will start by carrying content coming from the publications, that will gradually be reduced as more exclusive content comes online.

The portal content will be divided into several main sections such as business, health, current affaires and lifestyle. The website will also include multimedia content such as videos from the group’s TV channels (Aaj Tak and Headlines Today).

Advertising will generate the main revenues, since paid-for online  content doesn’t really suit the users expectations. Nevertheless, there is possibillity for paid content through subscription too, but that will mostly apply to reference and research material.

On the mobile platform, the company already has alerts on SMS and voice for most of its publications, but Narayan says that the key to making mobile content work is to provide local information. This could include tieups with mobile search and map service providers. “Voice services have already taken off in India. What we are waiting for is the inflection point in data services,” he says.

Source: agencyfaqs.com