English-language business paper Mint was launched just last week. Today is the launch of Metro Now, Delhi’s first tabloid. By the end of the year, there should be another tabloid, a new compact, and another broadsheet.

The capital already counts a dozen English-language broadsheets.

"Delhi is the fastest-growing newspaper advertising market among big cities in India and it will be worth 12bn rupees (£120m) in a few years," says Anurag Batra, chief executive of trade paper exchange4media.

Metro Now is a joint venture by historic Indian rivals, the Hindustan Times and Times of India: both papers decided on a partnership, faced with the impending threat of Swedish specialist Metro International. The latter is targeting India, after having recognized two typical Metro-friendly trends: young readers were bored with traditional newspapers, and commuters didn’t mind picking up a paper.

Metro Now beat the foreign Metro to the race towards an expanding market. The tabloid costs one rupee, roughly one British penny, and provides a full-color 40-page tabloid.

"We have 2.5 million people who can read English in the city and the two biggest papers are the Hindustan Times and the Times of India, which between them sell 1.3m. There is a market driven by young people working in retail and call centers and it is getting bigger," said Sameer Kapoor, president of Metro Now.

New Delhi’s subway, started only in 2002, will have over 100 stations by 2010…

There is a market. Why tabloid? Both for commercial and readership reasons.

"Owners want to make the most money possible and the answer looks like tabloids," said Batra. One of the simple reasons is that they cost less to print. But the main reason lies on the readers’ side.

"We are looking at Delhi. Tabloidisation is where the readership is going. Younger readers are less interested in deep analysis. They want more and more entertainment," said Tariq Ansari, managing director of Midday, which is currently working on Delhi’s next tabloid.

Source: Media Guardian