My post yesterday received a good response from journalism teachers from different parts of the country. Many promised me that they would buy books if I recommend some titles.
I will try, but that is not the idea behind this initiative.
Let this be a collective effort so that teachers and students across India particularly from the countryside, will benefit, as also the authors and publishers. Let this be a platform to introduce authors of academic books and their authors for mutual benefit.
I begin this experiment today with the self-introduction by Prof. (Dr) Surbhi Dahiya
Indian Media Giants: Unveiling the Business Dynamics of Print Legacies
authored by
Prof. (Dr) Surbhi Dahiya
https://www.amazon.in/INDIAN-MEDIA-GIANTS_C-Unveiling-Business/dp/0190132620
Oftentimes, the significance of a journey is lost amidst the triumph of reaching a destination. However, the path tread, despite its meandering ways, is far more heuristic than the glitter at the finishing line. In media business, this journey enables the enshrinement of doctrines that have far superior impact on the functionality of the organisation, which ultimately dictates its growth and evolution. Like any other commodity and product, Indian media too has followed a definite growth trajectory. For many media houses in the country, this course has witnessed its rise to an enviable stature, while alongside boasting many years of legacy, transitioning itself from a single edition print media organisation to a corporate behemoth covering innumerable milestones. However, not much has been written about them nor their herculean efforts to provide a distinct pathway in the annals of media industry in India.
Although previous books have dealt with the subject as journalism history in the country, they have not endeavoured specifically and elaborately to examine particular newspapers or organizations as such. Journalism historian Nadig Krishna Murthy who essayed the history of newspapers which included Times of India, The Hindu, Indian Express, and Hindustan Times ended his book in 1960s. Since then, no attempt had been made by any other newspaper historian to write the later part of the history of these newspapers in continuation to Murthy's book, Indian journalism. However, few authors made an attempt in this direction in 1980s and 1990s and their attempts remained incomplete in writing neither the history of English newspapers nor the regional newspapers. Rangaswamy Parthasarathy sketched the 100-year story of The Hindu which concluded in 1978. G N S Raghavan’s book , The Press in India too sketched the history of newspapers in bits and pieces. Moreover, two books further looked at aspects of proprietors’ view of their organizations, and in particular their growth. Only notable contribution was Robin Jeffrey’s book, India’s newspaper revolution published by Palgrave Macmillan around two decades ago could shed some light on the management aspects of ten newspapers mostly dealing with regional newspapers in 1980s and 1990s. Recently, Vanita Kohli-Khandekar published a book, Indian media business (Fourth edition) covering the revenue aspects of major media organizations in the country and also their growth associated with different media strategies. In the present manuscript, the author tried to examine the journey of select media organizations from social to economic organizations. The author discussed the management aspects and different models of management coupled with some theories which claimed to have relevance for the mass media organizations.
Notwithstanding the much hyped communication imbalance between the developed North and the developing South, India has successfully emerged as a soft power from the global south as a significant actor in the international media market. The groundwork for this was done in the years of colonization itself, with the founding of the first few media organizations in the country. Success is not treasure buried under the soil in the backyard, but the ore found deep under layers of earth, mined painstakingly with toil and sweat. Similar in vein are the trajectories of India’s print media giants, whose names today are enough to invoke a buzz of admiration world over. It is wondrous to imagine that what are now vehicles of reform in the country, were once novitiate set-ups possessed only by a vision to positively effect changes politically, socially, economically, and most importantly journalistically. Indian Media Giants: Unveiling the Business Dynamics of Print Legacies is an analytical chronicle of Indian print media conglomerates’ individual odyssey from fledgling origins to cyclonic purveyors of truth-telling. It tracks down the development of such print media conglomerates through various ages; from their humble, incipient beginnings in the pre-independence era to their transformation into powerful business empires in due course.
In this competitive world, media organisations are under constant pressure to change, innovate, draw upon new capabilities to survive and above all re-examine their existing business models. In view of the fast moving and changing external environment and the shifting of goals of media organisations, the author tries to map the changes and innovations in managing media organisations in India by identifying the factors responsible for initiation and sustenance of these changes. Apart from tracking the evolution and growth trajectory of the largest Indian media conglomerates with core competencies in Print Media, the changes and innovations that the respective managements brought in response to the external policy environment are also highlighted. Organisational structures, editorial policies, business strategies and changing business models of these organisations are also discussed. Further, the technological innovations of production, distribution and consumption, analysing the role of ‘visionary and change leadership’ in developing the competitive edge of media and entertainment- based business organisations are also studied and analysed. The author also tries to measure the role of strategic intent enunciation in the vision and mission statements in stimulating the growth, phase-wise development from pre -independence to post millennium era, in the context of product line and life cycles, product development, diversification and explore the role of product-development and diversification in strategic positioning. Furthermore, the author examines the role of market penetration and enlargement in its transformation into a multinational business organisation, printing and technological leaps forward, role of strategic alliances, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and takeovers. The author also attempts to study the distribution and market management in enhancing the market share and the consolidating revenues and revenue generating model in terms of profit maximization.
With this, and more, the book is a holistic compendium that offers multiple perspectives on how print media organizations in India have grown over the years.
Chapter one, Managing Media Organisations: Changing Paradigms offers a study on the holistic development of media and media organisations within the ambit of the mass communication industry that has positively flourished from being social to economic entities. It underlines, in detail, the causes, effects, and underlying trends behind this shift that is nothing short of monumental. This has been traced by being placed in the context of management thoughts ranging from old school theories to contemporary media models. There is a thorough focus on the extent of their application and relevance in modern India, with respect to the volatile market structures and economies, understanding them in the light of media-management perspectives that include business strategies and models.
Chapter two, Mapping Media Metamorphosis: From Humble Beginnings to Powerful Empires focuses on mapping the media’s metamorphosis in India from 1780 to 2019. No industry is immune to the transformative forces of the social, regulatory, economic and technological forces, but in media, it is profoundly changing how content is produced, distributed and consumed. This chapter talks of a journey beset by changes and development on various fronts, tracing the course and growth of Indian Journalism. The Indian press played a crucial role in the national freedom struggle voicing in propagating the nationalist zest. In the post- independence period, media horizons expanded and touched record levels for many dailies and weeklies. During this time, journalistic practices became more professional. The Indian media was revolutionised post- economic liberalisation. Not only liberalisation reforms, but other factors also added in the widening of the media sphere. The trend of media convergence has acquired a central stage in the post- millennium era. The entertainment and media industry experienced strong growth across all its segments. The sector evolved significantly with experimenting innovation and technology.
As the book eyes the journey, rise and management practices of major media houses in India, the author has attempted to cover both the journalistic and the managerial aspects of these print media hubs, and attempted to analyse the birth, primary products, product development and diversification alongwith the organisational structure, hierarchical charts, changing ownership of the papers and respective groups, editorial policies, HR policies, technological upgradation, market expansion, geographical spread and regional penetration, competitive strategy, edge over rivals and many more aspects. Companies under study (BCCL/Times Group, The Hindu/Kasturi & Sons, HT Media Ltd, Indian Express Group, Jagran Prakashan Ltd. and DB Corp) starting out in print media, expanded into fields like radio/ television and digital, they continued to focus on print journalism, relying on the sheer power of rhetoric and improving regional penetration with their marketing strategies.
In the chapters ( from 3-8) that follow, the book covers these six case studies on the above mentioned groups in the first edition. Chapters titled as BCCL: Moving With The Times ; Kasturi & Sons Ltd.: The Southern Surge; The Hindustan Times Limited: Marching Forward with a Mission; The Indian Express: The Crusading Scribe
Jagran Prakashan Limited: An Aspirational Awakening; DB Corp: Capturing Language Loyalties; are phase-wise analysis of their evolution, growth, business strategies adapted, management policies and journalistic abilities from one era to another, gradually orienting and re-orienting themselves to the pulse of the media market and the opportunities under various regulatory regimes. It unravels their understanding of the values of co-dependence, collaboration, and competition with their contemporaries. It is a story of how these organizations leapt over the perimeters of conventional greatness to achieve unmeasured success that spans the globe. Also mentioned are the roadblocks and untimely misfortunes that struck each of these print giants, despite which they strode on with courage towards the goals that had been envisioned for them. For getting better insights on their business dynamics, the author interviewed the media moguls, senior leadership and some editors who have taken the organization to new heights. Owners and visionary leaders like Vineet Jain from The Times Group, N Ram and N Murali from Kasturi and Sons, Shobhana Bhartia from HT Media Ltd., Viveck Goenka and Anant Goenka from The Indian Express ( P) Ltd., Sanjay Gupta from Jagran Prakashan Ltd. and Sudhir, Girish and Pawan Agarwal from DBCL spared some time to interact with me and helped me in understanding the business models of the groups.
On the other hand, media companies like NDTV, Zee and Network 18 were products of a new age where television took over as a major source of world-wide communication, and thus these hubs branched into both news and entertainment through multiple television channels across the globe. Groups having core competencies in electronic media or those that have diversified majorly into electronic media will be covered in the next edition of the book or separate editions about each group in the times to come. Some of the organisations that the author intends to study study are ZEE Group, Network 18 Group, NDTV Group, Living Media (India Today) Group, ABP Group etc.
Apart from chronologically tracking the growth of these organizations, the book is replete with the meticulous analysis of the business dynamics and models upon which their legacies are founded, the ripples they have created in the media world and how they are constantly being modified to suit the tastes of the modernizing market.
The penultimate chapter, Decoding Business Dynamics: Comparative Analysis and Theoretical Implications takes into consideration the sum of the media organisations’ business approaches and strategies, to provide a holistic view of their functions relative to communication and management. It enlists a set of parameters upon which these organisations have been comparatively analysed. The business dynamics of the six media organisations have been decoded together, with respect to each of their strategic intents; leaderships and ownerships; editors and editorial policies; product developments; business diversifications; organisational restructuring via strategic mergers, alliances, and acquisitions; market reach via measures of geographical spread, regional penetration, and international footprints; innovation and technological management; financial disciplines; and business models of growth. Further, it recalls the theoretical underpinnings that the author had initially detailed, applying them to this analytical study and realising their implications within this context. The concluding chapter lays out a recap in its entirety, reviewing the Indian media industry’s glorious past, prosperous present, changing media landscape and optimistic outlook for the future Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. The book could not factor in the unprecedented health exigency COVID 19’s impact on Indian media in detail, which may have varied fallouts in the years to come.
The book will be of immense value to students, researchers, fraternity and industry professionals to gain a panoptic view and understanding of the Indian media conglomerates; their past, present and future, compressed into these pages for their pleasure and curiosity.
Prof. ( Dr.) Surbhi Dahiya née Bhalla
Professor and Course Director
Department of English Journalism
Former Editor, Communicator
Indian Institute of Mass Communication
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg
JNU New Campus, New Delhi
--
--
Author Prof Dr Surbhi Dahiya
