Next Mediaworks Ltd - Stock Valuation and Financial Performance

Mid-Day Multimedia Company was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 as Mid-Day Publications Private Limited on March 12, 1981 with main object of printing and publishing of newspapers, magazines, books, journals etc.

The Ansari family promoted Mid-Day Publications Private Limited. In May 2002, it was converted into a Public Limited Company. To reflect the diversification of its activities into other media field and the changing nature of business, the name of the Company was changed to Mid-Day Multimedia Limited.

The company is engaged in multimedia activities such as to carry on the business as broadcasters, marketers or in any other manner of audio programs, to carry on the business of television programs, television films and television software, to carry on the business of advertising agents, to provide on-line and/or interactive information and news for business and general use, to deal in internet commerce and all internet related activity.

Observing the worldwide growth of the medium of outdoor signage, the Company explored an entry into the outdoor advertising business in Mumbai in 1998, winning key contracts in the city for the maintenance and marketing of advertising space. In 1993 the first new media opportunity for the company came in the form of offering to private producers of slots on All India Radio's FM Service in metro cities. The subsidiary company M/s Radio Mid-Day West (India) Private Limited was one of the first private players to venture into this area and in a short time had established GO 92.5 FM as the premium FM Brand.

From a family-owned, one-paper Company it had grown into a full-fledged, multiple-media conglomerate listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange, one of the handful of Indian media groups to go public.

Inquilab, the first paper in Urdu, was born in the fervour of idealistic nationalism in 1938. In 1979, Mid Day, in English, marked a new turning point in a city seizing its global destiny. Over the years, it had continued to reinforce its slogan, 'Delivering Mumbai', not just in content but via a range of media vehicles: print in English, Gujarati and Urdu, on the Net, on FM radio, and through telephone information services, as well as with its Outdoor business.

Powered by a custom-built convergent newsroom, we serve the 'newser' in a 24/7 cycle of news, information, comment and fun. Its daily audience of 1.2 million, through print and Net alone is upwardly mobile, and predominantly in the age group of 18 to 34. In creating the city's most exciting media, it has also become the most exciting news group to work in, empowering and enabling young professionals to become truly multi-media journalists.

Mid-Day Multimedia Limited’s Newsmedia Group owns coveted mindshare in Mumbai. Consider: 27% of the English readership in the city reads Mid Day and Sunday Mid Day. 7% of Gujarati readers read Gujarati Mid Day. And our 64-year-old Urdu daily Inquilab `owns’ 63% of all Urdu readers!

Metro, its latest media product, is a community free-sheet. It covers 12 significant areas of Mumbai by March 2003. It has begun to add significantly to the Group’s reach and revenue.

The Newsmedia Group operates in an extremely challenging environment. Print advertising accounts for 48% of the total marketplace, but ad spends is growing at 4-5%, implying that the print media’s share of the overall pie is coming under pressure.Like most on-the-ball media companies, Mid Day too invested significantly in the Web space. It created a distinct property in Chalomumbai.com, making it one of the best city portals in the country.

In 2006 Mid-Day Multimedia, publishers of Mid-Day in Mumbai and Bangalore, and the Bennett, Coleman Group, publishers of The Times of India and The Economic Times, signed a business cooperation agreement to jointly approach various markets in the country to mutual benefit.

The company's business activites include:

• It launched Mid Day in 1979 and presently publishes newspaper in English, Gujarati and Urdu, which includes the Sunday Mid Day for its English readers, Gujarati Mid Day and Urdu Daily Inquilab.
• The company runs Radio One, 94.3 FM with stations at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, It has radio programs like Annie, Prachi, Sangram, Malini, Prince, Bacardi Breezer Vivid Nights, Spill Your Dil, Sunday Morning Classics, Rahul, and Bollywood Top 30. Interactive programs include College Champions, Club ONE, Winners, Forum, Requests, Vote, Birthdays, Loyal Listeners, and Hot Shots
• It also offers telephone information and outdoor advertising services.
• It has its online version called mid-day.com which covers all city news, entertainment and sport.

Subsidiaries of the company include:

Radio Mid Day West (India), Mid-Day Broadcasting South (India), Mid-Day Radio North (India), and Mid-Day Outdoor Limited.

Awards/Achievements

• MiD DAY’s Satish Acharya Graphics Editor, has won the first prize at the national level cartoon contest held by the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi.
• In International Marketing Awards MiD DAY was short-listed and had won in the Printed Materials: Advertising category for the Sunday MiD DAY 25th Anniversary Sales Brochure and in the Newspaper Premiums/Incentives category.