Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Connecting the dots...

But first, kudos to the Supreme Court for standing up for 'true' secularism rather than the Muslim-pandering that typifies those like the CPI(M) who want to keep communal forces out. I mean even The Hindu editorial team disapproves. I don't condone Varun Gandhi's statements, but the fact remains that his statements have found an eerie resonance outside the 'liberal' classes. Why?
I think the Muslim minority in India is being badly let down by its leaders, voting en masse as a religious block rather than for those who want to help them progress. And the attacks, even those not inside our borders are beginning to scare people shitless. Yesterday's attack happened 12 kilometeres from our international border (and I'm scared that it isn't a question of 'if' another attack happens in India but 'when', and honestly dying for someone elses twisted political cause is not how I want to go), and when 'Too-scared to run for Election' Singh meets 'God' (a.k.a #44 Barack H.Obama) they won't be discussing the economy and outsourcing and why the Indian government should pitch in to save General Motors India (fantastic PR plant one must admit to PTI, no questions at all about how they're sinking), which is flailing about pretty much as badly as the parent company. Nope. They'll be discussing Af-Pak and the fact that India is sitting down right next to a powderkeg.
Now back to the 'dots' thing I mentioned. Remember as a kid sometimes you never followed the numbers in sequence when connecting the dots just to see what happened? Well I did. Yes, I was a twisted kid. Now, yesterday's post spoke of the editorial and marketing tie-up between Mint and CNBC-TV18. Now, and this I must clarify is complete speculation and I could be totally off the ball here, but what if this signifies the first baby steps towards Raghav Behl's acquisition of Mint?
Think about it, RB is deperate to build a print empire, his acqusition of Infomedia prove that. Many of those publications are floundering and delays in the launch of Forbes India make ET Now's delays seem ordinary. Now, RB failed with the FT India launch and Mint could well lose the WSJ tie-up because WSJ wants to launch a facsimilie in India. Now, what if, TV18 takes over Mint, obviously there will be jostling over the price and all that, but think about it for a second? See, HT Media's results will show that Mint is a bottomless money pit and despite getting rid of several high-profile, high-cost and lazy people, Mint still bleeds far too much money. Worse still, while Mint does fantastic features, as a 'News'paper it is falling further and further behind. RB buys Mint, HT Media manages to make some money or at least save face, RB can position CNBC's agenda and the FT content into Mint which has a ready-made brand. Win-win for everybody.
Just my two paise here, and I could be skipping far too many dots, but I have been thinking about this possibility. Anyway, I have a lot of work over the coming few days, so there might be fewer posts than usual. Have a great week, and did anyone catch the Australian Grand Prix, what a race!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Though I agree with SC but then on a different note why are Sikhs allowed? Or is there no specific case of muslims must have beards?

Anonymous said...

Hahaha...hate to kill your enthusiasm dude but you're way off this time round...won't kill the surprise for you...just wait for a few more weeks :).

Anonymous said...

building a print empire in this day and age takes money. Crores and crores of money. Money that TV18 doesn't have.

A quick look at the holding structure of the company shows that it is a shell company within a shell company etc. Which were created in the euphoria of India Shining part II. egged on by their own channel.

How long before the pack of cards comes crashing down?

Anonymous said...

>> Worse still, while Mint does fantastic features, as a 'News'paper it is falling further and further behind.

Are you sure? I am not so. My experience of the Mumbai local tells me Mint experience is alive and well. In fact, the down turn would be a good time to build up a property like Mint versus BS/ET. Btw, any ideas on how does the editorial team of BS tolerate a lunatic like Surjit Bhalla...

AcK.

Anonymous said...

mint has got rid of no one except low cost reporters!!