A democratic polity and government expenditure on education is creating demands beyond that of first generation literates’ for political news. In the first wave of FDI in electronic media, magazines, especially film magazines, took a beating from television. The current magazine boom implies that globalised magazines may travel or translate better than newspapers in the fast growing Indian economy. It is also possible that increased economic well being and a consumer culture create interests apart from politics in a new demographic of second generation literates.

The Outlook Group currently publishes Outlook, Outlook Saptahik (in Hindi), Outlook Business, Outlook Money, Outlook Traveler, and Marie Claire. Maheshwar Peri is President and publisher of the Outlook Group which is owned by the Rajan Raheja group, with interests in manufacturing, financial services, cable networks, software, hospitality, construction, and infrastructure.

The Outlook group’s third financial magazine after Outlook Money, and Business Outlook, Outlook Profit came out with its first issue on 23 February 2008. The magazine is targeted at high net worth investors exploring the stock markets. It is priced at Rs 50 and will have 26 issues annually.

Outlook Profit
We spoke to the Outlook group before the launch of the magazine and they seemed quite positive about the response of the magazine, due to the increasing number of people who invest in the stock market and depend on newspapers and brokers for their investment advice. In fact, Maheshwar Peri, has been quoted by the financial press as saying, “Today, the financial space is completely unexplored. There is no investment advisor in the magazine space, leaving a few small players who don’t have much reach. With markets pulling a rabbit out of the hat almost every day, I believe this is the perfect time to dedicate a magazine to the country’s financial boom.”

The magazine has started with an initial print run of 1,50,000, which Peri expects will come down to 70,000 later. Besides stock related information, the magazine will also have high-end lifestyle-related content.  N Mahalaxmi, formerly editor of Business Standard’s Monday pullout, Smart Investor heads the editorial team.

GEO
Now owned by media conglomerate Bertelsmann, Gruner + Jahr was formed in 1965. It has 285 magazines and newspapers in Europe. The print media company publishes over 250 newspapers and magazines such as Brigitte (a women’s magazine and Capital, a business magazine). Gruner + Jahr is making its India debut with GEO, its premium science and geography magazine. The magazine will be launched under a licensing arrangement with the Outlook Group.

Speaking to the financial press, Maheshwar Peri of Outlook has said that there was a big market for knowledge magazines in India and that GEO, to be launched in May-June 2008 would be positioned as a family magazine. It will start with a print run of 50,000 copies and although the newsstand price is not yet public it is would be more affordable than  National Geographic which currently sells at Rs 225 (US$ 6) a copy. Moreover, it is planned to base circulation on subscriptions rather than merely rely on the sale and return model of newsstand distribution.

Geo already has sixteen editions worldwide and its seventeenth edition in India will be the first in English. All other editions are in European languages. GEO India will have approximately 150 pages with international and Indian content in the ratio of 85:15. An editorial team for the magazine is being set up and likely to be sent to Germany for training.

People
The Outlook Group and Time (the magazine publishing arm of Time Warner), plan to launch People magazine in India in 2008. The personality-oriented weekly is to be launched in the country around May-June 2008. People is an American magazine of celebrity and human interest stories with a weekly circulation of 43 million copies. The magazine has roughly a 50:50 mix of celebrity and human interest stories, a ratio it has maintained, according to its editors] since 2001.

Good Homes, Olive and Grazia
Worldwide Media a 50:50 joint venture between BBC Worldwide and the Bennett Coleman (TOI) Group, plans to launch the Indian editions of three international magazines this year. Good Homes is a home decor magazine and aims to provide its readers with the latest looks, inspirational interiors and practical shopping guides. The content of the magazine will include property news, home transformations and room decorating schemes. The core target audience for the magazine will be women in the age group of 25-54 years in the SEC A and SEC A+ segments. The launch is scheduled around the same time as Grazia, in March 2008.

Grazia will be a fashion magazine. Grazia (meaning ‘grace’ in Italy) is an Italian women’s magazine with international editions in the United Kingdom the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal and Bulgaria. The magazine is owned by the Italian publishing house Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. In the UK, the magazine is published under the licence of the Emap Group.

Olive is a foodie magazine that will contain recipes, famous food destinations, features by well-known chefs and food trends. Both Grazia and Olive will be published monthly with a mix of international and Indian content. Although the UK version of Olive has 148 pages, the pagination and price of the local version is still not public. The launch is scheduled for July 2008.

ABP’s Fortune in October

Time (the magazine publishing arm of Time Warner) and ABP, publishers of the dailies Ananda Bazar Patrika in Bengali and The Telegraph in English and numerous magazines including Desh in Bengali and Sunday in English, signed an agreement on October 30, 2007 to launch Fortune India this October. This will be the magazine's third country-specific edition following Fortune China and Fortune Turkey. Fortune, famous for company and individual wealth rankings, is currently sold in India by India Today owners Living Media and sells about 8,000 copies an issue for Rs 80 (US$ 2) which is four times the price of local business magazines.

Vivek Shah, president of Fortune Money recently stated in a press release issued by the company that, “India has become a major player in today’s business landscape. The Indian market has risen to the top of every CEO’s agenda and is therefore the perfect venue for the leading global business magazine.”

Fortune India, a monthly, will compete with Business World, a weekly that is one of the eleven publications from the ABP group. The Kolkata based group, which started with a 4-page evening daily in 1922, also owns three 24-hour national TV news channels, two leading book publishing businesses as well as mobile and internet properties.

Conde Nast launches Vogue India
The 396-page first issue of Vogue India was launched on 20 September 2007. The title, based in Mumbai, is the 17th edition of Vogue worldwide. “Unlike most other Western publishers, Conde Nast will own and operate its own magazines in India rather than publishing through a joint venture or a license,” Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman of Conde Nast International, stated in a press release. Foreign brands were initially allowed only 26 per cent ownership in news ventures. In 2005, this rule changed for global media brands when it came to non-news publications, allowing them 100 per cent foreign direct investment. Vogue has been the first foreign magazine in the country to capitalize on this opportunity. However, they do have a tie up with Living Media, publishers of India Today for distribution. Depending on the outcome of the Vogue India project, Conde Nast also plans to bring Glamour, Vanity Fair and Traveler to the country.

Conde Nast has hired Priya Tanna, formerly of DNA and Times of India, to be the title’s debut editor-in-chief, and Arjun Mehra, former publisher of L'Officiel in India, as the new Vogue’s publisher. Alex Kuruvilla is Condé Nast India’s Managing Director. Kuruvilla is a former Managing Director of MTV India and Executive Vice President of MTV Networks Asia. He says Vogue plans to start with a print run of 50,000 copies. The magazine is currently priced at Rs 100. Vogue is produced on Thomson Press’ new Goss M600D heatset press at the new Aeroli plant in Navi Mumbai.