The Ramoji Group

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One of the main reasons for Ramoji Rao's success was the synergy between his different ventures. The Film City had become an asset for the TV channels. With Film City's state-of-the-art technical and non-technical support, the group could make programs for the TV and films at a very low cost. Commented Ramoji Rao, "If we cannot afford the cost in Film City, we cannot afford it anywhere else." Ramoji Rao had an eye for spotting opportunities. When he was in Visakhapatnam for opening a new branch of Margadarsi, he could not find a good hotel to stay. Within a few months, the Group started the Dolphin Chain of Hotels, with a 3-star hotel in Visakhapatnam, catering to the diverse needs of businessmen and tourists. In 1997, when the Film City was established, the chain expanded its hotels to cater to different segments- 'Sitara' - the luxury hotel with restaurants, pool, gym and business centre was started to cater to film stars, producers and directors. Tara was a 3-s0tar economy hotel, and a budget accommodation for the rest of the crew was available at Sahara. During his stay in Visakhapatnam, Ramoji Rao, a newspaper addict, could not get the daily newspapers as they reached a day later through post. He discussed this problem with late A.J. Prasad, editor of Andhra Prabha.6

Ramoji Rao suggested that A. J. Prasad should start a Visakhapatnam edition. When Ramoji Rao failed to convince A. J. Prasad, he started 'Eenadu' in Visakhapatnam. When Ramoji Rao saw the tremendous success of Hindi movies, with heavy investments, he planned to enter the film industry, but with creative and thought-provoking low-budget movies. Ramoji Rao explained, "Convictions make you do things. With mega-budgets and big names, Mumbai could work magic. But I thought, with some creative effort, low-budget films could be made." The movies from Ushokiron Movies seemed successful, appealing to all age groups. There were family dramas, comedies, love stories and social movies to appeal to all kinds of movie-goers. Analysts felt that Ramoji Rao was a good strategist. The 'mini-editions' concept of Eenadu was a great success. Eenadu was also one of the first publications to be printed in color. Ramoji Rao also introduced different supplements like 'Vasundhara' for women and 'Eenadu Cinema' with film gossips for youngsters. Over the years, Eenadu became the numero uno newspaper in Andhra Pradesh until The Times of India⁷ launched its Hyderabad edition in 2001. The Times of India followed an aggressive price cut policy. In June 2001, Eenadu formed an alliance with The Hindu⁸ to sell advertising space in each other's publication, to counter competition from The Times of India.

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6] Published from Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Vijayanagaram and Chennai by Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd. The group brings out the prestigious 'New Indian Express' from 13 centres in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and in Orissa. It also publishes local newspapers Dinamani (Tamil) and Kannada Prabha (Kannada); and magazines Cinema Express (Tamil), Malayalam Vaarika (Malayalam), Andhra Prabha Illustrated Weekly (Telugu), Tamilan Express (Tamil) and the English monthly Gentleman.
7] The first edition of The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, later renamed The Times of India, was launched in Mumbai in 1838. After several years of change, evolution and growth in the paper's character, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (the proprietors of The Times of India Group) was established with the principal objective of publishing newspapers, journals, magazines and books. By 2001, The Times of India Group emerged as a multi-edition, multi-product organisation. Some of the brands owned by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. are The Times of India, The Economic Times, Femina, Filmfare, Navbharat Times, Sandhya Times and Times FM.
8] The Hindu published by the Hindu Group of Publications from Chennai, started in 1878 as a weekly, became a daily in 1889 and from then on has been steadily growing. It has circulation of over 700,000 copies and a readership of over 3 million as in 2001. The Hindu's independent editorial stand and its reliable and balanced presentation of the news have over the years, won for it the serious attention and regard of the people who matter in India and abroad. It is printed in eight centres apart from the Main Edition at Chennai (Madras) where the Corporate Office is based. The printing centres include Coimbatore, Bangalore, Madurai, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvanathapuram & Kochi.

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