'Aaj Ekhon' eveninger launched in Kolkata

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
An new Bengali eveninger, 'Aaj Ekhon', has hit the stands in Kolkata on April 15, on the Poila Boishakh day, the Bengali New Years day. Aaj Ekhon is the first publication from Freedom Media Pvt Ltd, a company promoted by three former print media professionals including Suman Bhattacharya and Amitabh Bhattacharya. Aaj Ekhon is modeled on Mid-Day.

Rohit Basu, who was earlier with Tara Newz, is the Executive Editor of this afternoon daily, who is heading a team of more than 30 journalists in Kolkata and few from Delhi and Mumbai. Actor Prosenjit, singer Kabir Suman, film scribe and one-time editor of Anandalok, Swapan Ghosh, have been roped to write columns for Aaj Ekhon.

Aaj Ekhon is a 16-page part colour tabloid, and will have an initial print order of 25,000 copies with a cover price of Rs 1. While its first edition will be available at 1:30 pm, there will be a second one later in the afternoon. Freedom Media has commissioned a survey by an multinational research agency to gauge the market for the product.

For record note, Freedom Media Pvt Ltd also has a television production house, having designed programmes for ETV Bangla and Zee Bangla. Further, according to Audit Bureau of Circulation figures, Bikeler Pratidin is the highest selling Bengali language eveninger at present with a circulation of 22,219, while Sandhya Aajkaal is at second place with a figure of 16,847.