Top 25 Stories On MediaNama - 27 June to 31st Dec 2008

The following are the top 25 stories on MediaNama by traffic, over the last 6 months that we have been in operation. We won’t say this is an indication of the trends that defined 2008 for the digital media business in India (we’ll cover those tomorrow), but this is it. 

(My recommendations in italics)

1. Times of India Group To Lay Off Around 5% Staff Across Businesses
2. Italian VAS Co Dada S.p.A Launches Services With Airtel
3. Interview With CEO of Times Private Treaties
4. The Economic Times Launches Hindi Site; Business Standard-Gujarati; Jagran.com
5. Why Webaroo Would Need As Much As $10 Million In Funding
6. 3G In India: BSNLs EVDO Services Already Operational; Rs. 750/Month For 2mbps
7. Google News Launches Malayalam Channel
8. Malayalam Newspaper Mathrubhumi Goes Mobile
9. Services On Airtel DTH: Indiatimes Shopping, MMT, WorldSpace, MapUnity
10. Loop Telecom Hires Head Honcho; In Talks With Telenor, Zain
11. TRAI Open House Discussion On Mobile VAS
12. Google Gets Into The Push SMS Business In India
13. Q109: Quarterly India Internet & Mobile Numers; A Wireless Internet Story
14. Expedia Not Acquiring TravelGuru
15. IRCTC Does $102 Million In Online Transactions In August; Payment Trends
16. Mint Launches Mobile Site
17. India’s Information Technology (Amendment) Bill Passed By Lok Sabha
18. On Reliance GSM And Mobile Number Portability
19. Rediff CEO On Current Advertising Scenario, In.com, Paid Services, Apps, Content Deals
20. Chandamama Launches Hindi, Tamil And Telugu Portals; Archives Inaccessible
21. Live: Nokia To Launch Music Store In India
22. Manorama Group Launches Matrimonial Site
23. Digital Today Launches Aajtak Website In Beta
24. Airtel Mobile VAS Revenues At Rs. 235 crores; Non SMS Is 57% of VAS
25. iProperty Group Enters India By Acquiring RealAcres.com

Off Till 5th; In Bangalore Jan 5th-11th

We’re off for the most of this week and the next, apart from a few important updates and news roundups. 

I’m going to be in Bangalore for the business track of Comsnets 2009 on the 6th and Headstart.in on Jan 9th and 10th. There’s plenty of time in between, so if you’d like to meet up, do drop me a mail at nikhil@ medianama .com . If you have any suggestions for a space for a meetup, or sponsor a mixer, do also let me know.

Happy Holidays, and best wishes for 2009,
Nikhil Pahwa

Using Technology Against Terror: Any Ideas?

Much has been written about how the terrorists used technology during their attack on Mumbai and citizens used twitter to share information and seek help on the net.

Following up on a suggestion by one of our readers, we’re opening up this post as a platform for inputs on how we can use digital technology to help prepare us better in the future, protect us from future attacks and perhaps speed up response systems as well. Any ideas?

Online Resources For Mumbai Terror Attacks…Hope All Is Well

Here’s a spreadsheet of injured and deceased via Mumbai Help.

Helpline Numbers: A long list here

JJ Hospital: +91 22 23739031
St George’s Hospital: +91 22 22620240
Mumbai Police’s Helpline Numbers: all the numbers here
Taj helpline numbers: +91 -22-66574322, +91-22-66574372, local toll free 1-800-111-825
Trident Hotel Helpline: 011-23890606, 011-23890505, 9810956888 | Dir Corp Comm, Oberoi Hotels

UK: 0044-20-700-80000
US: 001-888-40-74747

(via Mumbai Help Blog)

Resources
- Mumbai Help blog, in case you’d like to help, or need information
- Mumbai terrorist attack map by GeoCommons
- Google Map
- Wikipedia page on the November 26 Mumbai attacks

Coverage
- Twitter feed for #mumbai
- Flickr photos from Vinu’s Online Cloud.
- NowPublic coverage
- Mahalo coverage

Most of the info is from Gauravonomics and Global Voices Online special coverage.

Strange: Google Ads for terrorism on some sites

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Notes From A Discussion With Students At NMIMS

I gave a talk (rather, was more of a discussion) on Digital Media Business Models at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai yesterday, to students pursuing a combined course in Engineering and Management. Was pleasantly surprised to find most students aware of developments in the digital media space - someone asked me why IPTV hasn’t yet taken off. 

There were around 50 students at the discussion, I thought I’d share some of the observations here:

– They were all (and I mean ALL) on both Facebook and Orkut. All had heard of Ibibo, a few of Minglebox (forgot to ask about BIGAdda).
– Facebook is their preferred social network. All of them use Facebook applications, but change applications often - they get bored with them quickly
– They haven’t noticed any advertisements on Orkut (not even the text ads), but have noticed and even clicked on Facebook advertisements.
– From a business perspective, most of them didn’t think the number of registered users is of any consequence - active users matter more.
– All of them use the Internet to research before purchasing goods, but prefer to buy offline.
– Only one student used the Internet to buy electronics online…and that too from China.
– They’ve all used the Internet for buying tickets, one or two to buy books.
– They appeared to be more keen on Internet business models than Mobile
– Many subscribe to MyToday and SMS GupShup. One student felt that SMS GupShup’s recent fundraising meant that their business model is good. They feel that the fact that MyToday and SMS GupShup have such a large user base means that advertisers will be interested in them, and this model will succeed.
– Less than half of them use Caller Ringback Ringback tones, but they were aware of the cost of the service.
– A few of the students were interested in starting up, and a few who have been working on a business plan.
– Some of the students were wondering about how much of their plans they should disclose to VCs or Angel Investors. I suggested that they study the VCs portfolio first, and be careful about VCs sharing their plans with portfolio companies who may be potential competitors.  

Update: almost forgot - only one of them is on Twitter. 

The most promising sign: a majority of them use mobile Internet. Apart from a couple of students who began a year or two ago, most have been using Mobile Internet for six months, largely because the monthly rental was waived off.

I’m probably hosting another discussion soon at a college in Delhi, so if there’s anything you’d like to know about how students are using the Internet or mobile, do leave a comment, and I’ll ask them.

Also, if any of you are looking to hire freshers, do have your HR Manager drop me a note at nikhil AT medianama DOT com, and I’ll pass on the contact details to the colleges.
P.s.: just in case you’re wondering - this is pro-bono.

Entrepreneur Roundtable, Mumbai

Panelists: Hrush Bhatt, co-founder, Cleartrip.com; Saurabh Gupta - CEO of Phonethics Mobile Media; Naveen Tewari - CEO of MKhoj; Saurabh Khullar, Co-Founder of Ideacts; Jiby Thomas, Co-Founder of Quickr
Theme: Before & After (Starting Up) 
Date: Friday, November 14th
Time: 3-5 PM
Venue: Sequoia Capital India Advisors, #404, Ceejay House, Shivsagar Estate, Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai

Note: The roundtable is not open to an audience

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Marketing 2.0: Digital Transformation - Niche to Mainstream - 14th Nov, Taj President, Mumbai

You’re invited to join MediaNama and 9.9 Media for the Marketing 2.0 Conclave being held in Mumbai:

Topic: Digital Transformation - Niche to Mainstream
Date: 14th November
Time: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Venue: Taj President, 90, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai
Agenda: Download (pdf) 

To attend: Register here
To sponsor: mail advertising@medianama.com or call Umang at +919999000785

The discussion will focus on understanding how CMOs can leverage digital media like Mobile, Internet, Blogs and Communities, and we’re expecting participation from senior marketing professionals and decision makers from across FMCG, Auto, Telecom, Consumer Durables, Technology companies etc. Speaking at the conference, apart from yours truly, are:

Greg Verdino, Chief Strategy Officer, Crayon Consulting Group 
Ireena Vittal, Partner, McKinsey & Company
Ajit Balakrishnan, Chairman and CMO of Rediff.com
Santosh Desai, MD & CEO of Future Brands
Debabrata Mukherjee, Director Marketing, Coca-Cola Korea
Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, Group M
Partha Rakshit, MD South Asia, Nielsen
Mahesh Murthy, Founder & CEO of Pinstorm
Rajiv Hiranandani, Co-Founder and ED (Revenues) of Mobile2Win
Manish Vij, Co-Founder & CBO of Quasar Media