The Times Group has launched a new Kannada daily with the name – The Times of India. Well, the daily is limited to Bangalore city initially, and depending on the success, it will be published in Mysore and Mangalore. The new daily is supposed to be the translated version of the English newspaper, and reorganised a bit to suit the Kannada palette.

Last year, the Times Group had acquired Vijayanand Printers, which was successfully running three newspapers – Vijaya Karnataka (Kannada daily), Usha Kirana (Kannada daily) and Vijay Times (English daily). Vijaya Karnataka was the No.1 Kannada daily then, and even now maintains the same position. Usha Kirana was discontinued by the Times Group some months back for lack of revenue, and there is a strong rumour that Vijay Times will be shut down very soon. Reason – Vijay Times was getting quite popular with a circulation of around one lakh, and it could pose threat to reigning king, Times of India.

The Times Group is planning to start a tabloid on the lines of Mumbai Mirror in Bangalore. Now, with English and Kannada No.1 dailies under their grip, the group will try to monopolize the market so that the second and third players are left in the lurch.