Thursday, September 1 2005 15:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: HT Media today (Sept 1, 2005) said it is looking at newer markets in the Hindi sphere as well as eyeing the southern region for the English paper, apart from immediate plans in the radio business.

"We are going to consolidate our position in Hindi where we are looking at newer markets," HT Media Vice-Chairperson and Editorial Director Shobhana Bhartia told PTI here, after the company got listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Bhartia said the media company, which is also planning to launch a business daily, was looking at organic growth in markets like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the Hindi sphere.

On the foray into the southern region, she said this would be only after the consolidation of the company's operations in Mumbai, a market it entered recently with its English daily Hindustan Times.

"We need to consolidate Mumbai before we look at other spaces in the South. For the next year, we are going to consolidate Mumbai," she said.

On the foray into the radio sector, she said HT Media already has a tie-up with Richard Branson's Virgin Radio, which would partner it in the venture.

"We are looking at radio very seriously. We have a MoU in place with Virgin Radio for this," she said.