MEDIA - MAXIM INDIA EDITION

UK men's mag Maxim in India soon

Media TransAsia will publish the magazine in India

 

BY OUR MEDIA EDITOR
1st October 2005
UK-based men's magazine Maxim is set to start publishing in  India next month. Maxim, which is owned by Dennis Publishing, Great Britain, will be published in India by Media TransAsia, which brings out several general and special interest magazines in India under an exclusive license.

Currently, the only prominent men's magazine published in India  is Man's World, which is believed to sell between 12,000 and 15,000 copies. Maxim sells four million copies worldwide, and has editions in 29 countries. The Indian edition will be the 30th international edition for Maxim. Media TranAsia is exuberant at the prospect of bringing out the leading British men's magazine in India, but the challenge will be daunting. Despite the emergence of the consumerist class and greater disposable incomes, the potential subscriber-buyer base and advertisers' appetite remains to be seen.

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Currently, there are several women's magazines of international pedigree published from India -- Elle and Cosmopolitan for example - but none targeting the species from Mars. Media TransAsia hopes to plug the vacuum with Maxim.

"This is a great coup for us. Indian men are screaming out for a  magazine such as Maxim and we are thrilled that we will be the first publisher to be able to satisfy the enormous demand in the market," Rasina Uberoi of Media Transasia India was quoted as saying.

Said Richard Bean, Maxim's international licensing director: "Everyone is aware of the size of the market but the vitality and the hunger is difficult to comprehend unless one has spent time there."

Maxim India edition is expected to have an initial print run of 80,000 copies. Maxim has been publishing in the  UK since 1995, and hopes to offset potential Indian forays by British peers like FHM and Men's Health by being here first.

There have also been unconfirmed rumours recently about Daily Mail publishers Associated Newspapers eyeing the Indian market.

BY OUR MEDIA EDITOR