Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL)was incorporated on July 9, 1918 as a public limited company with the name The Behar Journals Ltd. In November 17, 1987 the name of the company was changed from The Behar Journals Ltd to Searchlight Publishing House Ltd. In November 2008, the name of the company was changed from Searchlight Publishing House Ltd to Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd.
The Company is part of the Hindustan Times Group and a subsidiary of HT Media Limited - a diversified media company. Hindustan, HMVL's flagship publication, is India's third largest daily, serving a longstanding and extensive readership base.
Hindustan Media Ventures is one of the leading print media companies in India in terms of Readership. The company publishes and prints 'Hindustan', the third largest daily newspaper in India in terms of Readership with a Readership of 9.9 million readers. 'Hindustan' has the largest Readership in key Hindi-speaking markets of Bihar and Jharkhand, with a strong and growing presence in Delhi NCR and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. 'Hindustan' was one of the fastest growing Hindi daily newspapers in India.
'Hindustan' is published in four editions and 113 sub-editions. 'Hindustan' is presently printed at 17 locations in the states/regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Delhi NCR with a total installed rated capacity approximately 0.78 million copies per hour. These printing facilities are located at Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Bhagalpur, Dehradun, Delhi NCR, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Mohali, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Ranchi, Danapur and Varanasi. They distribute their newspapers through a multi-tiered network of agents and vendors.
The company also publish two Hindi magazines, 'Nandan', a children's magazine, and 'Kadambini', a general interest magazine. In addition to their Hindi print publications, they also operate the website, www.livehindustan.com, which focuses on providing news in Hindi with regional content. Further, they have also forayed into event management and customized event solutions.
In addition to their newspaper, the company also provides supplements in some of their markets to address the specific needs and regional tastes of their readers, while offering advertisers a focused reach to a target audience. Their supplements generally provide specialized content relating to education and entertainment, among others, and cater to a specific target group such as women or children.
In the year 1919, the company commenced their printing press at Patna. Also, they commenced printing and publishing of English newspaper 'Searchlight'. In the year 1947, the company commenced printing and publication of Hindi daily 'Pradeep' at Patna.
In the year 1986, the company commenced printing of Hindi daily 'Hindustan' and the English daily 'Hindustan Times' on behalf of 'The Hindustan Times Ltd' at Patna. Also, they terminated the printing and publication of the Hindi daily 'Pradeep' and the English daily 'Searchlight'.
In the year 2000, the company commenced printing of Hindi daily 'Hindustan' and English daily 'Hindustan Times' from Ranchi location, in terms of a printing agreement with the holding company and publisher of the said publications 'The Hindustan Times Ltd'.
The media business comprising of the entire printing and publishing undertakings of HTL except the printing business at New Delhi was transferred to HT Media Ltd with effect from July 1, 2003. Due to this transfer, the company became a subsidiary of HT Media Ltd with effect from July 1, 2003.
In the year 2009, the company acquired Hindi business from HT Media Ltd comprising of Hindi daily newspaper, 'Hindustan' including 'Ravivasriya Hindustan'; magazines 'Nandan' and 'Kadambini'; and internet portals of the said publications with effect from December 1, 2009.
During the year 2010-11, Company entered the domestic capital market with an IPO of 1,62,65,060 Equity Shares of Rs 10/- each, at a premium of Rs 156/- per Equity Share, aggregating to Rs 270 Crore. The shares of the Company were listed on BSE and NSE on 21 July, 2010.
The Company's flagship publication viz. 'Hindustan' (Hindi daily), emerged as the second-largest newspaper in terms of total readership, in all languages in the country in 2011. Jaano English and Hindustan Money were launched in June 2010 and became an instant hit with readers of learning English. It also came up with many specials that mattered to its readers in various regions during the FY 11. One such initiative was Patliputra ki Jung, an exclusive 3-month series on the Bihar elections. The activity was aimed at empowering voters to make informed choice and it assisted people to exercise their right to vote effectively. Anokhi, a magazine format was launched for women readers. It launched an employment weekly Hindustan Jobs in May 2011, which provides information and updates on both government and private jobs. Nandan, portfolio for children's magazine was also launched.
FY 2012 was also a year for Hindustan in terms of its reader engagement efforts as it launched and executed two substantial initiatives 'Aao Rajneeti Karein and Pratibha Samman 2011'. Hindustan Yuva was launched in 2012, in Patna. Hindustan Job Search was launched in December, 2013. Live, an extension of main paper covering news and events was launched in Ranchi, Patna, Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur and Meerut in 2013. A New media marketing tool iPrice' was launched in 2016.
In 2016-17, the Multi-media Content Management Undertaking of the Company was transferred and vested to and in HT Digital Streams Limited (HTDSL), as a 'going concern' on a slump exchange basis through a Scheme of Arrangement between the Company and HTDSL, and their respective shareholders and creditors, giving the Scheme of Merger effect on April 1, 2016. In terms of the Scheme, HTDSL has issued and allotted to the Company on December 31, 2016, its 85,87,896 nos. of Equity Shares of Rs 10/- each constituting 42.83% of its equity share capital. As a result, HTDSL became an Associate of the Company resulting the acquisition of 42.83% of the equity share capital of HTDSL.
In 2018, the Company launched two new products, viz. Hindustan Smart across 6 cities targeting price sensitive customer base and Fursat, a Sunday supplement for the entire family. The Company thereafter, disposed off its entire investment in 85,87,896 equity shares of Rs 10/- each of HT Digital Streams Limited (HTDSL) (constituting 42.83% of its equity capital) to Digicontent Limited, a fellow subsidiary company, for a consideration of Rs 7,675 Lacs. Accordingly, HTDSL ceased to be an associate of the Company in 2018.
In 2019-20, the Scheme of Arrangement between the Company and India Education Services Private Limited (IESPL), a fellow subsidiary company and their respective shareholders for demerger and vesting of B2C business (i.e. higher education programs/courses to students and working professionals) of IESPL to and in the Company, on a going concern basis was sanctioned and the Scheme was given effect on October 1, 2017. In terms of the Scheme, 2,77,778 fully paid up equity shares of Rs 10/- each of the Company were allotted to the equity shareholders of IESPL (Demerged Company), on December 4, 2019. The said equity shares were admitted for trading on National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) and BSE Limited (BSE), w.e.f. January 30, 2020. A wholly-owned subsidiary company namely, 'HT Noida (Company) Limited' was incorporated on February 11, 2020. Also, a Limited Liability Partnership, namely 'HT Content Studio LLP' was incorporated on August 21, 2019.
During the year 2019-20, Company launched Hindustan City, a lifestyle and entertainment supplement in Delhi.