The Shillong Times

The Shillong Times was established on 10th August 1945---the day UN was born! It is the second
oldest English Daily of the Northeast, second only to The Assam Tribune of Guwahati. Although
in the beginning The Shillong Times used to be for the entire (undivided) Assam, post
Reorganization of the State and creation of the State of Meghalaya in 1972, this Daily has been
catering to the readers of Meghalaya mainly.
The daily enjoys a huge credibility at all levels. Thanks to the Editors who stood out with
their exceptional qualities and skills. It is not out of place to mention that of its four Editors, two
have been conferred with Padmashri Award.
With its 12-broadsheet pages (Two color pages), The Shillong Times has a paid up
circulation of 32k+ (ABC Certificate 2014). For a 3-million-population State, the figure appears to
be a fair one, especially when considered in the light of the following factors:
a) The sparse population density of some 500 persons per sq. km.
b) Difficult terrain and geographical location of the land-locked State bordering as she does
with Bangladesh on two sides and Assam on the other two.
c) Poor communication system obtaining in the State. There is no Railway service. Road
communication is challenging and time-consuming in the hill terrains. It takes 8 to 15 hours to
reach some of the District Towns from Shillong. Obviously, there is a low outreach.
d) Low English readership. The rural tribal folks who constitute 80% of the State population,
prefer to read language dailies rather than English Daily.
The management is putting in thoughts into starting a new Printing Press in Guwahati for
expansion plans.
Few other problems also include absence of aggressive marketing method, negligible market
share, owing to the limited appeal of the paper for the advertisers from the rest of the country
keeping the ad share 40% less compared to the dailies from neighboring Assam.






The Shillong Times has a sister publication "Salantini Janera", the only Garo daily of the world. It
has a steady circulation of about 15k, but has no takers when it comes to ads on consumer goods.
The house had a Bengali daily published from Guwahati (Songbad Lahari). After surviving for five
years, the Daily was closed down owing lack of circulation and ad revenue. The Company incurred
heavy losses in this venture.
Against this backdrop, it will have to be admitted that The Shillong Times has not been able to
attain its optimum market share of readership and ad revenue.
The challenge is to draw a road map for making the Shillong Times better known in the rest of
the country; to improve its share of revenue by way of commercial and government ads; build
up circulation base beyond Meghalaya's territories (especially North-East), look for opportunities
in new product categories.