HT sets foot in Bengaluru with lifestyle supplement HT City

Hindustan Times’ lifestyle and entertainment supplement, HT City, was launched in Bengaluru on Thursday. This is a digital-only edition and will be available to readers only through subscription as it is behind a paywall.  

As of now, HT City will be a part of the main edition and will be available only as an e-paper. Sources within HT said that based on the performance, other digital formats will also be considered.

The source confirmed that the supplement will remain a part of the main edition until the ad volumes increase. 

“After being leaders in North India as the daily entertainment and lifestyle supplement of choice, HT City is now in Bengaluru, and in keeping with the times, we enter the gates of Kempe Fort in a chic digital form. Here’s your one-stop destination for all things stylish and trendy— what the young Bengalurenavaru are up to, the hip and happening campus scenes, the zippiest and the coolest spots,” wrote Sonal Kalra, Managing Editor, and Business Head, Lifestyle, Hindustan Times in a note in the first edition. 

HT City is a modified version of HT Cafe, which had only lifestyle and entertainment news. The Bengaluru HT City edition will continue to focus on lifestyle and entertainment, but will also have a mix of hard news. In their first edition on Thursday, the newspaper had articles on the Metro infrastructure in the city and on policing. 

“From the latest in Kannada cinema to binge OTT recommendations, from the best in travel, auto and tech to fashion, health, food (and coffee), we have filtered it all for you. So, go on, swipe as you sip,” the note mentioned. 

HT City, Bengaluru, will be headed by Neha Sharma, who has been with HT for over a decade and writes on Bollywood and television. 

Readership data for day one is not available yet. However, a lot of buzz was created around its launch with several celebrities, including Akshay Kumar, Rithvik Dhanjani and Kapil Sharma, posting about it on Twitter. 

HT has provided a three-month free trial as an introductory offer for readers. “Since HT has no presence in Bengaluru, other than LiveMint, and it is new for readers, we are providing them a sampling of the paper. This will give them a chance to know the paper,” the source said. 

According to the source, through HT City, the newspaper intends to tap into ad revenue coming from e-commerce firms and start-ups in the city. “We have been getting ad revenues from the south and have a good base of advertisers here. With this edition, we will be able to garner more revenue.”

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