In terms of creating and maintaining good magazines, Bangladesh could have gone places. But currently the whole situation is stuck in a quagmire. 

When the overall book readership is going south in the country, its little surprising that magazine readership is also suffering a free fall. A few factors are also contributing to this

1. The Name – From Anando Dhara to Anando Alo to Anando Binodon, just about all entertainment magazines have similar names, making it really difficult for any one particular magazine to stand out

2. The Differentiation – Almost all of them have similar contents in similar writing style. Nothing is unique. Nothing stands out

3. The “Me-too” problem – Almost all the magazines are cluttered towards that one segment – women. In the recent years we have seen a significant rise in the number of “glam” magazines focusing on different elements of lifestyle.

In this situation, a new magazine can break free and create its own space by doing the following.

1. Target a new segment – How about a magazine for entrepreneurs? How about one for mucho males and metro sexuals? Rather than being an entertainment source (Which is effective for targetting women), magazines can be a source of very relevant information which can make it attractive for that illusive male group

2. Clearly position themselves with a different name. A great example is “Mint” which is a newly launched business paper which is a collaboartion with Wall Street Journal and Hindustan Times. With such an innovative name and great positioning (A breath of fresh air in the cliched business news segment), they have stood out from the rest. 

3. Offer something different. How about a magazine that will change its outlook with the six seasons? That would have a “word of mouth” angle and help to spread word.