Ramoji Rao’ s motto of delivering the newspaper before sunrise changed the way people read news in the combined Andhra Pradesh for decades, and on June 8 he silently slipped into a new world before sunrise leaving behind millions of his loyal readers and hundreds of journalists who owe their careers to him. Media tycoon, Cherukuri Ramoji Rao , who heralded unthinkable changes in the media world over the last five decades, left an indelible mark not only on the media but also on films, hospitality, the financial sector, the food industry, and also the politics of two Telugu States. Born in a middle-class family in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, he rose to the position of owning the largest media houses with the widest reach in the country at one point in time.
His success lay in his approach of daring to dream, and it yielded results. When he launched Eenadu newspaper from Vishakapatnam in 1974 when the entire Telugu media houses were in Vijayawada and some of them in Hyderabad and the political class sitting in Hyderabad, was seen as a revolution and calculated bravery. The move paid off and the publication quickly moved across the State touching every village.
It continues to be the largest circulated Telugu daily with numerous editions not just in Telugu States but also in the neighbouring States. Ramoji Rao impacted the lives of millions riding on the positivity of social consciousness of the newspaper. Venturing into electronic media with a bang when it was sti.