prajavani was the leading kannada newspaper for decades, until it was overtaken in circulation by "vijaya karnataka" (vk) in 2004. the gulf between pv and the upstart vk became huge for a while, but the two newspapers appear to be competing much more closely as of 2014, with pv having significantly recovered ground according to industry numbers. some analysts have also attributed this to the launch of vijaya vani, by the original owner of vijaya karnataka, vijay sankeshwar and his vrl group, which has apparently eaten into the readership of "vijaya karnataka". other regional competitors include "udayavani", "varthabharathi", "kannada prabha" and "samyukta karnataka".