According to FICCI-KPMG Indian Media & Entertainment Industry Report 2014, Indian print media registered 8.5 per cent growth in 2013, touching the size of Rs 243 billion.
However, in the absence of robust and credible measurement system, as the IRS data being disputed by the major media players, decisions on media planning and allocation had suffered.
The report has predicted that there is good time ahead for the Indian print media as growth will be fuelled by the regional market. Evidences suggest that digital media is yet to pose any significant challenge to the print media.
Bucking the global trend, the medium continues to enjoy advertisers’ faith. In fact some of the big advertisers such as FMCG, Retail, and real estate had actually increased their media spend on print in 2013.
Last year print media also benefitted from State assembly elections, which were held in several States. Advertising spends by political parties are expected to benefit the print media in this calendar year as well.
Of the total advertisement revenue, 94.4% was cornered by the newspaper category, forcing some of the prominent publishers to discontinue their magazines in 2013.
Although some magazines have carved their own niche with their well-defined readership and advertisement base, the magazine industry as a whole facing stiff growth challenges. The FICCI-KPMG report has predicted that share of the magazine industry in the total print industry may shrink to 3.6% in the next 5 years.
In 2013, 67% of print media’s total revenue came from advertisement. The report has warned against the growing dependence of Indian print media on advertisement revenue. The report has suggested that the revenue model skewed in favour of advertisement could actually spell doom for the industry, and it should increase cover prices so as advertisement-circulation mix has proper balance.
Advertisement Mix
- Growth in the previous year was driven equally by an increase in advertisement and circulation revenues
- Circulation revenue grew by 8.1% in 2013; in 2012 the growth was 7.3%
- Most publishers were able to increase their cover prices in mature markets such as metros and tier I cities
Growth During Last 5 Years
English dailies were outperformed by regional and vernacular dailies; excellent performance of regional print media could be attributed to low media penetration, high population growth and rising income and literacy levels- The growth of the overall print industry was largely driven by Hindi and the vernacular print markets
- Registering 10.5% growth, the size of Hindi print market increased to to INR75 billion in 2013
- Vernacular print media grew by 10 per cent to touch INR76 billion in 2013
- However, a vital factor for the industry’s future performance will likely be the stability in the overall macroeconomic environment, and publishers’ innovating on content as well as distribution to engage with their consumers in a better way. Industry players are expected
Challenges
- Emergence of e-newspapers and the digital media, however digital media itself facing hurdles like poor internet penetration and lack of content beyond English
- English readers may move away from print to digital media; the English print media will have stiff competition from the new media in getting advertisement revenue
Key Trends
- In 2013, circulation revenue witnessed growth of 8.1 per cent which is marginally higher than the growth in the circulation revenue in 2012 of 7.3 per cent.
- Various national as well as regional players have broadened their base by launching newer editions in local languages or sub-editions
- In 2013, The Hindu launching a Tamil edition; Times of India launched a Gujarati edition NavGujarat Samay and Dainik Bhaskar’s entred into Patna
- DAVP ad rates (the government ads are routed through DAVP) for print media raised by 19% in 2013; DAVP ad rates were hiked to account for the significant increase in newspaper costs since the last hikePrint likely to gain at television’s expense
