Launch of hindi publication in Hindi heartland (Uttar pradesh/Uttarakhand); The Times Group

Abstract

Newspaper business has grown in India, while it has shrunk in the West. It is floundering in the United States and parts of Western Europe; it is beginning to slow in Japan and Korea; and it is growing in China, India, most African countries, and some Asian ones. The reason for India’s newspaper industry growth that can be attributed to the growing adult literacy levels1 and relatively scant penetration of substitutes like internet. India finds itself in a fairly fortuitous position — readership and advertising revenues are growing steadily and are likely to do so for some more years. The challenges a newspaper faces in India, therefore, are generally different from those faced by newspapers in many other countries. These include coping with competition and increasing share of advertising and circulation revenue, improving the reader experience, filling gaps in terms of the reading needs of people, and building an enduring business. The Indian Newspaper industry is flourishing; from 2005 to 2006, nearly 2,100 newspapers debuted in India, joining 60,000 circulating. Despite the hold the television industry has on the country, it is the print press which is attracting more advertisers, making up 47% of the overall share. According to a report by KPMG, India’s media business (print, television, radio, digital) released in 2011, projected that advertising revenue within the industry will see a sharper growth, from an estimated US$6.15 billion in 2011 to US$10.87 billion in 2015. That’s a CAGR of 15%. According to a report by PwC, print media industry of India is expected to show a CAGR of 7.5% till the year 2014. 95% of the total print media is in form of dailies. 37% of the total readership of dailies belongs to Hindi newspapers whereas only 10% belong to English readership2 . The top 4 Hindi newspapers (Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan and Amar Ujala) have grown by 3.63% y-o-y basis adding almost 1.8 million new users3 . Nearly 25% of the Hindi reader base lies in the age group of 20-29 years. 60% of the readership in Urban 40% in rural whereas only 6% of urban base of English readership. Hindi or language dailies are seen as providing valuable and sizeable reach in key markets, a big chunk of ethno-chic audience is not reached by the English media. These are readers who have desire and some spending power are forward looking in their functional mindset (in matters like jobs, education, property choices, etc.- close to the English world) but are traditional in their emotional mindset or emotionally connected to their communities, language, region (in matters like marriage, festivals, values, etc.). The upper middle class reads language papers because of the emotional connect that it provides them. The lower middle class is the aspirant class that wants to succeed and that is where Hindi newspapers fill the need-gap. Regional newspapers like Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika, Amar Ujala, etc have also started spreading their hold over B class cities by bringing out region specific editions. This has helped in effective penetration and as a result it has increased their respective reader base.