Month: June 2017

Print Media

Shabbir Chunawalla

Print in India is a growing and profitable industry. It has more than doubled in the last 10 years. It would not have survived if there is no readership. The impression is that the digital is cornering a large amount of ad pie, but the fact is that TV and print toghter account for 74 per cent of all advertising. Next to TV, print dominates India’s Rs. 126,200 crore M & E industry. Yes, digital remains the fastest growing segment at Rs. 7,690 crore.

Why the print media continue to grow? There are several reasons. The rising literacy rate which is 74 per cent currently is the biggest reason for print to grow. In India, there is primacy of the written word. The third reason is the home delivery of the newspapers. In the developed word, the decline against internet is rapid as there is volition involved in going out to buy a newspaper in the US or UK. In India labour is inexpensive and so the delivery costs are low.

The number of copies sld have increased, despite the rise in cover prices.

In India, circulation is not the chosen metrics for advertisers, as a newspaper is shared anywhere between 2-11 people Readership is a better metrics of reach.

News and Media Sites Online : Monopolistic Tendencies

Shabbir Chunawalla

News and media sites available online are mostly from mainstream media brands, e.g. NDTV or India Times. Online media brands which are well-established have a revenue of Rs. 100 crore and majority of them fall in the bracket of Rs.10 to Rs.30 crore category. Mainstream media are in a better position to monetise the online media.

Abroad, Google and Facebook take 85 to 90 cents of each new digital dollar spent. What is left for the digital companies are just crumbs. In India too, YouTube owned by Google takes 2/3rds of all advertising money on digital video. Media will have to focus on generation of more revenue through online stream. This may raise their content cost in future.

Please do not be under the impression that NDTV and Times Online depend on their mother brands for content. As the content is meant for a different target audience, they source from diverse entities. It is however, true that much more effort will be required to bread the monopoly of the social media.