the indian print industry

PRINTWriting future editions

History of Print in India• The first Indian media were the Print media with The Bengal

Gazette which was started in 1780 by James Augustus Hickey under the British Raj.• Other newspapers like The India Gazette, The Calcutta

Gazette, The Madras Courier (1785) and The Bombay Herald (1789) soon followed carrying news under the British rule.• The Bombay Samachar, founded in 1822 and printed in

Gujarati, is the oldest Asian newspaper still in print.• The Times of India was founded in 1838 as The Bombay

Times and Journal of Commerce by Bennett, Coleman and Company, a colonial enterprise now owned by an Indian conglomerate.

Major Publication Houses• Jagran Prakashan Ltd.• HT Media Ltd.• D B Corp Ltd.• Malayala Manorama Company Ltd.• Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd.• Amar Ujala Publications Ltd.• Lokmat Media Limited• Ananda Publishers

The Working of the Print Industry in India

The typical cost heads are:• Production/Printing: Newsprint forms 50-60% of the production

cost. These are variable costs which vary with the size of the print run.• People Costs: Varying between 12-20% of the revenues

depending on whether it is an English or Indian language publication, staff costs remain more or less fixed.• Marketing Costs: Marketing is a new imperative in the age of

multiple editions and multi-media competition.• Distribution Costs: These costs include trade margins and the

cost of returns or ‘unsolds’. According to an analysis, the selling and distribution expenses of large publishing brands like TOI and Dainik Jagran are roughly 7-8% of gross sales.

The EconomicsCost

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The Economics

• Circulation: Money brought in from the cover or retail price of a magazine or newspaper after deducting trade margins and the cost of unsold copies.

• Advertising: Advertising forms about 80% of a publication’s revenues.• Subscriptions: Even though they bring in cash they also involve a huge cost.

Most subscription schemes are used to elevate circulation numbers and to demand higher rates from advertisers.

• Brand extensions: A magazine or newspaper can extend the brand to different revenue streams like events, TV programmes and others. In specialist media companies, brand extensions bring about 30-50% of revenues.

• Internet/Mobile/Apps: Most newspapers and magazines have been increasing their Internet and mobile presence to generate revenues using original content. However, they are not yet significant contributors to revenue.

Revenues

The Share of Advertisement and Circulation Revenue in the Indian Print

Industry

The Measures• Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC): Set up in 1948, it is made up

of advertisers, advertising agencies and publishing companies to measure circulation.• Indian Readership Survey (IRS): First released in 1995 by the

Media Research Users Council (MRUC) to rival the National Readership Survey (NRS) which was suspended in 2006. It measures the readership.In 2011, MRUC and ABC came together to pool resources to create the Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI).

The Trends & Opportunities• Outsourcing: The shrinking print market overseas and it’s consequent

axe on jobs creates opportunities in India to manage outsourced editorial, advertising or subscription work.• Language Newspapers: The growth of language newspapers are a

pleasant surprise and will witness a hyper-growth and competition considering the significant headroom for growth in regional markets.• Niche Magazines: With hundreds of unexplored and under-explored

niches in India, niche magazine is a welcome trend.• Free Publications• Tabloids: Though it’s revenues or profits are hazy due to less saleable

ad space compared to a broadsheet, over a 100 newspapers across the world have moved to tabloid.• Other Media: The rise of Internet and mobile offers publishing houses

growth opportunities with many investing heavily in outdoor, events and in radio for stronger local connect.

The Rise of Vernacular Languages

The Challenges

• Lack of Unity: The industry’s lack of ability to act as one on a variety of issues, like metrics and research, is a major challenge.• Compromising Content: The industry’s extreme dependence on

advertising revenues has led to an inability to keep corruption of content at bay. This is usually the intrusion of advertising into editorial space or the pure selling out of editorial for ads.• Falling Time Spent and Rise of Digital: Another issue is the

drop in time spent reading and the Internet eating away at print revenues.

The Registrar of Newspapers for India(RNI)

• Established on 1 July 1956, on the recommendation of the First Press Commission in 1953`and by amending the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867, it is a statutory body of the Government of India for newspapers.• It is headquartered in New Delhi and has 3 regional offices at Kolkata,

Mumbai and Chennai.• It’s duties include; Compilation and maintenance of a Registrar of Newspapers containing

particulars about all newspapers published. Issue of a Certificate of Registration to newspapers under valid declaration. Enforcement of the Press and Registration of Books Act. Ensuring that newspapers are published in accordance to the PRB Act.

Statistics and Figures

Size of the Print Industry

Top Dailies in India

Top English Dailies

Top Language Dailies

Top Magazines

A Presentation ByKevin Thomas