Challenging Times The magazine industry is going through a tough phase in India just like in other countries. Newspapers have added supplements to their main issue and infringed on the content covered by magazines earlier. Television channels have launched in different genres that didn’t exist a few years back. And with the increased penetration and adoption of the Internet in the country, more people are now consuming news and stories on different topics on the web and mobile. There is still a demand for high quality print content and magazines need to deliver on that need to avoid losing market share to other mediums.
In addition, they also need to explore and distribute their content on the web and mobile platforms to give choice to their subscribers to consume content from anywhere and at any time. India has 49,000 publications, but annual revenues total just $1. 1 billion. Most lack technology, marketing, and capital to grow which has resulted in a handful of publications dominating the market with the Times of India Group being the market leader. Distribution is critical for a magazine since it has to be readily available and marketed to consumers. Big publications have strong distribution network set up. Retail: magazines are available in retail outlets for sale. The retailer gets a commission on the sale price. * Subscription: publisher signs up subscribers directly or through partners and delivers the issues in mail. * Selective Distribution: Special sponsored copies are distributed in airplanes and hotels. With the growth coming from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, magazines have to expand their distribution channel aggressively in those locations and localize content where needed. The print industry in India is highly fragmented due to the large number of ocal languages. Regional language publications own 46 percent of the market share, Hindi language publications cover 44 percent and the remaining 10 percent is served by English publications. The primary penetration of English language magazines currently is in metros and urban centers though the growth is widening to smaller cities as the education and income levels increase among the middle class. With the opening up of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, several international publishers are aggressively entering the market and this trend is expected to continue.
The Opportunity There’s little doubt about India’s market potential. According to a national survey, 248 million literate adults still don’t read any publication. Readership of newspapers and magazines is up 15% since 1998 to 180 million. It’s a reflection of a younger, more educated population, especially in smaller cities. Now that the doors to foreign investors in print media have been thrown open, one can expect activity to pick up in this sector. Companies such as Pearson, Haymarket, Time India, News Corp. and Dow Jones have eyed India’s big, English-reading market. ICICI Ventures, which holds stakes in three media companies, is quite bullish about the industry’s prospects. Trade books offer the best openings, since a higher FDI has been permitted in them. Britain’s Haymarket Publishing Group already has ties to Autocar India, with 80,000 subscribers. Haymarket doesn’t own a stake, but helps with research and management. Now, it can invest, provide funds to print more copies, market more strongly and use Autocar as a platform to bring its other brands.
Bombay’s Tata Infomedia, a $30 million publisher of yellow pages and trade magazines, also has already started to solicit business with foreign companies. The Tata Group sold the Indian edition of Reader’s Digest magazine, making it the first publishing property offered for sale since the government had scrapped the ban on foreign investment in the print media. As expected, there have been various anti-FDI lobbies, which are strongly voicing protests against foreign investment in Indian Print Media.
Their major contention is that foreign forces might begin dominating the content of Indian publications, which is detrimental to national interests. An extreme view given by a former Indian Prime Minister is that powered by their immense finances and goaded by an ambition to control the emerging Indian market, the foreign monopolies will impose their own agenda of ultimately controlling Indian politics. But there is more than meets the eye. The English-language media, fearing competition from players with deeper pockets, has been resisting this move by the Government.
And from a marketing point of view, the English press reaches the most lucrative segment of society – the 300-million-strong middle class. International players are seen as a threat to market share. The opening up of the print media sector to foreign investment is a bold decision by the Government, considering the unwillingness of so many past Governments to do the same. It is a policy decision that could have a very positive impact on the sector, provided the Indian publications generate enough interest and exhibit their true potential to the overseas investors.
It could enrich the quality of the magazines and other publications. Recent Developments * There were several niche titles that were launched in 2008 and 2009. A slew of foreign players launched their India editions. * The most notable magazine launched was Forbes India in May 2009 by Network18 and Forbes Media. * RPG Group’s ‘Open’, a weekly magazine aimed at evolved Indian readers who are well informed, well traveled and identify themselves as global citizens. It is available in 12 cities. * Pathfinder Publishing’s maiden title Career 360, a monthly publication focusing on career advise. Technology Review, a technology magazine launched in India jointly by MIT’s Technology Review magazine and CyberMedia India Ltd. * Hearst Corporation’s Harper’s Bazaar, a fashion and beauty magazine in partnership with India Today. * The re-launch of Delhi Press’ The Caravann, a fortnightly magazine that covers politics, culture, arts and literature. * Images Group’s FNL and Salon and Living etc. , an Indian edition of international homes magazine. * Gill India Communications’ What Women Want, a woman’s magazine for women aged between 20 and 45 years and ‘Lifestyle Living’, a lifestyle magazine dedicated to those with a creative lifestyle. The trend for foreign magazines to launch their India edition is expected to continue in 2010 as well, with BBC’s Lonely Planet magazine having launched recently. * Newspapers and publications have reduced the number of pages to cut print and production cost. Magazines have discontinued supplements, which were earlier distributed free of cost with the main product. Foreign Investment in Indian Print Media – Role of Government The process of economic liberalization in India, which began more than a decade ago, has taken another significant step by opening up the print media sector.
With the UPA Government scoring an emphatic win in the Lok Sabha elections, the media industry got an open-minded Information & Broadcast Minister in Ambika Soni who has sent positive signals to the industry. Earlier in 2009, the Government gave its nod to an increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in facsimile editions of foreign newspapers. The Government also announced customs duty exemption on newsprint. In December 2008, the Indian Government unveiled a set of guidelines to allow Indian editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines 26 per cent FDI as long as all key executives and editorial staff are Indian.
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has for the first time given approval for the publication of the facsimile edition of foreign newspapers by allowing ‘The Wall Street Journal’ and ‘The Wall Street Journal Asia’ in India. Wall Street Journal India Publishing Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Jones and Company Inc, would bring out these newspapers. The government has announced customs duty exemption on newsprint for the newspaper and magazine publishing industry. These concessions were announced in February 2009 in view of the economic slowdown and the high newsprint cost which spiraled close to 25%.
Advertisement Revenue Breakdown by Region * North: 23% * South: 38% * East: 9% * West: 26% * National: 4% The ad revenue sources are national, local, classified, pre-printed (inserts) and advertorials. The CPM rate for magazines is lower than television and the audience is more targeted. Ad Industry Size in India Year 2006 Ad Industry| Amount ($ Million)| TV| 1,655| Print| 1,650| Magazine| 300| Radio| 125| OOH| 250| Internet| 40| Total| 4,020| Year 2011 (Projected) Ad Industry| Amount ($ Million)| TV| 3,075| Print| 3,250| Magazine| 573| Radio| 425| OOH| 538| Internet| 238|
Total| 8,098| Key Players Top 25 English Magazines in India * India Today * Readers Digest * General Knowledge Today * Competition Success Review * Filmfare * Wisdom * Stardust * Outlook * Diamond Cricket Today * Business Today * Femina * The Sportstar * Competition Refresher * Health & Nutrition * The Week * Auto Car * Outlook Business * Woman’s Era * Business India * Champak * Outlook Traveller * Business World * Digit * Society * Frontline Top English Magazines by Segment * Current Affairs, Culture & Politics * OutlookThe WeekIndia TodayFrontlineTehelkaReader’s Digest Society & Women * Femina, India Today Plus, Woman’s Era, Verve Online, Desh Videsh, Teens Today, India Line, Little India Overseas India Magazine, South Asian Life * Entertainment * Filmfare, G Magazine, Screen, Chitralekha, Music Today – India Today Publication, Deccan Chronicle – Cinema News, Bollywood Online, Planet Bollywood Gossip, Bollywood News Daily, Stardust * Sports * Sport Star, ESPN, Cricket Info, Khel, Diamond Cricket Today * Fashion * Vogue (UK), Cosmopolitan, Cosmo Girl, Fashion Planet, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar * Business & Financial Capital Market (Stock Market), Business Today, Business Standard, Economic Times, Financial Express, Commercenet India, Trade India, India Vibes Online, Sourcing Hardware, Business India, Outlook Business * Computer & Electronics * PC Quest, Electronics For You, Dataquest, PC World, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Computer World, Cyber India Online, Informatics, Silicon India, Voice & Data * Travel & Leisure * Budget Travel, Discover India Magazine, Gourmet Travel, Outlook Traveler, Travel Plus, Wanderlust, Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveller * Children Amar Chitra Katha, Spiderman, Competition Master, Odyssey Magazine, Competition Success Review, Wisdom * Fashion & Lifestyle * i-D, Another Magazine, M Magazine, Vogue, Dazed and Confused, View Point * Literature * Darpan, India Star, Raga Net, Meghdutam Average Issue Readership (AIR) Analysis (2008 vs. 2009) The Average issue readership numbers have been on a decline due to increased competition from free content on the Internet and Mobile platforms. * India Today is the highest read English magazine in the county with an AIR of 1,955,000, which is an 8. 7 percent decline in its readership. Reader’s Digest has seen a 2. 1 percent drop in its AIR and is now at 1,327,000. * General Knowledge Today has dropped by 8. 5 percent, and is now at 1,121,000. * Competition Success Review has an AIR of 766,00 and has seen a 3. 5 percent drop.
* Outlook with an AIR of 533,000 has seen a 7 percent drop. * Filmfare is the new entrant in the top ten list with an AIR of 490,000. * Wisdom has seen a 4. 6% drop with an AIR of 455,000. * Stardust has slipped down the list with a 11. 4 percent decrease. The current AIR is at 388,000. * Diamond Cricket Today has an AIR of 378,000, which is a 5. 5 percent decline. Competition Refresher has increased by 37. 3% and its AIR is now at 335,000. * The Week has dropped by 4. 2 percent and the AIR is 322,000. * Femina has dropped by 4 percent and now has an AIR of 309,000. * Business Today has dropped by 12 percent in its AIR down to 287,000. * Health & Nutrition has an AIR of 250,000, which is a 11. 3 percent decline. * The Sportstar has seen 14. 8 percent drop in its AIR and now stands at 242,000. * Business India stands at 222,000, which is a 7. 5 percent decline in its AIR. * Woman’s Era has seen an AIR of 200,000, which is a 4. 8 percent decline. * Auto Car had a 13. percent growth to an AIR of 199,000. * Champak has seen a 4 percent decrease with an AIR of 193,000. * Business India has an AIR of 166,000, which is a decline of 18. 6 percent. * Business World has an AIR of 165,000. * Outlook Traveller has seen an AIR of 146,000. * Digit has seen a 5. 8 percent decline. * Society has seen a growth of 1. 7 percent. * Frontline has seen a 20. 8 percent decline. * Tinkle – Amar Chitrakatha is one of the few who have seen a 0. 9 percent growth. * Femina Girl saw a growth of 6. 2 percent. * Auto India like many others has seen a 18. 7 percent decline in its AIR. P C Quest and Outlook Money have both seen a decline of 17. 4 percent and 24. 3 percent respectively. * Business and Economy has seen a 6. 5 percent growth with an AIR of 82,000. * Inside Outside has seen a 17. 3 percent while Cosmopolitan has seen a 61. 4 percent growth. * Overdrive has dropped by 23. 7 percent. * The Telegraph in Schools has grown by 72. 5 percent with an AIR of 69,000. * New Woman has seen a drop of 9. 2 percent while Magic Pot has an AIR of 58,000. * Time has seen a growth of 3. 6 percent. * Cine Blitz has dropped by 5. 7 percent while Elle and Savvy have grown by 29. percent and 13 percent respectively. References * PWC – Indian Entertainment and Media Outlook 2009 * Exchange4Media. com * Indian Readership Survey – 2009 * Association of Indian Magazines – AIM * Referred to News Articles and Press Releases for 2009 & 2010 * ————————————————- Government & Public Sector * ————————————————- Life Sciences * ————————————————- Media & Entertainment * ————————————————- Mining & Metals * ————————————————- Oil amp; Gas * ————————————————- Power & Utilities * ————————————————- Private Equity * ————————————————- Real Estate * ————————————————- Technology * ————————————————- Telecommunications * ————————————————- India sectors| * Share * * * * * * * * Indian magazine segment: Navigating new growth avenuesThe Indian magazine segment has been on a steady growth path.
However, restricted reach and decline in readership can be a hindrance to this trend. Read our recent report to understand the driving forces of today that can help this segment grow tomorrow. The Indian magazine sector has reached INR14. 9 billion in 2009. The segment’s revenues increased at 7. 2% y-o-y in the year 2009. Over the next three years, it is expected to record an annual growth rate of 6-10%, driven by: * Market entrantsReach of the magazine sector in India is still largely insufficient — more than 300 million literate individuals do not read any publications.
Among the magazine companies surveyed by us, 73% of the respondents believed that magazine readership growth will continue to be driven by the metros and India’s 15 largest cities. Of the 20 most-read magazines in India, only 3 magazines are in English, while the remaining are in Hindi and other regional languages. English magazines however, garner the lion’s share of ad revenues. Request for a copy of this report. What are the driving forces of today to help the magazine segment grow tomorrow?
Advertising currently comprises around 74% of the magazine industry’s total revenues Advertising declined by 4. 9% in 2009 as advertisers faced the pressure to reduce marketing spends during the slowdown. Going forward, ad revenues are expected to increase. Alternate revenue streams are gaining traction Alternate revenue streams such as events and digital delivery are gaining ground, and are expected to account for 20%–50% of total revenues within the next three years.
Hike in circulation revenues Circulation revenues are also expected to grow, primarily for B2C titles, driven by: * Increased cover prices * The growth in niche magazine readership * The introduction of new titlesDuring 2009, about 2,940 magazines and supplements were launched despite the economic slowdown. Changing business models Currently, the magazine segment may not yet have successful strategies and business plans in place to profitably monetize the digital space. But it will soon have to address this concern.
Further, the large and growing number of titles available in each genre remains a concern for growth of ad rates. Companies will need to evolve into multimedia organizations, offering advertisers multiple options to reach their reader communities. Inorganic growth opportunities: Immense scope for M&A, joint ventures and licensing of titles With the easing of entry norms for international magazines, foreign publishers have been, and will continue to, enter the Indian magazine market.
There is immense scope for mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and the licensing of titles in the current scenario, as international publishers witness declining readership in their home markets. Rising literacy rates, increasing disposable incomes and an expanding earning population continue to stimulate the growth of the magazine segment in India. | | | The Indian Magazine Congress (IMC), the annual conference of the Association of Indian Magazines (AIM), was held in Mumbai on February 14 and 15
A video message from Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari flagged off the second day of the Indian Magazine Congress (IMC). Coming out in full support of the print media, Tewari said that his Ministry was willing to walk the extra mile for Indian magazines and that he was optimistic about the printed format in the country. He also spoke about regional language magazines and their potential. The I&B Minister was followed by Nicholas Brett, Managing Director, Magazines, BBC Worldwide, UK who spoke about the journey of GoodFood in UK and India.
Brett’s first line was “Magazines are damn sexy”. Brett said that GoodFood India had made its mark and ended his presentation with the 5Cs of magazine publishing: cannibalization, commoditization, commercialization, coordination and change. Licensing, a key issue in the industry, was the hot topic for debate later. Giving an insight into how the India Today Group manages its magazine bouquet, Mala Sekhri, COO, Lifestyle Magazines and Music Today, India Today Group said that her group cherry-picks brands. She added that initially magazines were called publications, but now they are called and perceived as brands.
According to Sandra Gotelli, international publisher and Head of Licensing, Mondadori, the flexibility parameter in today’s magazine business is very important. She added that being one of the last players in the licensing arena, she has a different approach towards granting of license, and if it works one way, life will not be easier for both the partners (that is, licensee and licensor). Indranil Roy, President, the Outlook Group remarked that marketing investment continues to be a challenge and stressed that flexibility should exist from the licensee to the extent of publicity only.
For Joanna Alexandre, Head of Licensing and Syndication at Immediate Media, partnerships are important. She also said that the publisher now needs to act maturely as initially the license used to be granted only for the main magazine, but now it is also for the supplements, digital, tablets, and so on. Rather than cutting costs, magazines should focus on bringing in cost discipline, was the advice given to Indian magazines by Bernd Klaus Buchholz, CEO, Gruner+Jahr International, part of the Bertelsmann International group.
He stressed mentioned that cost discipline is necessary in order to have a sustained profitable model and warned that decrease in print advertisement will hit the print business. He further said that the identification of key assets for digital in terms of content, brands and the target group is inevitable. Another session focused on the state of Digital Publishing – challenges and opportunities. According to Kirthiga Reddy, Director, Online Operations and Head, Office India, Facebook, publishing brands can highly benefit from social media platforms at various levels. Content strategy needs to be sharpened for different media platforms. It is too early to adapt this model in India, but publishing brands should soon jump in and explore the opportunity to benefit,” she added. Umang Bedi, Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe, said that by using technology and data intelligently, publishing brands can leverage the benefits of convergence of media at its best. The challenge is how brands can be relevant online without changing the context of their offline content strategy.
Punitha Arumugam, Director – Agency Business, Google India, pointed out that digital platforms can help in providing publishing brands information via various tools and data and help them to host rich media content. This will help rope in digital advertisers. The last session saw heads of media agencies discuss RoI from magazine media in a session moderated by Tarun Rai, CEO, World Wide Media. Magazine revenues have been flat even though it is proved that magazines provide consumers with highest engagement quotient and score high on the trust quotient.
So what must magazines do to change this? According to CVL Srinivas, CEO, South Asia, GroupM magazines should stop selling ads and start selling engagement. The second thing that needs to be focussed on is the increase in more relevant or category specific research, which would give an idea as to how to capture audiences. “Thirdly, what we also need to do is to leverage magazines through social media platforms and create a buzz. The growth area is to move from passive to active communities,” Srinivas added.
Ambika Srivastava, Chairperson, ZenithOptimedia and Vivaki Exchange said that developing the right set of touchpoints is necessary to generate RoI. She added, “Readers buy magazines because they clearly value content. It is this metrics that we can convert into currency and help drive revenues. If we can develop a metric with content being the key, we can sell much better. ” Ashish Bhasin, Chairman India and CEO South East Asia, Aegis Group plc stated, “Magazine medium needs to work in partnership with different distribution patterns. Hence, a whole new ecosysytem of partnerships can change the entire scenario. Sam Balsara, Chairman and Managing Director, Madison World said media should be bought keeping in mind the output that it can generate for brands. Magazines need to get experimental in order to gain more in future. No wonder so many publishers are launching Indian editions, courting the country’s affluent. Ernst & Young last week released a report about the magazine sector in India — a first — revealing a great optimism throughout the world’s largest democracy and second fastest growing economy in the news business. It’s a sharp contrast to the mood elsewhere around the world.
According to the survey conducted by Ernst & Young of over 20 heads of Indian magazines, the magazine segment in the media industry is expected to grow around 10% in the next three years. Further, 77% of the magazine company respondents expect to launch new magazines over the next few years. “Young journalists [should] go work in India,” Daily Beast editor Tina Brown now famously said last week to New York’s Daily Intel. “There are so many great newspapers in India. I go quite a lot, actually. It has a very vibrant newspaper and magazine culture.
There’s a lot of energy in Delhi, a lot of news magazines. It’s a very literary culture, it’s great. ” Still, the report cites the lack of reliable and cost-effective distribution systems and accurate reader measurement mechanisms in India. And the Indian magazine segment’s share in the overall ad market is low, varying from 3%-4%, compared to the global markets where overall ad spending is around 15%. It is an uphill climb for any English-language publisher. Right now, of the top 20 most read magazines in India, 17 are Hindi and regional language magazines.
In the last three years, however, major English language publishers have been unrolling their content in India at an almost furious pace, hoping to increase their market share. India is a gamble that just might work for many publishers. The Economist’s Managing Director for India, Suprio Guha, based in Mumbai hasn’t yet seen the optimistic Ernst & Young report. But about the prospects in India for American publishers, he said via email, “the English readership of various media-general newspaper, business rags, and magazines is substantial. He concluded: “The recent successful launch of Lonely Planet magazine, preceded by another success in Forbes India points to the fact that a well positioned magazine has decent possibilities in India. ” India and the luxury niche Verve, which was launched in 1995 and is published and edited by the highly regarded Anuradha Mahindra, is considered one of the first movers online in luxury digital magazines aimed at wealthy women. Afterwards, Elle’s Indian edition launched in 1996 followed by Cosmopolitan’s way back in 1997. India is not so much a country, but more like 20 different countries with different languages and cultures bundled together,” Ernst & Young’s Ashish Pherwani, who issued the report, said in an email. “There are over 70,000 magazine publications. Over 125,000 newspapers. Of the top 20 selling magazines, only 3 are in English — the rest are in regional languages. Most are still general news and current affairs, but now we are seeing more niche magazines. ” Pherwani added: “So yes, it’s a vibrant and diverse culture in India, and the numerous magazines we have only reflect that!
So, lots of opportunities for journalists! ” India has the second largest population of English-speaking people in the world and the second largest consumer base. As wealth and education improves, more and more Indian consumers will fall into the premium segment and want luxury lifestyle content — travel magazines, in particular, have done well recently. In the latest push into India by legacy media companies, Conde Nast’s Vogue was fashionably late to the party, arriving in 2007. But next month Conde Nast plans to launch Traveller in India, courting high-end consumers. 2008 saw the launch of GQ India.
In the next three years, Conde Nast plans to launch six more titles and a Vogue Cafe in Mumbai. Network 18, in alliance with Forbes, launched Forbes India in June 2009. BBC Worldwide already has nine titles and, according to Nicholas Brett, the group editorial director of BBC Magazine, they are looking at further expansion in the market. “India is today what the UK was 15 years ago,” an enthusiastic Brett told India’sFinancialExpress. com this month. Despite the tough economic climate here in the United States, the Indian magazine segment increased revenues at 7% annual rate to reach INR $14. 9 billion (US$322 million) in 2009. The Indian magazine industry is growing on the back of increased literacy rates, as education spreads through the country,” said Pherwani. “Secondly, magazines are still underserved. One study shows that there are still over 300 million literate indians who don’t read ANY magazine. Thirdly, stable economic growth at 6-8% has increased disposable incomes and people are therefore spending more on infotainment options. Hence, the growth. ” The idea of this report on India’s magazine sector came about when Ernst & Young was approached by the Association of Indian Magazines (AIM) for more specific data on the industry. Usually, there is just one annual report on Indian media, but that focuses on newspapers, as newspapers comprise over 90% of the print segment in India (and print still has the largest share of ad revenues from amongst all media),” said Pherwani. “So, a need was felt for a focussed look at the magazine segment, which tends to get left out. ” | | | | | Magazines In India Top Ten Magazines Top Ten English Magazines Top 10 Language MagazinesAbout Magazines In IndiaMagazines in India comprise of 19 categories and cover over 68 niches.
The Indian Readership Survey 2011 shows that India magazine readership continues its downward swing as in the previous two surveys. The segment that has been hit the hardest is the General news magazine segment. On the other hand, niche and business magazines show significant growth. The survey shows that among the top 10 magazines just India Today and Business Today are the only two English magazines. The rest are vernacular magazines, with Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam magznies ruling the roost. Contrary to the genral declining trend among other magazines, both thes magazines have also recorded growth in readership.
Among business magazines, two new publications – Forbes and Fortune (botn Indian Editions) have injected new life for the segment’s audience. The overal decline in the magazine indutsrty is attributed to a number of factors including sluggish advertising market aand inadequate measurement of audience reach. PWC, a research body, syas “Niche magazines such as lifestyle, travel, education and autohave established themselves in India and will continue to grow. It also expects new segments and niches to grow as well. Several new international magazines too were launched in India during 2011.
This included Worldwide Media’s Lonely Planet, BBC Knowledge, Home Trends, ForbesLife and Conde Nast Traveler. All these new internationally owned magazines target the upper middle-class market and some of these magazines have shown encouraging growth. | The Press and Registration of Book (PRB) Act, 1867, will be amended soon, however, the Indian magazine industry is not happy with the Government’s proposed amendment recommendations. Though the Government had asked the industry to submit their suggestions on the proposed recommendations, there are still some issues that magazine fraternity does not agree with.
Meanwhile, the Association of Indian Magazine (AIM) has also taken this issue into consideration and various issues were taken up at a meeting held recently. The PRB Act of 1867 was framed by the British government to keep control over Indian media. Speaking on the proposed amendments by the Government, Paresh Nath, Editor & Publisher, Delhi Press, said, “The proposed amendment by the Government is unnecessary. The old Act was working well during the British reign and after independence also it had been satisfying so far.
The industry doesn’t need any amendment which will restrict the fundamental right to freedom of expression in any way. ” When asked how the amendment will impact magazine industry? Mitraji Bhattacharya, Publisher & President, Chitralekha Group, and General Secretary, AIM, said, “This Act is outdated and badly needs amendments. The AIM (Association of Indian Magazine), under the stewardship of our current President, ably supported by all the ex-presidents and other office bearers, has made repeated representations to the I&B Ministry to see that the issues of the magazine industry get taken care off. Few issues that industry is not satisfied with are: Registration Process: The registration process of new publications is a complex process in India according to the industry people. “We are requesting the I&B Ministry that the entire process should involve only the Press Registrar General and do away with Magistrate/ DCP Licensing. No other section of the media goes through the Magistrate/ DCP Licensing process. Incidentally, DCP Licensing deals with Arms, Explosives, Hotels, Meeting Houses, Cinemas, Public Amusement and Print. It just does not make sense.
If this was to deal with any seditious or pornographic material, there are enough provisions in other Acts to take care of that. ” According to Delhi Press’ Nath, making registration process complicated meant restricting the basic rights of Indian citizens. “The registration process should not involve Magistrate and DCP certification,” he reiterated. The word ‘Publication’: The proposed amended Act is now using the word ‘publication’ to include newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters, etc. Each of these is specifically defined in the new Act. This is fine, but other Acts connected with postal concessions, railways, etc. , do not use the word ‘publication’. The new Act, therefore, may result in certain concessions not available to us,” Bhattacharya remarked. Definition of Foreign Publications: There needs to be some more clarity regarding the definition of foreign publications. ‘Known Foreign Publication’, as mentioned in the proposed Act, is vague, particularly in the current world context and needs to be more specific. Bhattacharya stated that the definition of facsimile editions needed to be looked into.
Barely using ‘exact replica in full or in part’ was not good enough. Apart from these, there are a few other issues that the Indian magazine industry is not satisfied with. Delhi Press’ Nath noted, “It is being said that it is a regulatory Act, but my interpretation is that it’s a restrictive Act, which restricts Indian citizens from starting their own publication. Lots of power has been given to RNI and the District Magistrate. These amendments will only make our country like Burma and China, where the Press is very restricted. On the other hand, Bhattacharya commented that they were satisfied with the co-operation of the I&B Ministry in trying to understand their concerns and hopefully incorporate all the changes recommended by AIM. “It can resolve long standing issues of classification of magazines as a separate entity from newspapers, ease the entire process of registration of titles, clarify various issues related to foreign titles, etc. ,” Bhattacharya concluded. (Reuters) – When Conde Nast launched its premium lifestyle magazine ‘Vogue’ in India last year, it carried a whopping 168 pages of advertisements of a total 400 pages.
Now, the publisher is preparing to launch its luxury men’s magazine GQ and expects a similar rush of advertisers in Asia’s third-largest economy, where rising incomes and growing literacy are boosting readership and revenues of magazines and newspapers. From specialist magazines on whisky, golf and parenting, to regional-language newspapers and financial dailies, new titles are coming thick and fast in one of the few markets in the world where advertising and readership for print media are expanding. “It’s a fast growing economy and with consumption so robust and with incomes rising, it’s fertile ground for the print media,” said Vivek Couto, executive director of Hong Kong-based research firm Media Partners Asia. “There is also a buoyancy in print advertising that is encouraging new launches and niche publications in particular. ” Print publication advertising revenues in India generated 94 billion rupees ($2. 4 billion) in 2007, or 48 percent of all of the country’s media advertising revenues, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) said in a recent report. TV ads generated 41 percent. With the economy having grown at an average rate of 8. 5 percent in the last four years, middle class incomes have risen, boosting demand for niche magazines on health, leisure and finances. Growing prosperity in rural areas is also encouraging demand for publications in India’s more than 20 official regional languages. Revenue for newspapers and magazines in India, where reading at least one newspaper in the morning is sacrosanct, grew at an average rate of 15 percent in the last four years, higher than anywhere in the world, PWC said. The growth is helped by a young demographic, more working women, rapid urbanisation and smaller households, PWC added in its report.
The print publication boom in India contrasts sharply with more mature markets in the West where circulation figures and advertising revenues are down as readers move to the Internet. BOOM India in 2005 allowed 100 percent foreign investment in non-news publications, keeping the cap for news at 26 percent. Early investments included Independent News and Media’s 26 percent stake in newspaper publisher Dainik Jagran, Pearson Plc’s 14 percent in Business Standard newspaper, Henderson Ventures’ investment in HT Media and BBC Worldwide’s magazine venture with Bennett, Coleman & Co.
More recently, private equity firm Blackstone Group put $150 million in regional publisher Ushodaya Enterprises, Warburg Pincus moved $33 million into the Dainik Group and DE Shaw invested $39 million in Amar Ujala Publications, according to research firm Venture Intelligence. News Corp, which has a content alliance for The Wall Journal with HT Media’s business daily, is keen on more launches. Pearson, which has sold its Business Standard stake, is reported to be in talks for a new venture. There’s huge investor interest in the growth potential, because the segment is still quite under-penetrated,” said Atul Phadnis, chief executive of consultancy Media e2e. Local firms are also seizing the opportunity: Business Standard and Bennett, Coleman’s Economic Times have launched Hindi and Gujarati-language editions of their financial dailies. Deccan Chronicle Holdings has launched a business daily to compete with five others, and new regional-language and city papers are hitting the stands nearly every day. The boom in advertising revenue is not limited just to print.
As new media grows and controls are eased in television, these will attract greater investments and advertising revenues. Specialist publications have a better chance of scoring with advertisers and readers in the increasing clutter, Phadnis said. “Niche publications are almost immediately profitable: Advertising more than makes up for lower subscriptions, and there are easy synergies with other verticals, like radio or Internet. ” GLUT But it’s not all good news. The large number of players jostling in the market place could lead to a drop off in advertising revenues in the coming years, analysts say. One of the worries is that publishers are taking ad revenues for granted,” Phadnis said. “Everyone thinks it will keep rising, but as early as 2009 we are going to see a glut in inventory in TV, print and the Internet because of so many players. We will see intense price competition, and smaller firms may be forced out,” he said. Investors are also chasing only a handful of large media firms, he said, nudging up already high valuations: Deccan Chronicle shares trade at 10. 3 times forecast earnings, while Jagran Prakashan trades at 19. times and Mid-Day Multimedia quotes at 19. 7 times forecast earnings. Rising newsprint prices are also bumping up production costs. Still, Conde Nast expects Vogue will break even in its first or second year of operation compared to an average break-even period of five or six years in more mature markets, said Alex Kuruvilla, managing director in India, referring to Europe and the United States. “We are optimistic and bullish,” he said of the potential. “But also cautious: In this market, you have to be smart. Attracting the attention of vendors who hawk magazines at traffic lights and getting space on shelves in overcrowded news stands across Mumbai is not easy for new entrants. “I am already running out of space,” said K. B. Singh, pointing to a low wooden bench on a busy sidewalk piled high with dozens of glossy magazines and newspapers. “Where will I put the new ones? ” IMC 2008: Indian magazine industry is the fastest growing in the world By Khushboo Tanna, afaqs! , Mumbai, September 23, 2008 Section: News Category: Media Publishing * * * * * *
The last session of the day at the IMC 2008 stressed on how this segment is progressing financially and the funding options available The last session of the day at the Indian Magazine Congress 2008 was presented by Mukesh Jain, associate director, transaction advisory services, Ernst & Young. Jain started by giving an overview of the Indian media and entertainment industry. The IMC 2008 was held in Mumbai on Monday. He said that the high volume market in India makes up for the low average revenue per consumer in this sector. He said that in spite of the low revenue, this industry will keep growing at 20 per cent per annum. |
Mukesh Jain| He said that the industry is driven by certain factors such as economic parameters, entrepreneurial mindset, regulatory functions and demographics. According to Jain, “The Indian print industry is expected to reach $5. 2 billion by 2012 from the current levels of $ 3. 2 billion. ” According to Jain, the Indian magazine industry is the growing the fastest in the world and, therefore, attracts international interest. Even with incoming global attention, the regional market still rules the roost as Hindi magazines dominate with 44 per cent of the market share, whereas English magazines appeal to only 21 per cent of the market.
Jain then spoke about the funding options available to print publications and laid out two options from which they could choose: equity and debt. The equity option was feasible for sectors such as film production and TV broadcasting since the risks involved are high, while sectors such film distribution, radio and print could ideally go for debt as they could provide collateral. He also elaborated on the equity funding options available for the print media sector. Jain then explained how financiers perceived the industry and how this sector could prepare for the future.
The Indian Magazine Congress 2008 was organised in association with Worldwide Movies (WWM). The theme of the Congress this year was: Where Is the Next Big Opportunity? On challenges the magazine industry is facing The challenge the magazine industry faces today is in it’s scalability. You need a basic critical mass for any business model to survive and grow, magazines are no exceptions to that. Many a time, magazine publishers jump into launching new titles without doing adequate homework. On the need for a different metric for magazines
The magazine industry also suffers from lack of metrics as IRS kind of omnibus surveys, which are largely designed to capture newspaper readership, fail to address the concerns of the industry. Hence there is an urgent need to create a currency, which takes care of the requirements of the magazine industry. On opportunities ahead for the magazine industry The opportunities for the magazine industry are huge. Magazines really work for advertisers in terms of engaging an audience, which is bombarded by over 3,000 messages a day, in an increasingly cluttered media environment. It’s probably the only medium where ads are not avoided.
The industry needs to engage the media planners in a different way and explain to them that “engagement” with the audience is the most difficult thing to achieve in today’s media scenario and that’s what magazines provide. Eight trends in Indian magazine publishing 31 January 2009 Anurag Batra, chairman and editor-in-chief of exchange4media group, in Magazine World, the journal of The International Federation of the Periodical Press: 01) English language publishing has disproportionate advertising revenues in regard to its readership in comparison to Indian language publications. 02) India is a low cover-price market, and the ominant revenue stream is advertising. The common phrase “Those who live by advertising will die by advertising,” certainly seems true in today’s times. 03) The yields from advertising are low compared to rates in other countreis. The highest circulation English magazine sells a full page at an average of about $9,000 (€7,252). 04) Distribution is a challenge, though there are specialist distribution arms entering the market. 05) Indian language publishing is likely to see the most growth. 06) The Indian magazine industry continues to attract entrepreneurs, both in the digital space and print and publishing. 7) International flagship titles and home-grown brands exist and compete well in the same space. 08) The contract publishing business, in an era where brands wish to be media owners, is very under-leveraged in India. The global economy presents its own set of opportunities and threats for businesses in a range of industries. IBISWorld’s Global Magazine Publishing global market research report provides the latest industry statistics and industry trends, allowing you to identify the products and customers driving revenue growth and profitability.
The industry report identifies the leading companies globally and offers strategic industry analysis of the key factors influencing the market. Market Share of Companies Industry Statistics & Forecast Revenue$100bn| Annual Growth 07-12-8. 4%| Annual Growth 12-17| | Profit| Employment (‘000)534| Businesses16,652| Industry Analysis & Industry Trends Though low disposable income in developed nations and diminished revenue from advertising hampered the industry during the Great Recession, newly industrialized nations have increased their consumption and demand for magazines in line with their rising standards of living.
Magazine operators will increasingly invest in online and mobile applications to attract readers. As a result of these factors, circulation and revenue are expected to expand over the next five years… read more Industry Locations The spread of establishments in the Global Magazine Publishing industry is influenced by variations in economic development and population size. For example, the size and breadth of culture, entertainment and fashion industries can determine total spending on consumer magazine advertising.
In developed countries, household incomes and literacy levels are relatively high. These factors can promote sales of consumer, business-to-business, professional and technical periodicals; higher periodical cover prices; and higher advertising spending on a per capita basis. France has a high level of consumer magazine circulation on a per capita basis… read more What is the Global Magazine Publishing Industry? The Global Magazine Publishing industry comprises enterprises that publish magazines or periodicals.
These businesses carry out the operations necessary for producing and distributing magazines and other periodicals, such as gathering, writing and editing articles, and selling and preparing advertisements. These enterprises may publish magazines and other periodicals in print or electronic form. Industry Products Consumer magazine subscriptionsConsumer magazine newsstand salesDigital consumer magazinesOther periodicals Industry Activities Periodical publishingMagazine publishingJournal publishingTV guide publishing kshitiz. sharma@alliance. edu. in
