Revision as of 06:57, 17 December 2017

Hindi dailies lead circulation chart in July-December 2012

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 2013/05/16

The Times of India

Mumbai: Hindi newspapers sold the largest number of copies among daily newspapers in all languages in India, clocking a circulation of a little over 15 million during the July-December 2012 period. This was followed by English newspapers with a circulation of over 9 million during the period, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).

Among other languages, Marathi newspapers came third in the pecking order with a certified circulation of 5.4 million, while the fourth spot was taken by Malayalam newspapers with a circulation of around 4 million. Tamil and Telugu daily newspapers took the fifth and sixth spot with a circulation of roughly 3.9 million and 3.7 million, respectively, while Bengali newspapers came seventh with 2.7 million.

Kannada newspapers took the eighth spot with a circulation of around 2 million. Punjabi with a circulation of 8.4 lakh was ninth on the list, followed by Oriya with a circulation of 4.8 lakh on the 10th spot. Other prominent ones included Assamese (3.3 lakh), Gujarati (1.6 lakh) and Urdu (1.3 lakh).

ABC, which has changed its system of appointing auditors to audit circulation figures of member publications with effect from January to June 2013, said this was being done to bring about greater transparency.

The total number of average certified copies of daily newspapers, weekly newspapers and magazines put together across 17 languages, during July-December 2012, stood at a little over 59 million. Of these, daily newspapers formed a significant portion (approximately 81%) of the circulation, with average certified copies at 48 million.

2008-15: 5.04% CAGR growth

The Times of India, Jun 02 2016

The print medium is thriving, growing and expanding in India despite stiff competition from other media like TV , radio and digital editions, reveals Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) data. ABC has been certifying circulation figures of member publications every six months--January-June and July-December--since 1948. Print circulation of ABC member publications grew by 5.04% CAGR over the last eight years. This growth was achieved due to new titles entering various market places as well as existing titles expanding their reach by starting new editionsprinting centres.

ABC certifies circulation figures after a stringent audit process through 90 empanelled firms of chartered accountants. As of date, 669 member editions (daily and weekly newspapers) and 50 magazines submit their circulation figures every six months for third party independent verification. Other ABC members include media agencies, print medium advertisers, government organisations and DAVP.

ABC will also be shortly entering the field of digital measurement along with Nielsen.

2017: Print media in dire straits

Indian newspaper industry: Red ink splashed across the bottom line, Jan 19 2017 : The Times of India

A Times of India Editorial

Even as political parties prepare for a high-decibel electoral showdown, there is a quieter but no less critical battle for survival being fought across India. At stake is the future of print media. For long considered one of the four pillars of democracy ­ and a defender of free speech ­ newspapers are today under siege. A number of factors outside their control have come together to deal them a body-blow.

There is already blood on the floor of one of the last bastions of print media in the world. Major national dailies are shutting editions, laying off staff, slashing costs, and freezing expansions and investments. Smaller papers have been doing this for the last five years. -

Already , implementation of the latest wage board recommendations has bled a number of print companies to the point of sickness after the previous government accepted the board's report and forced newspapers to raise salaries by 45-50% along with arrears ­ so that blue collar staff including peons, clerks and drivers in certain scales are now paid more than three times what they earn in any other industry in India.

Hitherto profitable large publishers went into the red because of unsustainably high wage board payouts. The venerable Hindu reported a pre-tax loss in 2013-14 and 2014-15 as staff costs soared due to unsustainably high wage board payouts.The country's largest news agency , the not-for-profit Press Trust of India, has been similarly affected as a 173% rise in staff costs in 2013-14 over the previous year led to a sharp spike in operating losses, which have since remained high.

Demonetisation has also wreaked havoc on the print media. The Indian newspaper business is heavily dependent on advertising revenue, which contributes 70-80% to its total revenue. This was, in any case, showing little growth in the last few years ­ 4-6% compared to TV's 15-18% and digital's 35-40%. But demonetisation has compounded the situation by squeezing spends across almost all categories of advertisers.

This has been exacerbated by government refusing to hike its rockbottom DAVP advertising rates in line with market rates. DAVP rates have been revised only once since October 2010.Government advertising in large national newspapers is heavily subsidised by the newspapers themselves and does not even cover the cost of the paper they are printed on.

What has compounded the situation is a sharp spike in overheads like newsprint costs, particularly of the imported variety ­ which is used by large newspapers in high-speed printing machines ­ because of rupee depreciation.

Despite all this, Indian newspapers have kept cover prices among the lowest in the world (Rs 3-5 per copy on an average) so as to keep them affordable for readers for whom the newspaper is a source of not just information and enter tainment, but also education and knowledge. As result, circulation revenue remains low and does not come anywhere near covering the cost of producing and distributing newspapers (advertisers cross-subsidise readers, which is why the steep fall in ad revenues since November is such bad news for the industry).

The cumulative effect of all these factors means that there is an existential threat to the vast majority of Indian newspapers, including the larger ones, which themselves have been financially weakened in the last few years. To cite an example, one of the most profitable publicly-listed national newspaper groups reported only a 4% CAGR revenue growth between 2011-12 and 2015-16 while its manpower cost jumped by over 58%. If this is the challenge before a major player, imagine the situation in smaller entities.

There are remedies, but they need to be actioned quickly so as to ensure that Indian newspapers do not turn sick in the next few years.

Print media is the only industry in the Indian private sector where a government-appointed wage board fixes wages. The National Commission on Labour in 2002 had unequivocally recommended that there was no need for a wage board to be constituted for any industry . In any case, the very concept of a `print journalist' no longer exists as journalists have become platformagnostic, moving from filing for online to writing for print to appearing on television, all in the course of a single workday.

Promotion of freedom of speech and upholding of democratic values have for over six decades formed the bedrock of the principle of zero or very low indirect tax on newspapers. The Supreme Court's interpretations of Constitutional protections for newspapers hold that any tax on newspapers is a tax on knowledge and militates against the spread of literacy and dissemination of news.