FICCI-KPMG REPORT: THE POWER OF A BILLION AN OVERVIEW OF THE PRINT INDUSTRY

INTRODUCTION: Contrary to most other markets in the world that continue to witness an erosion of the print media industry, in India, the sector is expected to continue to grow at a steady pace over the next five years. Rising literacy levels and low print media penetration offer significant headroom for growth, says a FICCI-KPMG report. Print continues to grow in India unlike in most countries. It has become more competitive and vibrant over the last few years. And the industry is finally acknowledging that challenges to its business model, though not immediate, will emerge eventually. CONTEXT: 2012, has been a tough year for the print industry. Advertising-Advertising is the corner stone of the print industry. It is the prime contributor to the total revenue earned by the print sector. The industry is highly dependent on advertising revenues, which are adversely affected by the poor macroeconomics performance of the country. However situation is expected to improve in 2014. The industry is undergoing a pragmatic approach of consolidating and positioning in the core markets rather than entering new markets. Their main focus is on rationalising the costs. Newspaper-After advertising, it is the newspaper printing which generates a larger share of revenue in this sector. As the newsprint prices are stable up to certain extent. There has been a remarkable increase in the market share of the vernacular newspaper. The gap between imported and domestic print is narrowing, due to foreign exchange fluctuations. The industry is set to adopt differential pricing strategy that will reduce their dependence on advertising revenues and is also implementing cost control and introducing new technology to reduce further operating costs. ANALYSIS/INFERENCE: The major contributors towards print sector are Advertising Auto Education

 FMCG In newspaper print and magazines revenues from Hindi and vernacular segments are expected to catch up with English which has to date a majority share. Realizing the power of regional media, national and foreign players have ventured into regional markets and several others are likely to follow suit. Meanwhile, regional players have achieved scale and are now looking to go national and build a pan India presence. Geographical expansion by existing players in television, print and radio is expected to intensify competition and leading to interesting times for these industries. Regional print expected to grow at a higher rate of 12 percent. Innovation has become increasingly important for industry to continuously innovate new formats and strategies in order to enable brand loyalty help expand the market. The advantages of print industry are Extensive reach Localisation benefits Greater Attention Span Consumer Trust and Loyalty CONCLUSION: Indian print industry is comparatively better off than its global counterparts, which have been experiencing declining revenues over the past few years. Although the overall Indian scenario looks promising, capitalising on future potential, however, will depend on how the industry deals with the present challenges. Rising literacy, growth in disposable income, brand consciousness and strong commercial development will together contribute to increased penetration of regional print media. The print industry today is faced with a dynamic environment that is unprecedented changing business models, consumer and reader demographics present opportunities and challenges that will greatly improve profitability for flexible and aggressive players and erode the bottom line of static players.