INDIA-The world's 'last great newspaper market'

With 62,483 newspapers and periodicals in 101 languages, and combined daily circulation of 99 million, India is the second biggest newspaper market in the world despite its poor literacy rates. Though the press has successfully warded off State attempts to curb its freedom of expression, new pressures from extra-constitutional authorities and from commercial interests may be undermining its independence and its commitment to serving the public interest.

The Indian print media currently include over 62,483 newspapers and periodicals, according to the latest figures available from the website of the Registrar of Newspapers for India, updated up to March 31, 2006 (RNI 2005-06). The total circulation of newspapers in 2005-06 was 18,07,38,611 copies.

Indian publications appear in as many as 101 languages and dialects. The largest numbers of newspapers were published in Hindi (4131), followed by English (864), Gujarati (775), Urdu (463) Bengali (445), and Marathi (328). In circulation, too, Hindi newspapers continued to lead with 7,66,98,490 copies, followed by English with 3,41,06,816 copies. While the Gujarati press with 98,44,710 copies came in third, the Urdu and Malayalam language press followed closely with 92,17,892 and 82,06,227 copies respectively.

Among daily newspapers, Hindi led with 942 dailies, followed by 201 in English. The languages with more than 100 daily newspapers were Urdu (191), Telugu (147) Marathi (130) and Gujarati (100). Circulation-wise, Hindi dailies maintained dominance with 3,76,42,520 copies. English dailies followed with a circulation of 1,29,14,581 copies.

The current readership of the print media across India is approximately 222 million, going by figures emerging from the National Readership Survey 2006, based on a sample of 2,84,373 individuals and covering 535 publications across the country. According to NRS 06, the number of readers in rural areas (110 million) is almost the same as in urban areas (112 million). Readership of the press as a whole had registered a three % increase from the year before. At the same time, the reader base for dailies and other newspapers increased from 24% % a year earlier to 25%, reaching 203.6 million. There is obviously significant scope for further growth since 359 million literate adults still do not read any publication.

A May 2008 article headlined, ‘Where Print Still Makes Sense…’ in IndiaKnowledge@Wharton, (1) quoted a PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report on the print media industry in India. According to the report, ‘In 2007, the Indian print media industry recorded a growth of 16% over the previous year. Newspaper publishing, which constitutes 87% of the segment, grew at 17%, whereas magazine publishing, which contributes the remaining 13%, grew at a marginally lower rate of 15%. On an overall basis, the print media industry stood at Rs 149 billion [14,900 crore] in 2007, up from Rs 128 billion [12,800 crore] in 2006." PwC estimated the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2008 through 2012 at 13% for newspapers and 15% for magazines. The comparative estimated CAGR internationally (for 2007 through 2011) is 2.1% for newspapers and 3.1% for magazines.

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