The 'Print Party' continues

At a time when the developed markets (US & Europe) are witnessing a decline in newspaper readership, dailies in India and China have been witnessing unprecedented growth. The number of new newspaper launches and the media IPO’s reflect the true state of this boom.

Similar to the FDI in Retail, FDI in print is also a contentious issue. The government’s decision to allow fax copies of international newspapers is unlikely to have any impact. How many people would be interested in buying an overpriced print edition of IHT published from S’pore / HK. If FDI is allowed, the Business Standard – Financial Times (UK) would give market leader ET a run for its money. TIME magazine captures some of these aspects in its latest issue:

Newspapers grabbed 46% of the $2.6 billion spent on advertising in all Indian media last year. Smelling big profits in the combination of rising circulation and advertising, India's newspaper barons have now unleashed the biggest newspaper war in their country's history. Until recently, most cities have been dominated by one major English-language newspaper. Bombay, for example, was Times of India territory. A handful of families controlled India's major newspapers, and a gentleman's agreement largely kept them off each other's turf. Not anymore. In Bombay, a new English newspaper called DNA (as in Daily News and Analysis) has launched an advertising blitz, buying dozens of giant billboards around the city, as it prepares to take on the Times of India. At the same time, the Times launched a new tabloid, the Mumbai Mirror. To thicken the melee, the Hindustan Times, a leading New Delhi paper, also entered the fray. Bombay is currently experiencing India's most febrile newspaper battle, but it's not the only one. In Madras, the Deccan Chronicle is aggressively taking on The Hindu, India's most respected English-language paper.

The same issue also has an interview with Aamir Khan

(Pic Courtesy: TIME)