Even as we talk of increasing penetration of internet and a growing number of people accessing news and information digitally, the print media in India seems to have bucked a global trend and has continued to grow across markets and languages, even as in developed countries print publications are on the decline.
Over the last decade, 2.37 crore copies were added across publications, taking the total to 6.28 crore copies average per day in 2016 from 3.91 crore per day in 2006, a compounded annual growth of 4.9 per cent, according to figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
ABC is a non-profit body for measuring and auditing newspaper and magazine circulation in the country.
Apart from the number of copies circulated, the number of publishing centres also rose at a compounded annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent to 910 in 2016 from 659 in 2006, ABC said.
The growth was largely driven by regional language publications, which have seen strong growth in number of subscribers as well as a rise in advertising revenue.
Among daily newspapers, Malayalam language dailies led with average copies of 45.50 lakh copies across 46 publications between July-December 2016, followed by Marathi with 43.39 lakh copies across 83 publications and Tamil with 42.14 lakh copies across 55 publications, ABC's certified circulation figures showed.
Even among the magazines, Malayalam publications led with average 16.10 lakh copies across 12 publications over July-December.
Easy distribution of newspapers and magazines to a consumer's doorstep, prices that still remain among the cheapest in the world and more emphasis on local news coverage are among the reasons behind the continued rise in print media circulation in the country, ABC officials said.
“The literacy is going up in every state. Lot more people even in small towns and villages can now afford a newspaper at home. Distribution has also played its part; today language newspapers are being delivered to smallest of places, which is an advantage,” I. Venkat, chairman of ABC told THE WEEK.
Regional dailies dominated the list of top ten newspapers, with Hindi newspapers Dainik Jagran (average sales of 39.21 lakh per day), Dainik Bhaskar (38.13 lakh), Amar Ujala (29.61 lakh) and Hindustan (26.11 lakh) featuring in the top five most circulated newspapers between July-December 2016.
The Malayala Manorama was the sixth largest circulated daily with average daily sales of 24.41 lakh copies. Among the English dailies, only Times of India made it to the list being the third largest circulated daily with average daily sales of 31.84 lakh.
Over the last 15 years, publishers have invested close to Rs 5,000 crore in the industry and ABC members expect similar amount of investment from publishers over the next 5-10 years.
According to a study by consulting firm KMPG, India's print media industry is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent CAGR to Rs 43,110 crore by 2021 from Rs 30,330 crore last year. However, the growth will be slowest across media including TV, films, digital advertising, animation, gaming, out of home, radio and music the KPMG data showed.
A lot of the growth in the print media is also driven by advertising revenue, which KPMG expects will increase to Rs 29,600 crore by 2021 from Rs 20,130 crore in 2016.