In an era where content floods every screen and scroll, the Indian magazine industry is grappling with a critical question: what does a magazine really mean in the digital age? At the Indian Magazine Congress (IMC) 2025, industry leaders, publishers, and digital strategists converged to reflect on this challenge and to reassert the magazine’s unique power to build deep, lasting connections with its readers.
Ananth Nath, Executive Publisher of Delhi Press and President of the Association of Indian Magazines (AIM), framed the debate with an observation that cut to the core, “A magazine is a physical product and a metaphor. You think of your reader, you curate for a select audience. It’s about knowing what your reader needs and what they don’t need.”
The shrinking of casual readership, he argued, could paradoxically lead to stronger market positioning, if publishers embrace subscription as the cornerstone. With newsstands vanishing and casual discovery declining, he sees the future in a direct, relationship-based model, where subscribers aren’t just consumers but a community.
Neeraj Sharma, MD-CMT Accenture, injected a dose of counterintuitive economics and said, “It’s easier to make money through print than digital.” With 72 per cent of internet users reporting digital fatigue overwhelmed by the flood of notifications and constant content magazines can reclaim relevance by offering a slower, more deliberate experience. But Sharma stressed that cultural relevance demands adaptability, content must be multi-format, with print, video, and even short-form reels complementing each other.
“Magazines must truly own their readers,” he said, pointing to the need for pull-type digital experiences rather than aggressive push notifications.
From the south, B. Srinivasan, CMD of Ananda Vikatan, brought focus to curation, communities, and commerce as the three pillars for survival. In a world of infinite content, the magazine’s role as a curator of quality not quantity becomes more valuable. Communities built around shared interests can become both loyal audiences and revenue drivers, with commerce integrated into the ecosystem.
On the monetisation front, Puneet Kukreja, VP at Times Internet, offered a reality check, paywalls may not be the long-term solution. Instead, he advocated for adding utility-based products that make readers’ lives easier, blending information with tools and services that reinforce the brand’s presence in daily routines.
Magazines today are far more than printed pages that arrive once a week or month they are evolving into brands, communities, and cultural touchstones.
