FICCI-KPMG-Report-13-FRAMES

The power of a billion: Realizing the Indian dream
49
Together, the Hindi and Vernacular markets are expected to
grow at a CAGR of 10.9 percent over the period 2012-2017,
outpacing the English language market’s growth of 4.8
percent 16 .
Language-wise Average Issue Readership and
revenue split
Language
AIR Split
2012
Revenue Split
English 10% 39%
Hindi 36% 30%
Vernacular 54% 31%
Source: IRS Q3, KPMG in India analysis
The year witnessed regional players increasing their
foothold in key markets and also the entry of national
players in regional markets. Dainik Bhaskar increased its
penetration in Maharashtra with its Marathi daily ‘Divya
Marathi’ while Bennett Coleman & Co. (BCCL) entered the
Bengali market by launching a Bengali daily, ‘Ei shomoy’.
The newspaper (‘Ei shomoy’) is placed to compete against
Ananda Bazar Patrika, which has for many decades now
been eastern India’s most widely circulated daily. The
‘Hindu’ has also shared their interest to launch a Tamil daily
in 2013 17 .
Backed by the increase in purchasing power across tier II
and III cities along with the rise in literacy rates, regional
media consumption will continue to rise. As is the trend
with many players, editions with local content in regional
languages will attract readers and help in consolidating
the position of the newspaper, thereby attracting local
advertisers.
Competition among English print media players has now
moved into tier II and tier III markets with leading Englishlanguage
dailies launching their editions in cities such as
Coimbatore, Madurai, Bhopal and Indore. Some players
are also setting up printing facilities near these markets to
manage their printing operations.
These developments indicate continued industry belief
in the growth of regional markets. The growth story of
the regional print market is stronger than ever and the
publishers believe that there are ample opportunities which
have yet to be tapped.
Literate but not reading: A challenge
or opportunity?
As per 2011 census, India’s literate population base
of 895 million provides a huge target audience to
print companies. The literacy rate has increased
considerably over the last decade with some states
such as Kerala at 94 percent and the National
average at 74 percent. However, as per IRS Q3 2012,
approximately 44 percent of these people do not read
any newspaper publication 18 . This clearly highlights
that there is much headroom for growth amongst the
literate non-readers.
Contrary to the view that the youth is not reading,
IRS data highlights that the readership habits of 16-19
year olds are comparatively healthier than any other
age-groups. However, the newspaper reading habits
amongst children in the age-group of 12-15 years are
found to be the least at 31 percent (with 59 percent
not reading the newspaper). This could be a potential
threat to the print industry as reading habits are
formed in those early years 18 .
Source: Q3 IRS, 2012, India Census 2012
16. KPMG in India analysis
17. Press article – Business standard article in Jan 1, 2013 http://www.business-standard.com/article/
companies/owners-of-the-hindu-consider-tamil-daily-launch-113010100032_1.html
Percentage of literate people of the total
population not reading newspaper
Source: Q3 IRS. 2012
18. IRS Q3 2012
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