GroupM’s mConsult’s annual study on Indian media, This Year, Next Year paints a picture of growth for TV and radio, while newspapers and magazines, in addition to outdoor, will be hit hard.

Analysing the report, Campaign India says that although the economic situation in India is not as dismal as opposed to some of the other markets, the general sentiment continues to be negative. This is a result of global linkages of several key Indian players who are affected by parent company performance in other markets.

In the downturn, organisations are treading cautiously and will wait until the latter half of the year to get a better sense before deciding on spends. The mConsult study takes into account predictions up to the end of 2009 only.

Where magazines are concerned, robust consumption and rising incomes have resulted in good news for print media in India, which has seen some substantial growth in complete contrast to the stagnant growth being witnessed in more developed markets.

At least 20 new titles spanning different niche segments were launched. Magazines’ 4 per cent share of a rapidly-growing ad market was sustained. Many titles are still not covered in the syndicated AdEx tracking from Nielsen, so the study has taken its own estimates and corrected prior information accordingly.

2008 saw a major push on licensing. Indian publishing houses tied up with international titles. Publishing houses like Worldwide Media, India Today Group and others are looking at niche magazines as the way out in tough times and also as a means of keeping the reader hooked to their areas of interest.

City specific magazines and splits are being pushed aggressively in an attempt to make the content more relevant and topical.

Syndicated readership studies continue to show declining numbers for magazines. Also, the ongoing global recession has amplified the fears that tough times lie ahead. Corporate/brand advertising will reduce materially and IT and services are expected barely to maintain their level of investment, which is bad news for business magazines that are heavily dependent on these categories.

FMCG is likely to maintain spends so women’s titles will not have to struggle. At an overall level, all signs indicate a drop in magazines revenues in 2009 from 2008.

Competition from other media is causing intense price competition which may force out some of the smaller firms in the magazine sector.

An I&B Ministry proposal to allow foreign news magazines to bring out Indian editions has been approved. This will allow Indian publishers to launch Indian editions of foreign titles. The new policy will immediately benefit companies such as Network18 and Ananda Bazaar Patrika. The former has announced a tie-up to publish a fortnightly issue of Forbes magazine in India, and the latter plans to issue a local version of Fortune.

Source: Campaign India