<FONT COLOR="#FF0033"><B>FICCI Frames ’06:</B></FONT> Did you read the newspaper this morning?

In the mid-1970s, with the advent of computers in the Western countries, people started questioning the future of the print medium, wondering if it would vanish quietly. The irony is that the same question is being raised today. Back then, publisher and media mogul Robert Maxwell is believed to have said, “I know print will survive for the simple reason that you can’t take a computer into the toilet.”

“It’s another matter that computers can now be taken into toilets, with laptops and what have you,” said Aroon Purie, chief executive, India Today Group, at FICCI Frames 2006. “But print will still survive.”

Over the past 15 years, the ad revenue share coming from print, in comparison to the total ad revenue share, has shrunk from around 70 per cent to 46 per cent. But last year, this figure came up to 48 per cent, which Purie claimed was a good sign. He attributed ad revenues to advertising by educational institutes, real estate developers and retail and automobile brands, among others.

For the record, the Indian newspaper industry had a turnover of Rs 12,000 crore in 2005. At the end of 2006, this figure is expected to increase to Rs 13,500 crore. Jacob Mathew, executive editor, ‘Malayala Manorama’, and president, Indian Newspaper Society (INS), however, added a word of caution, “With most of India’s population falling under the ‘youth’ belt, the print media will have to address this segment.”

Mathew further said that today’s youth don’t have the time to read news and they are too busy to bother with the print media. In addition, print is facing stiff competition from other media like television, radio (if FM stations are allowed to enter the news space) and the Internet (with websites such as shaadi.com and naukri.com competing with newspaper classifieds in the matrimonials and jobs segments, respectively).

Print is fighting back through the Media Multiplier Effect. As per a study done by INS, newspapers are increasingly becoming multiple media brands by converging with television and the Internet. This study indicates that such forays into other media can do wonders for the print brand.

Purie agreed, “Most newspapers already have an online presence. This is because people feel the need to constantly update their knowledge; nowadays, people want news when they want to see it and not when we want to provide them with it.”

Mathew added that technology would play a huge role in shaping the future of the print media. For instance, the electronic paper or e-paper, a gift of nanotechnology, is around the corner. The e-paper is a computer screen as thin as a paper, and it can be bended and folded like a paper. It will contain news that will update itself automatically.

“That will probably spell the end of the phenomenon of the boy delivering newspapers every morning!” Mathew quipped.

Purie, meanwhile, gave his own take on the future of the print media. He felt that growing consumerism would lead to a growth in special interest publications such as magazines or supplements on lifestyle, city events and education.

“The future will see an era of super fragmentation,” he added. “The consumer will have to pay more for newspapers and magazines and these two media, in turn, will have to depend less on advertising revenue.”

Factors such as the opening up of foreign direct investments (FDIs) will have a positive impact on the print industry in India, Purie said.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!