INDIAN PRINT MEDIA IN 2009
It is difficult to smile, when there is little to cheer about. This was the prevailing sentiment in print media companies in India, and pretty much across the globe, when they were bringing out papers on January 1, 2009. Nobody was sure how deep and wide the financial crisis was; how long the slowdown would continue; and more importantly, whether they would last it out.
Looking back on the tumultuous year of 2009, it was a roller coaster ride for the Rs 16,200 crore (as per PricewaterhouseCoopers' 2009 report) print media industry in India. The impact of the storm on the sector, whose lifeline is advertising revenues, can be gauged from the fact that ad spends in India, grew 4.5 percent in 2009, compared to an 18.9 percent in 2008. In addition, the actual ad spend growth is lower than the 6.4 percent growth had predicted in the beginning of the year.
Unlike the West, there were few cases of newspapers being shut down. Most resorted to reducing costs through job or salary cuts and reduction in the number of pages and supplements. During the year, the media in India record more than 1500 job losses.

On the other hand, new editions of newspapers, largely regional, were launched; and Indian editions of foreign magazines landed in the market as per plan. Local advertisers were chased; and innovations on product and sales side took place, among other things, to beat the slowdown blues. Products from newspaper companies catering to tier I and tier II cities, which were not as affected by the slowdown as the metropolitan cities, registered growth. Overall, it was tough. But as newspaper owners look back, it wasn't as bad as was anticipated.

A couple of events also helped print media companies counter the downturn. One of them was the softening of newsprint prices. For most organizations, however, the benefits of lower newsprint prices did not kick in immediately. The inventory procured at higher prices was being utilized for the first three to six months of the year.

As per analysts, the cost of newsprint is roughly 50-55 percent of the total costs of newspaper publishers. The year started with newsprint prices at around $750 a tonne. By April, the price was down to $570 per tonne and four months later, it went further south to $460 per tonne. The decline was mainly on account of slack in demand, because many newspapers in the developed markets had shut down. The situation was so grim that many newsprint mills were sold or shut down. On the pricing front, economic conditions ensured that papers could not indulge in price wars. Most newspapers maintained a status quo or even hiked the cover price.
The year had its share of good news and bad news. Metro Now, published by Delhi based Metropolitan Media Company, a 50:50 joint venture between India's two large media houses, Hindustan Times Media Limited and BCCL, was shut down. It was restarted, but this time, it became a free supplement that came along with Hindustan Times and The Times of India. Mid-Day, too, scrapped its morning edition in Mumbai.

Though most of the newspapers were cautious in their approach; expansion continued nonetheless. Non-English language dailies led the way, with at least 10 Hindi publications launching new editions.
Nai Dunia group launched Sunday Nai Dunia –hindi weekly in 10 cities and a youth supplement, Yuva, in Indore. Dainik Hindustan launched the Allahabad and Bareily editions. Lokmat entered the Goa market; Rajasthan Patrika expanded its footprint in Madhya Pradesh with the launch of its Jabalpur edition; Dainik Jagran launched a ‘Rashtriya Sanskaran', and also added new territories to its weekly, City Plus.

Among the English dailies, Hindustan Times went for a makeover right in the middle of the year and in December, tied up with The Washington Post for content-sharing. Its business daily, Mint, which has a content-sharing agreement with The Wall Street Journal, launched its Kolkata and Chennai editions. India's largest English daily, The Times of India, launched its weekend edition, Crest. DNA introduced its Sunday supplement, The Mag.
As it appears, there was more action in the non-English language space. The regional language press performed well this year. Hindi and regional dailies, broadly, showed growth in readership. Since they cater to tier I and II cities, they were more stable than the English dailies.

HT Media, which, towards the end of the year, announced the de-merger of its Hindi business into a separate company, has been seeing a growth of 25-30 percent in its Hindi venture, Hindustan. Dainik Bhaskar, which is a big player in the regional language market, came out with an IPO in December, which was oversubscribed 39 times. Dainik Jagran expects a minimum growth of 50 percent in FY 2010 and double-digit growth in circulation revenues.

An indicator of how newspapers did in 2009 is the readership. Round 2 (R2) of Indian Readership Survey (IRS), which captures readership trends for the period, January-June 2009, showed an increase in total readership (TR) of all newspapers combined, over the same period last year.

The total readership of all English, Hindi and regional dailies combined in R2 2008 was 34.1 crore. It increased by 4.3 percent, to 35.6 crore, in R2 2009.
Overall, the readership of English newspapers, and more so, the magazines, was hit harder. The TR of all languages' weeklies and monthlies combined dropped by 6.2 percent, between R2 2009 and R2 2008. In R2 2009, the TR was 10.29 crore, as opposed to a TR of 10.98 crore in R2 2008.
The list of top 10 newspapers remains more or less stagnant, with five registering an increase in readership; and five showing a decline. A key development in 2009 was the announcement of the merger between the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC), which publishes the National Readership Survey (NRS), and Media Research Users Council (MRUC), which publishes IRS. Thus, there will be only one readership survey in future, which means one yardstick. According to analysts, this means that no longer would an advertiser or publisher have the option of picking the readership survey results in line with his objectives.
The year also saw a number of Indian editions of foreign magazines being launched, the most notable being Forbes, Harpers Bazaar, CFO. Though they did create a buzz, media buyers say it's too early to say whether they have been successful.