Print media: The future ahead

Abstract

Print media has enjoyed unquestioned leadership for the last few decades. Print media, in the developed world has already seen tough competition from internet. However, print media in developing countries like India is still ruling above all other sources of media. The reasons for this might be low penetration of digital technologies and rising literacy levels. But, the flip side is that the rate of increase in penetration is rising at an alarming posing considerable threat to the well established print industry. Our analysis indicated that print media will be predominant till 2015. The reason for this optimistic view on print media is because a lot of money can be made from untapped rural markets. We observed that a lot of publishers in India, like The Hindu, Bennett and Coleman have already moved online to serve that elite market, which is treated as niche today. We suggested that the only sustainable way for print media is to retain its existing physical distribution model and also go online with some premium content. Apart from this, these publishers should adopt "lead generation"(the process of gathering information about registered users and passing it on marketers) as a main way of generating revenue from advertisements. The challenge these publishers are facing is not just competition from digital media but also increasing their adaptability to these fast changing modes of digital media, like display technologies etc. The solution is in print media focusing on its core competency of generating content and partnering with other organizations for growing rich and adaptable digitally. We organized this report by studying the existing scenario of print media in India. We then looked at how industry would take its shape in the next few years by performing Porter's analysis (This analysis indicated that the industry is marginally attractive in the near future, but less attractive over the long period). We then looked at the revenue structure of the industry and also discussed about key players in the domestic industry. We then looked at factors driving demand in urban and rural India separately by conducting a survey. This is followed by a supply chain analysis of the print media and value adding elements at each stage of the supply chain. We then concluded by providing future strategies for print media based on benchmarking with developed countries. We took a study of how social media affecting print media. Also, we took a live example of how IDG and Bennet, Coleman withstood digital attack and extrapolated it to other print media in India. Finally we included transcripts from the interview of IMG India Chief, Mr. Louis Dmello who gave very interesting aspects of the transition from print media to digital media and the future of print media