If the recent spate of activity in the print media segment is any indication, the sector has definitely not run its course yet and will continue to hold its own even against the electronic media.
This was the general feeling a seminar held by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Speaking at the seminar, S K Arora secretary, ministry for information and broadcasting said the government was working towards a more uniform approach towards the media and not differentiating on the basis of print or electronic. He added that the government needed to get some sort of cross media policy in place as well.
Commenting on the global trends in the print media, Deepak Kapoor, executive director and leader, entertainment and media practise, PricewaterhouseCoopers said, at present, print was a $260 billion industry globally, with newspapers accounting for $171 billion of this.
While the US was seeing a drop in overall readership across all age groups, Asia Pacific was among the fastest growing markets with India and China growing at 6.6 per cent and 12.3 per cent CAGR respectively.
On account of it being a promising market, there would be increased global focus on India resulting in increased number of publications, along with adoption of some global trends such as free publications and increase in the number of niche publications.
Looking ahead, one could expect a fair amount of consolidation in the media space said Ravi Sardana, vice-president, ICICI Securities.
P R Srinivasan, director, Citigroup Ventures, said there was still scope for enormous growth in the print market as at present only 20 per cent of India's population actually read newspapers.
With more media houses looking at expanding and venturing beyond their home markets, this in turn would result in more companies going in for IPOs and looking at raising funds from the public.
Another possibility was established players venturing into other media territories since electronic and digital media was something nobody can really afford to ignore. The key then would lie in innovating as per market dynamics.
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