Politics to boost print in 2014
Most media agencies and watchers are predicting good growth rates for 2014. Print is expected to post close to double digit growth while electronic media (television and digital) will continue to grow at close to 20%.
14 Jan 2014 | By Mihir Joshi
The general elections which are scheduled for April-May 2014 are expected to be a major reason for the overwhelming consumption of media space this year. Print medium is expected to consume at least 65% of this money, as political parties will not leave any stone unturned to reach out to the voters. Trends indicate, a lot of spend will be visible in regional print.
According to industry estimates, Congress is expected to spend 500 crore, BJP will spend Rs 300 crore, and all the other parties together Rs 200-300 crore. The newly introduced cap on television ads — a channel can air a maximum of 12 minutes of ads for every one hour of broadcasting — too is expected to help print media. Some media planners are, meanwhile, sceptical about the industry’s prospects in 2014.
India is one of the few markets where print continues to be a dominant medium, garnering nearly 40% of the total advertising spend. India’s vast rural population most of which are still deprived of electronic media can only be reached with print. Moreover print advertisement are found to more durable and leave a lasting impression as compared to electronic media and the readership numbers have also seen an increase thanks to the rising literacy rates across the country.