The Hindu Business Line : Newspapers told to adopt newer tools

Tomorrow's newsroom and commercial operations would have to deliver products and services through a number of media, according to Mr Reiner Mittelbach, Chief Executive Officer, Ifra, a worldwide association for newspaper and media publishing.

Speaking at Ifra India 2006, here on Wednesday, he said that single media products and services need to be replaced by a more integrated approach where the various media — television, print, mobile and Internet — are all dealt with as one entity rather than as `silo-ed' processes.

Speaking about the industry itself, he said that in Western markets, paid circulation is falling, and free newspapers are on the rise. At the same time, mobile services are booming, and search engines are playing a crucial role. He said that newspapers needed to adopt tools — such as mobile services — in order to remain viable.

Newspaper circulation

Mr N. Murali, Managing Director, The Hindu Group of Publications, spoke about the media industry in India, saying that Indian newspaper circulation grew at 7 per cent in 2005, and 33 per cent in the last five-year-period. He said that seven of the 10 best selling newspapers in the world are from Asia, and 62 of the 100 best selling newspapers are based in China, Japan and India. He said that China prints about 96.9 million copies, India 78.7 million copies and Japan 69.7 million copies.

Advertisement Revenue

He added that despite this healthy trend, the revenue model adopted by a lot of newspapers could be risky. He said currently it is the revenue that comes from advertisement that forms a major chunk of the overall revenue — which would continue to flow in as long as the economy is booming and ad agencies are willing to invest. Once there is a slump in the industry, this revenue could be affected. He urged newspapers to read the warning signals and address the issue.

Regarding the event, he said that Ifra India 2006 had attracted over 400 participants and delegates from several countries including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia, Kuwait, Japan, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia and the US.

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