The volume of print advertising in the first-half of 2011 (by column cm) grew by 16 per cent over the same period last year, according to AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research. In the same period, the volume of television advertising (in seconds) grew 18 per cent, says AdEx.

Newspapers bagged 96 per cent of all print advertising during H1 2011, and the most advertised category in print was educational institutions (9 per cent).

From 1,07,811 hours of advertising air time on television in the first-half of 2010, AdEx registered 1,27,256 hours in the same period in 2011. Social advertising and toilet soaps were the categories consuming maximum ad time on television, with 4 per cent each.

According to KPMG, print advertising accounted for Rs 12,600 crore in 2010, and was predicted to grow at a CAGR of 13 per cent between 2011 and 2014.

Television advertising accounted for Rs 10,300 crore in 2010, and was expected to grow at a CAGR of 17 per cent between 2011 and 2014.

Volume Vs Value

According to Ms Mona Jain, CEO, Vivaki Exchange (media investment arm of Zenith, Starcom), the value of advertising would have gone up too, but differentially across print and TV. Television would have grown at a larger clip on value, she says.

She said, “During the World Cup and IPL, we observed that the GECs (General Entertainment Channels) did not lose their share. And there was a spike in the last bits of inventory on those properties too. I think the value of television spots would have gone up, not just because of an increase in inventory, but also because of an increase in value.”

On the other hand, Mr Nikhil Rangnekar, Joint CEO, Spatial Access, points out that with a large number of television channels being launched, the value-to-volume equation could be different because of a larger television inventory.

“I would think, with the large number of channels to get launched, compared to the number of print publications, the relative value-to-volume ratio would be lower for television than it is for the print medium. Of course, this is assuming that only the mainline publications have been considered,” he notes.

He contends that at a the volume growth of 16 per cent, print media would have witnessed a value growth of 10 to 12 per cent, while television volumes, which grew at 18 per cent, would have increased in value by around 8 per cent.