In India, newspapers started with the basic objective of creating an awareness
among people regarding the social, political and economic problems. In the
beginning, they mainly focused on the social problems. With the passage of time,
however, the fourth estate has become more and more commercial. In the earlier
years, the front pages were mostly filled with advertisements. Given the costs and
circulation, the business of running newspapers was fully dependent on the
advertisement revenue.
A newspaper is a regularly published print or online product containing relevant
information important to the market it serves. Traditional newspaper companies
have moved from single-product management (newspapers) to multi-product
management under the umbrella of company’s brand name. What is true of the
newspaper companies is that the value of what they produce is not the cost of the
ink and paper, but the content, depth, segmentation choices, credibility, and
emotional attributes that are delivered in any distribution channel they select.
India is the second biggest newspaper market in the world despite its poor
literacy rates. There are about 62,483 newspapers and periodicals in 101
languages, and the print media continues to attract the biggest chunk of
advertising spends.
|
