Print media should exploit content across all platforms

Our eFE Bureau

Mumbai, Aug 8: Print media companies would need to exploit their content across all the platforms including Internet and television, even as their share in advertising revenue is dropping. This was the unanimous opinion of the panelists on Wednesday at the CII-organised “Enter Media 2001” conference on print media. They also opposed the setting up of the proposed media council of India to regulate media content.

Bennett & Coleman’s Arun Arora (left), Mid-Day Multimedia managing director Tariq Ansari (centre) and The Indian Express Group CEO and editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta (right)

“We will have to look at content aggregation across all delivery vehicles. India Today Group has shown that with their presence on print, Internet and television. We will be getting into a predatory and aggressive selling environment for market share in three years. The share of print in the ad pie is reducing,” said Mid-Day Multimedia managing director Tariq Ansari.

Newspaper economics as structured today with low cover prices need to be changed. Reiterating this, The Indian Express Group chief executive officer and editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta said the real challenge would be to become “more fleet-footed” like the television industry as it is no longer possible to “pile it to advertisers” who have a lot more options. Print is the strongest of all brands and can be used to get into other related areas of content, he added.

Expressing confidence that the print media would lead the information revolution in the country, India Today editor Prabhu Chawla said the challenge was to get the 18-to-26-year-olds interested in reading. “Though the total readership is growing, the younger population are taking to new media.”

The panel members expressed the need to allow foreign direct investment in print. “It is inevitable. After 24 months, it would not be
a matter of discussion but a reality,” Mr Gupta said. Only Arun Arora from Bennett & Coleman opposed it.

The panel members were not in favour of a media council to regulate content as they felt it would be a bureaucratic set-up.