• by Vinita Bharadwaj , September 5, 2008

In India, everyone can hear you scream.

Stepping out of the under-renovation airport in the Indian capital New Delhi on the Fourth of July, it was impossible to miss a giant billboard announcing the launch of People magazine. A U.S. title launched in India on American Independence Day with a striking Indian flavor: Is a phase of reverse cultural colonialism under way?

The billboard, with the unmistakable People logo juxtaposed with photos of Bollywood's most famous stars, confirmed that the Indian media bazaar is indeed the market of opportunity. As Western countries struggle to keep newspapers and magazines alive, the story in India is quite the contrary. Despite the economic slowdown and rising inflation, the Indian media is in full bloom.

Fueled by an economic boom that has accelerated consumerism in an otherwise conservative and traditional society, India's new middle class - more numerous than the entire population of the United States - is devouring media like a hungry tiger awoken from slumber.

The diversity of consumers is mind-boggling. Most big cities have built swanky, supersize shopping malls for their sophisticated, mobile phone-armed under-25s. Some small villages still rely on one literate member to read out the day's news from a regional-language newspaper at a tea shop. And it's not uncommon to find a group of men huddled around a black-and-white television set whenever electricity is available.

On the face of it, India's biggest advantage is its 1.2 billion people with their linguistic, cultural, ethnic, economic and regional differences. More than half the population is under 25, with more aspirations and spending power than their parents' generation. Similar to the European Union, each of India's 28 states has its own quirks, tastes and sensibilities.

India's celebrated diversity comes with economic disparity and a colonial hangover, resulting in a minority elite wielding disproportionate economic influence. Ironically, the Indian economy, which is now synonymous with IT and outsourcing, has dismal Internet penetration. India has just two PCS per 100 households, according to technology trade group NASSCOM, and a paltry 4 million broadband connections, as opposed to China, which adds 3.2 million connections every quarter.

Indian Internet and computer usage is mostly during office hours, which is one reason why the print players retain their stronghold as the day's first source of news. Cybercafes are fast coming under pressure to shut down, in a bid to increase the country's security measures against terrorists, hackers and pornography users.

It is no surprise that existing media houses in the print and TV sectors have not developed their online presence to the extent that they should and could have. In stark contrast, mobile phone penetration is already more than 250 million subscribers and set to double by 2011.

"The general expectation in India is that convergence will skip the Internet and go right to the mobile phone," says Vir Sanghvi of the Hindustan Times.

Content specifically created for mobile phones has already begun in the form of advertising clips. Upon entering an Indian mall, you are repeatedly reminded and urged to turn on your mobile phone's Bluetooth functionality. After doing so, shoppers are inundated with multimedia clips for special offers, sales and advertising related to the mall's stores. With 6 million mobile phone users added every month, media visionaries are sensing the opportunities, particularly in a society where cash for cell phones takes precedence over money for meals.

In June 2008, Rajshri Media, a Web and media studio and part of Bollywood production house Rajshri, launched India's first made-for-mobile show, "Akbar Birbal Remixed," in a collaborative venture with mobile service provider IDEA. The program has 90 video and audio clips of three minutes each and is available in SMS, MMS, video and audio formats on IDEA's SMS, voice and WAP platforms. The show, a Bollywood-style take on the folk literature tales of the Mughal emperor Akbar and his witty minister Birbal, will be accessible through IDEA for three months. Rajshri, meanwhile, has already confirmed that other mobile service providers have approached them to produce mobisodes.

Mobile telephone technology in India is much more advanced than it is in Western countries. The mobile phone has become the 21st century's status symbol in India, much like its predecessors, the television set and the newspaper. The Internet, by contrast, is perceived as a private, back-end office activity with limited scope.

However, despite the meager Internet usage trends, online advertising is expected to grow tenfold in the next five years. So, brandishing cell phones with startling ringtones, Indians are announcing their arrival. It may not be the classiest of entrées, but it's one that cannot be ignored.


India and its media are on a roller-coaster trip, and as with most amusement rides, it's tempting to get on. However, the Indian roller coaster comes with its own bumps, detours and obstacles.

In the past year, Indian versions of popular Western titles such as Vogue, Rolling Stone, FHM, Maxim and Geo stormed the market. Popular Science, GQ and Fortune are getting set to jostle for readership. The trend of foreign special-interest magazines entering the Indian market with rapid velocity makes news in Western media and is glorified as yet another chapter in the India Shining story. However, as with all profile stories coming out of India, a gentle tap of the surface reveals a much more complex picture.

Currently, Indian media laws limit foreign equity to 26 percent in the news segment but allow 100 percent equity in non-news and non-current affairs specialty magazines. As a result, foreign special-interest magazines are queuing up for a piece of the action. Condé Nast India is one of a handful of foreign-owned publishers to have set up a completely staffed India operation to produce a fully owned title. In contrast, People magazine has no employees from U.S. parent Time Inc., which doesn't have any stake in the Indian edition but has chosen to enter into a licensing arrangement with India-based Outlook Group.

Such arrangements, in which Western titles are published under licensing agreements with the owner of the magazines, have resulted in a smorgasbord of publications containing Indian content dressed in Western design with a sprinkling of international information - all readily available at the neighborhood newspaper stall or brought to one's car when waiting at a traffic light by a grubby child laborer.

It was at one such Delhi traffic light, surrounded by E-class Mercedes and Toyota SUVS, that I bought a copy of the 10th issue of Vogue India. Printed on glossy paper and priced a little more than $2, Vogue India is a veritable feast of luxury wow-wow and is aimed at the well-heeled and much-moneyed Indian woman, of whom there are now plenty.

Condé Nast India's CEO, Alex Kuruvilla, repeatedly states that there are 1 million homes in India earning more than $100,000 annually, and a flip through Vogue India leaves absolutely no doubt that it and the other foreign titles are zoning in on that niche segment.

In print media, total advertising revenues are estimated at $2.3 billion, with newspapers taking in about 85 percent of the total. Advertisers are still skewed toward newspapers and general-interest magazines; however, the growth rate of ads in special-interest publications is extremely robust. Luxury, lifestyle and fashion have emerged as the most popular niche in special-interest publishing. Advertising accounts for 70 to 80 percent of magazine revenues in India. Indian editions cost much less than their foreign counterparts, but the cover price of the niche monthlies, typically $2 to $3, is still high by Indian standards.

The opportunities for growth are indisputable, but the content is undeniably repetitive. In the process of Indianization, Western magazines have ended up with an identity neither true to their original form nor fresh for an Indian consumer. As the market gets saturated with special-interest magazines, advertisers and consumers are sure to become more discerning and demanding.

Cognizant of the power of luxury niche magazines, even publishers of general-interest magazines, such as popular Indian newsweeklies Outlook and India Today, have begun producing weekly supplements in a bid to increase advertising and keep their flagship magazines afloat. For newsmagazines, the absence of access to foreign equity is worsened by the fact that news is ubiquitous and freely available by way of newspapers and television. The average Indian, therefore, finds it futile to spend 10 times more for the same reading material.

The Indian newspaper market is the second largest in the world, selling 99 million copies daily, only lagging behind China (107 million copies daily). The United States sells 51 million copies daily - fourth place.

With rising literacy and more disposable income, the newspaper industry in India is on a phenomenal upward trend. Between 2005 and 2006 alone, India added more than 100 daily newspapers, bringing the total to 287.

India's large mass of humanity becomes relevant in the newspaper domain as advertisers flock to secure space and reach out to a readership that could be as much as the population of Europe.

The print boom is also largely facilitated by the unprecedented increase in regional publications to feed the speakers of 22 official Indian languages. Currently, Indian literacy is reported at 65 percent, with an estimated 20 percent accounting for real newspaper readership, creating a scenario of enormous untapped potential. However, in a society visibly and unabashedly divided along the lines of monetary might and caste, it is the English language that has emerged as the single most powerful tool for upward social mobility.

Raju Narisetti, a former editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe, launched India's fifth business daily, Mint, which is cobranded with the WSJ, in February 2007. Narisetti is doubtful of the realistic chances of seven - if one counts the soon-to-be-launched Financial Times - business dailies surviving successfully in any one country.

And yet, he was lured to India by the offer of adding to the list of English-language business dailies because he felt that "1.2 billion Indians deserved better content." Since its launch, Mint has attained a circulation of 120,000 and has made a positive impact in the circles that matter. However, the Berliner-size newspaper is not teeming with advertising.

Narisetti says confidently, "The ads will come."

"Newspapers never die in India," says Vir Sanghvi, who is also a popular TV personality. "They may not make money or even be read, but they chug along."

"Indians need their newspapers. It's a strong cultural symbol. Every literate Indian household will have the parents asking their children to read the morning paper. So I don't see the newspaper habit dying in this country," says Narisetti.

The newspaper is also viewed by the uneducated masses as a status symbol. Acquisition of a morning newspaper - regardless of language - and the ability to peruse it is a sign of having arrived.

Yet another media baron in the making, Venkattram Reddy, chairman of Deccan Chronicle Holdings, which publishes the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle newspapers, is just as buoyant as Narisetti. Reddy is convinced of the massive potential of English-language print media. As teaching centers for speaking and reading English mushroom across the Indian landscape, a new class of nascent English-literates is forming, and Reddy wants their loyalty.


Surviving as a media player in India today involves a complete prostration in front of its youth - ironic in a country where society is conditioned to prostrate in front of its elderly.

The mood of the nation is youthful, energetic and charged. Advertising reflects it, as it hails "Youngistan" and is a great shift away from the creaky go-with-the-flow attitude that largely dominated until recent years. Even regional-language newspapers are appealing to the aspirational values of its young readership, and enjoying highly profitable growth. They have also brought in international celebrity news and lifestyle features that critics say are of little relevance to regional-language readers.

At first glance, the protection from foreign players accorded by the Indian government and support from larger parent companies should provide for greater editorial independence. Nonetheless, the liberalization of the Indian economy that has precipitated a shift in the cultural psyche of the nation - from austerity to ostentation - has afflicted Indian newspapers with the same malaise that is typical of their Western counterparts: Content follows advertising.

And so, newspapers may retain their status as a cultural and intellectual symbol, but it's television that has captured the imaginations of millions of Indians. Undergoing a state of transformation with digital distribution networks, the Indian TV industry, according to a 2008 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, is currently valued at $5.3 billion and is expected to reach $14 billion by 2012. Direct-to-home (DTH) television is likely to reach between 15 million and 30 million homes by 2015. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and broadband are certain to be future drivers.

A report by International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that in India, the number of IPTV subscribers is expected to reach 1 million in 2011, if not sooner. Chandan Mendiratta, consulting engineer with Cisco India, was reported in Indian media to have said: "IDC expects 15.9 percent of all the residential broadband subscribers in India to use IPTV by the end of 2011, up from less than 1 percent of all broadband subscribers in 2006. India has around 65 million cable and satellite homes. If even 10 percent use IPTV, we are talking about 6.5 million homes, and this is outside of the enterprise uptake."

The numbers are already mind-blowing, and there's still a great deal of potential for further growth. The country has 115 million homes with television, up from 88 million in 2000, and still covering only half the number of households. Advertising spending on Indian television has grown an average of 21 percent a year from 1995 to 2005, at which point it hit $1.6 billion, according to ZenithOptimedia.

Broadcast in Hindi and other regional languages, a curious mix of programming includes religious discourses in the mornings and flashy dancing talent shows in the evenings.

Until the 1990s, TV came from a single government-broadcaster transmitting a few channels. In 2008, the Indian viewer can select from 300 channels offered by a field of domestic and international media companies. India deregulated TV in the 1990s and allowed foreign media companies to fully own entertainment networks. It still limits foreign ownership to 26 percent of news channels.

Since that period, when Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation entered the market by acquiring Star TV, the industry has revolutionized the Indian viewer's perception of entertainment.

Including cricket broadcasts on sports channels, entertainment TV in India is estimated to take in 72 percent of the $5.3 billion annual turnover. In comparison, the Bollywood film industry has an annual turnover of $2.1 billion.

Indian TV has drastically eaten into the commercial pie of Indian film revenues. Primetime evening soaps revolving around family sagas with villainous characters, a regressive portrayal of women, and loud background scores are known to bring the nation's households to a virtual standstill.

Unlike its counterparts in print, the television industry in India will have to brace itself for a massive shakeout. Despite the presence of 300 (and counting) players, only five or six continue to feature regularly in the top of the ratings race. The advertising at stake is much higher than in other media, but TV is also much more expensive to keep alive - particularly in the 24-hour format.

As with all scenarios in India, the flip side to television leapfrogging into the digital age is that it also has to combat the reality of India's sad state of infrastructure and its socioeconomic failures. According to the 2001 census, 56 percent of rural Indian households have no electricity. Of the televisions in use, about 40 percent are black-and-white.

The biggest obstacle in bringing about a rapid change in TV technology is the same problem that content providers are facing. The viewership of Indian TV is dominated by women, and the programming targets the female segment, airing shows that revolve around family themes, music and dance, which are integral to Indian society and culture. The shift to IPTV will largely depend on the tech-savvy quotient of the Indian woman, unless it reaches out entirely to the country's youth as its primary audience.

Indian telecom players such as Reliance, MTNL and BSNL believe IPTV has a bright future in the country. However, the concept still hasn't struck a favorable chord with consumers because IPTV providers are competing with cable and satellite platforms instead of highlighting the interactivity feature. According to industry watchers, IPTV providers still don't have a successful revenue model. Telecom companies are unfamiliar with the idea of original content and are in the process of familiarizing themselves with the TV market. Technologically, the challenges extend to bandwidth availability and interoperability of devices.

That Indians thrive on their entertainment and have embraced the mobile phone as a must-have bodes well for interactive TV and video-on-demand. However, yet another Indian concern will have to be taken into serious consideration for success: pricing and value.

India in the 21st century continues to baffle and boggle its observers and visitors, just as it did centuries ago. Thankfully, development and technology have done little to streamline the Indian way into a homogenous globalized pattern. Culture still plays a strong role in the Indian story and context. Success in the Indian media goes beyond replicating Western ideas or merely spicing up content. There is no surefire formula for success, other than understanding the idea that is India, and working with it instead of dictating to it.

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