Print Media
After the lockdown ends the growth trajectory for media will lie not in old style news paper but digital news.
Then came Corona and the lockdown and suddenly things did not look bright anymore, either for English or Hindi.
In Metro towns, two months of lockdown saw dealership and home deliveries trickling almost stop for both English and Hindi, capped things were by the public about newspaper spreading the virus.
In non - Metro towns in Hindi belt, language paper have continued to be delivered but lack of advertising, they are thinner inform. these are stories of drastic cut back in number and downsizing the teams.
INS has formally requested the government from critical relief measures: two years tax holiday for print, removal of import duty on news print and extending all relief being granted to other industries. Things are so bad that a recent dispatch to the government from the Indian Newspaper Society (INS).
A body representing some 800 publishers, says print has suffered losses of Rs 4500 crore in the past two months alone and is starting at furthur loss of some Rs 12000 to 15000 crore more than in the coming months.
As most young readers switch to e papers and web portals on their laptops, good days seem to be over for print. Frankly, after the lockdown is lifted the growth trajectory for media will lie not in old-style newspaper but in digital news. It will happen faster for English, a little slower for Hindi and the vernaculars but signs there are on the horizon.
India's dynamic news media industry- among the few thriving in the world within the crores of readers and has been hit hard by the unprecendented economics sandstill brought on by covid-19 pandemic.
The crisis has engulfed even top players such as The Times Group, The Indian Express Group, Hindustan Times Media Limited Business Standard Limited.
The Times Group announced salary cuts Thursday morning in an internal email to the employees of its print Publication Times of India, The Economic Times and the Navbharat Times. It said there will be a salary reduction between 5 and 10% from 1April.
The Indian economy came to a virtual halt on 25th March when the government announced its decision to implement a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Although the lockdown has impacted business across the board, the print media, cinema and live entertainment industry are especially hard.
The Indian newspaper industry is expected to loss Rs4000 to 5000 crore in just March and April due to the lockdown. The media and entertainment sector annual revenue is likely to decline by 16% in 2020-2021.
Dainik Bhaskar has temporarily closed it's 4 -page pullout and merged the Gurugram and Faridabad news in its Delhi edition. Amar Ujala's Gurgaon and Faridabad, Hapur and Bulandshahr editions have been also merged.
The ABP group shut down its infocomm department and is most likely to close the iconic Bengali magazine- Sananda and the and Desh. Only digital copies will be available. ABP shutting all offices other than Kolkata as a large number of employees have been sacked, and the rest are working from home.
Hamara Mahanagar, a Hindi newspaper published from Mumbai, has shut down three additions- from Mumbai Pune and Nashik.
In the letter to the government, INS president Shailesh Gupta said newspaper establishment were finding it difficult to disburse salaries to employees and the payment to vendors.
As per INS estimates, the newspaper industry directly employs about 10 lakh people, while nearly 20 lakh are indirectly dependent on it. Each has been at the forefront of providing life savings credible information across the country during the coronavirus pandemic and needed the government assistance.