Inspite of big stories, Newspaper readership remains stagnant
IRS 01R2 reports no growth in newspaper readership compared to the earlier round (IRS 01R1). The total gross readership*, across all newspapers, grew by just 1.4% (total gross readership-22.55 crores). This 'growth' is insignificant because the total population is also reported to have grown by 1%.

Looking at Language of publication, data reports some growth in Hindi (4.6%) and English (2.7%) language readership. Infact, it is a modest growth in Hindi readers that has prevented the overall readership from plunging into negative growth rate. Hindi readership, accounting for 33% of readership universe, saw a modest growth of 4.6%. This growth was primarily due to healthy growth rate registered by Dainik Bhaskar (15%) and Dainik Jagran (15%). Both newspapers have recorded over 1 crore readers.

Shift in SEC composition of newspaper readers
Perhaps the most important trend to note is that newspaper readership is shifting, though gradually, to higher SECs.

Across all publications, gross readership in SEC A1 and A2 grew by 5% and readership in SEC B grew by 2.6% which is higher than average growth rate of 1.4%. At the same time, SEC D and E lost readers by about 2%. SEC C didn't show any movement. Refer table 1 below.

Table 1: Shift in SEC composition of Newspaper readers - by language

% Growth/ Decline - by SEC Total All A B C D E All Languages 225553 1.4 5.0 2.6 0.2 -1.9 -1.6 English 21891 2.7 5.6 0.1 0.4 -0.7 -19.4 Hindi 73459 4.6 5.2 6.2 6.1 2.6 4.0 Telugu 15831 1.2 -0.3 -0.8 5.0 1.8 0.4 Tamil 19366 0.6 5.9 1.9 -3.3 -2.4 9.4 Malayalam 20822 -1.4 14.3 9.2 -7.6 -5.9 1.7 Kanada 8235 0.4 -0.7 4.2 -1.9 -4.8 9.1 Marathi 30375 -2.4 -6.2 1.0 -7.3 -5.5 -11.1 Gujarati 12590 1.2 9.8 3.5 0.8 -7.6 -7.0 Bengali 14515 0.7 15.4 -0.3 1.1 -0.8 -8.5 Punjabi 2494 -1.9 7.7 -1.1 0.4 -7.7 8.1

What can explain this? Increasing satellite penetration and growing dependence on television media for news and entertainment can be one of the reasons. However, we need to analyze several other possible reasons before we can conclude.

This shift in newspaper readership should help media marketers to build a case for addition of newspapers in ad campaigns targeted at higher SEC readers. If this trend grows stronger, media marketers can also attract a better CPT, since newspapers would increasingly reach a better readership profile.

*Notes on Methodology of Analysis and Database

To arrive at broad genre trends, Gross Readership data has been used. Gross Readership data is calculated by summing up total (U+R) readership of all publications that fall within the specified genre. This data, then, is gross indicator and includes duplicated readership.
For analyzing individual publications, their Title Urban + Rural data is used.

Data used in the analysis is as per IRS 01R2. Fieldwork for this data ended in June 2001. Research was carried out by ORG-Marg for MRUC. MRUC was formed in 1994, with 165 members representing Advertisers, Publishers, Advertising Agencies and Broadcast & Other Media. It strives to deliver comprehensive, authentic and updated data for media and advertising industry.