The Religious magazine genre has seen a 32 per cent fall (-3.35 lakh) in average issue readership over a two-year period. The year-on-year decline in readership stands at 14% (-1.21 lakh). One possible reason for the decline in readership could be the availability of such content on the electronic medium via TV channels such as Aastha, Sanskarand others. The audio-visual content on TV is very engaging for the viewers.

Only one publication, Jyothisharatnam saw growth over two years in AIR, adding 14,000 readers, a rise of 10%.With the highest readership figure in this genre, Naba Kallol has seena 6% rise from last year (+11,000) while registering a 12% drop in AIR from 2009 R1 (-27,000). Osho World witnessed the greatest fall in AIR last year(-62,000/39% drop). From 2009 R1, it has lost 25,000 readers, a 21% decline.

Kumudam Bhakti Special has lost the largest number of readers in the last two years
(-69,000/30% drop) followed by Sakthi Vikatan (-59,000/34% drop). The fall in AIR for Kumudam Bhakti Special from 2010 Q2 is 9% while it is 3% for Sakthi Vikatan.

Sadhna Path stood at an AIR of 70,000 and Devi at 99,000 as per 2009 R1 results. According to IRS 2010 Q2, Sadhna Path had an AIR of 44,000 and Devi, 51,000.

As per the IRS 2011 Q2 results, the Health section, falling under the ‘Special Interest’ publications category, has not seen a favourable year. There has been a 12 per cent fall from 2009 R1, a loss of 3.96 lakh in average issue readership (AIR) for health publications. The decline in AIR is 7 per cent (-2.38 lakh) when compared to 2010 Q2. One of reasons behind this fall is the fact that health-related information is highly accessible over the online platform and other sources.Hence, there is a declining interest in reading health magazines.

Of the six health magazines making it to the list, only Arogyam (+1 lakh/26% gain) and the Hindi Health & Nutrition (+21,000/27% gain) have seen an increase in numbers from last year. Arogyam’s 8% fall in AIR over the last two yearshas beenlesser than the uptake (-41,000). Mathrubhumi Arogya Masika,which has the highest number of readers in this segment, has seen an equal percentage decline of 14% from last year and 2009 R1. Nirogdham witnessed a loss of 1.66 lakh readers in the last two years, an 18% decline. The percentage decline for the magazine from last year is exactly half that figure – 9%, a loss of 80,000 readers.

Arogya Sanjivani has seen a close year-on-year (18%) and 2-year (17%) percentage decline in AIR. While losing 1 lakh readers in two years, the readership base lost from last year is slightly higher at 1.08 lakh. The English Health & Nutrition has not charted a growth in AIR like itsHindi counterpart. The magazine has seen a 17% drop from 2009 R1 (-42,000) and an 11% drop in AIR from 2010 Q2 (-27,000).

Most of the kids’ magazines have seen a downward trend in the latest Indian Readership Survey. Champak magazines tops the chart with an AIR of 8.73 lakh in 2011 Q2 compared to an AIR of 9.06 in 2009 R1 – a 4 per cent decline.

Placed second, Balarama has suffered the worst hit with an AIR of 8.18 lakh in 2011 Q2. The magazine saw the maximum drop of 43 percent over an AIR of 14.35 lakh in 2009 R1 and a 33 percent decline over an AIR of 12.21 lakh in 2010 Q2.

Nandan magazine retained its readership position on the third spot with an AIR of 5.64 in 2011 Q2, losing 1.71 lakh over an AIR of 7.35 in 2009 R1. The same magazine lost 1.29 lakh readers over an AIR of 6.93 in 2010 Q2.

Balhans at No. 4 witnessed a rise of 12 percent over the year – from an AIR of 3.99 lakh in 2009 R1 to 4.48 lakh in 2011 Q2.Nanhey Samrat ranking fifth has an AIR of 4.06 in 2011 Q2. Chotu Motu at No. 6 scored over all other kids magazines. It continued to add 45,000 new readers over the year and 1.48 lakh readers over two years taking its readership base to 3.46 lakh in 2011 Q2.
Wisdom magazine at No. 7 has seen a decline of 32 percent over two years and 27 percent over a year – from an AIR of 4.55 lakh in 2009 R1 to AIR of 4.22 lakh in 2010 Q2 to an AIR of 3.09 in 2011 Q2.

Balarama Digest at No. 8 saw a decline of nine percent over the year – going from an AIR of 3.37 in 2010 Q2 to an AIR of 3.07 in 2011 Q2. Junior Viketan stood at 9 and registered an AIR of 2.95 lakh in 2011 Q2.

At the last position, Balabhumi registered an AIR of 2.93 in 2011 Q2. It saw the maximum decline of 38 per cent over the year and a decline of 41 percent over two years.

As per the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2011 Q2 results, Pratiyogita Darpan tops the list with an average issue readership (AIR) of 21.54 lakh, a jump of 27 per cent, over an AIR of 16.90 in 2009 R1. The magazine earned 3.51 lakh readers from an AIR of 18.03 in 2010 Q2.

General Knowledge Today at No. 2 registered an AIR of 9.77 lakh in 2011 Q2, moving down 13 percent over an AIR of 11.21 lakh in 2009 R1.

After adding 1.38 lakh readers in the last two years, Karmakshetra at No. 3 boasts an AIR of 9.16 lakh in 2011 Q2. The magazine also increased by 10 percent over the year.

Fourth player Competition Success Review went down 15 percent over last two years – going from7.66 lakh in 2011 Q2 to 6.54 lakh in 2009 R1. Meanwhile, the paper declined by five percent over an AIR of 6.87 in 2010 Q2.

At No. 5 position, Jagran Josh registered an AIR of 5.51 lakh readers in 2011 Q2. Ranking No .6 in the chart, Suman Saurabh registered an AIR of 3.82 lakh in 2011 Q2. The readership dropped 27 percent from the last two years, losing over 1.40 lakh readers. The readership for the same magazine increased four percent last year.

Magazine player No.7, Competition Refresher lost 15 percent of its readers over a year - falling froman AIR of 2.75 lakh in 2010Q2 to an AIR of 2.34 lakh in 2011 R1.The magazine’s readership grew marginallywhen the decline in readership base doubled to 30 percent – a loss of 1.01 lakh readers over two years.

Sitting at No.8, Lakshya lost 85,000 readers – a 27 percent decline over two years. The magazine registered an AIR of 2.30 lakh readers in 2011 Q2. Tell Me Why straddled at No. 9 and registered an AIR of 1.82 lakh in 2011 Q2.

Though the readership base forThe Telegraph In Schools saw a growth of 46 percent over one year going from an AIR of 1.09 lakh in 2010 Q2 to an AIR of 1.59 lakh in 2011 Q2, the magazine yet stands last in the chart at No. 10. It also enjoyed a staggering growth rate of 130 percent, a gain of 90,000 over two years.

The popularity of travel magazines in the country continues to grow as domestic tourism sees a boost. The average issue readership (AIR) of the genre has gone up by 31 per cent over 2009 R1 and by 12 per cent over 2010 Q2. The Indian Readership Survey has covered only three magazines in the travel domain – Bhraman, Outlook Traveller and India Today Travel Plus.

As per the results for 2011 Q2, Bhraman is the most read travel magazine in the country with an AIR of 2.57 lakh, a growth of 42 per cent over 2009 R1. However, when compared to the same period last year, the readership of the magazine has seen a growth of 10 per cent.

With a 28 per cent growth in readership over 2009 R1, Outlook Traveller is closing the gap with the leader in this space. The magazine has recorded an AIR of 1.87 lakh in this quarter, a 9 per cent rise over 2010 Q2.

The third most read magazine in this space is India Today Travel Plus. Adding 21,000 readers in the last two years, the current AIR of the magazine stands at 1.41 lakh, a growth of 18 per cent over 2009 R1. The growth has been higher when compared to the 2010 Q2 figure of 1.15 lakh, an increase of 23 per cent last year, the highest growth seen in the travel magazine genre.

As per the Indian Readership Survey (IRS), trends show that magazines are losing their readership base. Language magazines registered an average issue readership (AIR) of 349.04 in 2011 Q2 as against 376.36 in 2009 R1 – witnessing a 7 per cent decline in overall readership in the last two years.

According to Sanjoy Chakrabarty, Managing Partner, ZenithOptimedia, rising inflation and multiple sources of media access were responsible for a decline in overall readership of magazines. He added, “Due to the sheer cost of magazines, few people are subscribing and the news is available much faster through multiple mediums like TV, online, etc.”

Overall Market Trend – Macro perspective

Regional magazines continue to decline over the years. This year they fell 13 per cent from 202.52 lakh in 2009 R1 to 175.42 lakh in 2011 Q2.

Chakrabarty elaborated that regional magazines are going down as advertisers are shifting their revenue from regional magazines to newspapers.

He added, “Regional magazines are losing their readers because the bulk of advertisers are going to newspapers.”

Although, magazines struggle to regain their readership base over two years, there has been a positive growth of seven percent in English and Hindi language magazines compared to previous year.

English magazines continue to dominate with an AIR of 78.95 lakh in 2011 Q2 compared to an AIR of 73.61 lakh in 2010 Q2.

Chakrabarty is of the opinion that various English magazines have seen a rise as corporate advertisers in the financial business or high-end product business prefer English magazines.

Hindi magazines have registered a decline of two percent – from an AIR of 132.06 lakh in 2009 R1 to an AIR of 129.05 lakh in 2011 Q2.

Deepak Netram, Vice President, Lodestar Universal did not expect the market for Hindi magazines to decline over two years. He stated, “Hindi magazines cater to one of the most critical market clusters, so they became a substantially strong alternative to reach Hindi audiences.”

Periodicity-wise Readership trend:

Periodicity –wise, all magazines have seen seven percent decline over two years from 376.36 lakh in 2009 R1 to 349.04 lakh in 2011 Q2.

Readership of weekly magazines, once almost at par with monthly magazines, has lost 24.86 lakh readers over two years – a decline of 15 percent from an AIR of 170.82 lakh in 2009 R1 to an AIR of 145.96 lakh in 2011 Q2.

Monthly magazines still maintain the lion’s share with an AIR of 171.95 lakh in 2011 Q2.

Genre-wise Readership trend:

Genre-wise, general interest magazines are the highest contributor to overall dip in absolute readership. Meanwhile, special interest magazines have contributed the highest share to overall magazine readership.

General interest magazines have registered an AIR of 199.88 lakh in 2011 Q2, a decline of 15 per cent over an AIR of 235.60 lakh in 2009 R1. Special interest magazines, registering an AIR of 246.21 lakh in 2011 Q2, have also suffered a decline of 6 per cent over an AIR of 263.29 lakh in 2009 R1.

Women’s magazines have also witnessed a downfall with an AIR of 134.71 lakh in 2011 Q2, down 11 pe rcent over an AIR of 151.59 lakh in 2009 R1.

However, some publishers disagree with the current IRS results for magazines. Anath Nath, Director, Delhi Press Group said that most of their magazines have either increased or remained stable.

He said, “We haven’t seen any major rise or fall in magazines. General interest magazines have a growth of five to ten percent while women’s magazines have remained more or less stable over the year”

Even though business magazines show a low readership base, the genre gained a readership of 19 per cent over two years – from an AIR of 10.06 lakh in 2009 R1 to an AIR of 11.95 lakh in 2011 Q2.

Sanjoy Chakraborty opined that there is a demand for business news in the market. Hence, the platforms for this segment are also growing. He added, “Business news segment is growing whether it is digital, online, TV or mobile.”

Deepak Netram, Vice President, Lodestar Universal has a different take on business magazines. According to him, business magazines have gained popularity because of the quality and deep insight that they offer along with the proliferation of international titles.

He mentioned, “The reason could also be an overall enhancement in quality for the genre in order to become competitive fueled by the entry of some of the leading international titles making an entry into our market.”

The women’s lifestyle magazines segment, under the ‘Special Interest’ magazines category, has witnessed a decline of 9 per cent when compared to 2009 R1 (-23,000) and a 4 per cent dip over 2010 Q2 (-10,000) as per the IRS 2011 Q2 results.

Fragmentation of content within this segment has had its impact on the readership base. ‘Society’, with the highest average issue readership (AIR), has retained the top spot in this segment. While the magazine has held on to its readership base from last year, it has seen a marginal decline of 2 per cent in the last two years (-2,000). Cosmopolitan gained an equal number of readers from 2010 Q2 (+4,000/ 6 per cent increase) as it has lost from 2009 R1 (-4,000/ 6 per cent decline).

Hello has emerged as the biggest gainer from last year, increasing readership base by 23,000, a gain of 68 per cent. Elle, which was not taken into account for the IRS 2010 Q2 results as well as in this quarter’s survey, had recorded an AIR of 48,000 as per the IRS 2009 R1 results. Savvy, which too is not a part of IRS 2011 Q2, had seen a growth in readership base from 26,000 in 2009 R1 to 37,000 in 2010 Q2.