CONTRARY to international trends, the print media in India continues to grow rapidly. Last week, when The Economist, came out with a cover story – Who Killed The Newspaper? – citing dire predictions of the death of newspapers in America by the first quarter of 2043, and a continuing sharp decline in readership in the UK, the National Readership Study 2006 in India portrayed a completely different scenario.

The exhaustive study reflected the robustness of both the print and electronic media in India. The total number of readers – of 230 dailies and 305 magazines – grew by three per cent to 222 million. While the number of newspaper readers shot up by 12.6 million, magazines saw a seven million fall in readers.

The circulation of English dailies stagnated at around 21 million, though other language dailies (the vernacular press) have seen a 10 million spurt in readers. Hindi newspapers continue to flourish in the heartland. Two dailies – the Dainik Jagran and the Dainik Bhaskar – have circulation exceeding 20 million each.

According to the NRS, the Dainik Jagran (with a circulation of 21.1 million) is the largest selling newspaper in India, followed closely by Dainik Bhaskar (20.9 million). For the first time in many years, there is no English newspaper among the top-10 selling papers in India. Besides Hindi, other language newspapers that feature in the top list include Telugu, Marathi, Tamil and Malayalam.

The Times of India, which has been involved in a fierce battle for circulation with papers like The Hindustan Times, is the largest selling English daily with a circulation of 7.4 million. But there are no other English newspapers featured among the 18 dailies having a circulation of five million-plus. The Hindu (which is popular in the south) came second at 4.05 million, followed by the Hindustan Times (popular in the north) with 3.85 million readers.

The NRS is bullish about the prospects for the print media in India, as there is a vast ‘untapped’ audience adding up to 360 million readers, who currently do not subscribe to newspapers or magazines. Over two-thirds of this segment comprises Hindi readers, indicating the vast potential for growth.

The leading Hindi dailies in the country are currently engaged in a circulation war, expanding rapidly in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Bihar. Top players are investing millions of rupees in new technology, starting new editions in cities across north India.

The NRS points out that the average reader spends 44 minutes in reading a newspaper, up from 41 minutes last year.

THE news is even better for the electronic media in India. According to the NRS 2006, the number of television viewers has jumped to 230 million from 205 million in 2005, and for the first time the number of viewers has exceeded the number of readers.

About 112 million Indian homes have television sets (64 million have colour sets), while those with cable and satellite (C&S) links add up to 68 million homes, up from 61 million last year. C&S is extremely popular in three southern states – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – with a high penetration of around 60 per cent of homes.

But the C&S industry was preparing to battle the industry regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which last week came out with a consumer-friendly pricing regime for conditional access systems (CAS).

The TRAI – which is a common regulator both for the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors – imposed a cap on the amount of money a broadcaster can charge a subscriber: it fixed the ceiling at Rs5 a month per channel.

The industry has reacted furiously to the move, accusing the regulator of imposing an ‘arbitrary’ decision. Satellite broadcasters are likely to move court, seeking to restrain the TRAI. The broadcasters are demanding a much higher monthly tariff, and had sought a removal of the Rs77 cap for free-to-air channels.

The TRAI wants to speed up the process of the rolling of CAS in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Chennai, the fourth metro, already has the CAS regime, in which viewers access channels through a set-top box.

Direct-to-Home (DTH) channels are also likely to proliferate in India, as the industry opens up. At present, state-owned Doordarshan provides DTH services, but two new players have also entered the fray: Tata Sky, a joint venture between the Tatas and Star TV, and Dish TV, owned by Zee Television.

But last week, Tata Sky moved the Delhi High Court, challenging the refusal by Zee to grant it rights to telecast 20 channels from its bouquet, including popular ones like Zee Cinema, Zee Sports, CNBC, HBO, and Cartoon Network.

Tata Sky accused Zee TV of engaging in delaying tactics, demanding $5 million, besides claiming Rs150 a month for every cable connection. With the expected entry of CAS and DTH, cable operators – who have been fleecing millions of residents in urban India, while providing appalling service – will face tough days ahead.

HOTEL chains in India, which for years concentrated only on the up-market segment of business and leisure tourism – and invested their resources in building 5-star hotels – have discovered a new growth segment: the mid-price or economy one.

India’s top hotel group, the Indian Hotels Company – which is part of the Tata business empire – has set up a subsidiary, which is putting up a chain of moderately-priced hotels. European hospitality major Accor has also tied up with an Indian group – InterGlobe, which now runs a low-cost airline, IndiGo – to promote over two-dozen ‘Ibis’ hotels that would be in the ‘affordable’ bracket.

Similarly, ITC Ltd, a diversified group with interests in hotels and resorts, has also set up a subsidiary to promote budget hotels. Other smaller hotel chains – including Lemon Trees Hotels and the Sarovar chain – are also investing in no-frills, self-service properties.

According to hotel industry analysts, at least 5,000 rooms would be added in the budget segment over the next two to three years. India’s hospitality industry has been dominated by 5-star properties, which attract hefty taxes, including luxury taxes and surcharges.

Luxury hotel rates in Indian metros range from $300 to $500 a day, and many international tour operators are finding it difficult to sustain the flow of tourists, especially when countries in the neighbourhood – including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka – offer vastly cheaper properties.

India’s tourism industry is growing at between 15 and 20 per cent annually, but many European operators have been cancelling bookings for later this year because of the prohibitive costs of 5-star properties. Most luxury resorts in states like Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala – which are among the most popular winter destinations in India – have jacked up their rates.

Budget hotels – which offer modern amenities, clean and well furnished rooms, but virtually no frills (like swimming pools or Jacuzzis) and insist on self-service – are priced at between Rs1,000 and Rs2,000 a day, vastly cheaper than the 5-star properties.

One reason the hospitality majors are investing in budget hotels is the soaring demand for low-cost airline seats, reflecting the increasing number from middle-class domestic tourists.

Low-cost carriers have brought about a dramatic change in the Indian aviation sector, forcing even full-fare carriers to offer discounts and apex fares.

India is facing an acute shortage of hotel rooms, and all the leading international hotel chains have major investment plans.

But most of their properties would be in the 5-star category. But hotel industry sources note that future growth would be in the budget and economy segment, which has been largely ignored by the industry all these years.