The central government recently said that it plans to raise its print-media advertisement rates by 26%, its first major increase since 2019. The rate uplift is expected once the Model Code of Conduct for the Bihar Assembly elections is lifted next month, according to a report in The Indian Express.
While there’s cause for cheer within the industry, particularly among regional and vernacular papers who are heavily dependent on government ads, others are apprehensive that an increase could further decrease spending on print as a channel.
Rather than run a print ad three times a month, a brand may decide to run it only twice to avoid spending more, one media marketer pointed out.
India’s print industry has exhibited resilience in the recent past. The sector showed a 3% increase in ad space volumes during the January-September 2024 period over January-September 2023, according to research from TAM.
Industry insiders tell Campaign how they see the government’s proposed hike playing out.
Abhishek Karnani, president, IAA India, and director, The Free Press Journal
The last revision of advertisement rates took place in 2019, and since then, costs related to newsprint, logistics, and news sourcing have risen significantly. This rate hike is, therefore, a much-needed and timely move.
Government advertisement rates have traditionally been lower than commercial rates, as the print industry has long supported government communication efforts in the public interest.
Recent surveys reaffirm that newspapers continue to enjoy the highest levels of credibility among all media platforms—ahead of television and digital outlets. Strengthening this medium through fairer ad rates will only reinforce the fourth pillar of democracy and enhance its credibility further.
The industry has been consistently appealing for a rate revision, and this increase will especially benefit the entire industry. While this step alone may not offset the growing challenge from media industry, it will provide vital relief and stability. We are all trying to be relevant by innovating, diversifying our revenue streams.
Pradeep Gupta, chairman, CyberMedia Group
For the last six years, the media has constantly been asking the government to increase DAVP ad rates [the Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity, now called the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC)], so this proposed hike will merely meet the long-term ask of the industry.
[But] DAVP rates are heavily subsidised, so it will not have any impact on the non-government ad rates. In any case, it wouldn’t have any impact on trade and consumer publications like ours (which are focused on the technology industry), which are not dependent on government advertisers.
Shradha Agarwal, co-founder, Grapes Worldwide
None of my big clients today are investing in a print ad as a reach platform; they’re doing it as an equity platform. Taking that into account, if ad rates go up by 26%, we could see a drop in marketers investing in print ads.
Rather than spend on that incremental 26%, they could spend that on digital and get a better reach. So raising ad rates at a time when marketers are already shifting to TV and digital doesn’t make sense. The ones who regularly advertise on print will continue to do so, the rest may drop off.
Abhijay Chopra, director, Punjab Kesari Group
Contrary to popular opinion that print is dying, I think the proliferation of fake news on social media and digital platforms has actually driven more people to print. Newspaper consumption has gone up because people know that certain checks and balances are in place when it comes to newspapers and they trust the legitimacy newspapers provide.
I think the DAVP rates were due for correction for a long time and this hike could only help media organisations to invest more in true journalism as people shift back to print. It will have a negligible effect on the long-term deals that corporate advertisers have with publications.
Debashis Ganguly, head – business solutions, PrintWeek
It's a good sign that the government is considering revision of print ad rates (DAVP), as willy-nilly such a decision is often viewed as a reliable proxy of growing readership numbers. But optics apart, an upward rate revision is a much-desired support that especially the small regional publishers need, in their fight against general inflation in input costs, apart from facing significant pressure to generate sustainable advertising in the face of growing digital content consumption.
Aanchal Arora, founder and managing director, 1702 Digital
Print has largely declined due to changing news-consuming patterns down to the last tier, as well as challenges in demonstrating measurable ROI. Government advertisements through DAVP was serving as its key revenue pillar.
The proposed increase in DAVP rates will not be enough to address private advertisers’ preference for digital platforms. It may provide temporary relief to publishers, yet is unlikely to reverse the broader shift in marketing budgets. One possible way out is if the print industry could reinvest monies and hedge by building digital IPs alongside for the evolving consumer.
