No Heroes or Villains- Just a Shift to Digital Age

First, let me ask this: When was the last time you read a newspaper? People would say probably some months or even years ago. Then, where do people get their daily dose of news? Yeah, you thought that right – digital sources.

For the last decade or more, there has been a decline in the circulation of print newspapers. There are no heroes or villains in this structural change. Rather, it is the cause of a technological shift that has led to people consuming news easily via their phones, tablets or laptops.

The global newspaper industry

As we are well aware, the global newspaper industry is making a shift to digital platforms. The digital newspaper industry is forecasted to grow at an annual rate of 9.8% by 2020. On the other hand, the non-digital platforms are expected to see a decline of 3% annually.

The newspaper industry is different in all markets. Let’s observe some of them here.

United States

The newspaper industry in the United States has had better days.

Here are some facts on the American newspaper industry.

1. The consumption of newspaper has declined considerably. In 2017, Americans spent about 17 minutes daily in reading newspapers. However, in 2018 they spent about 12 minutes daily.

2. Employment has declined in this sector. In 2013, 217,500 people were employed by this sector, which has declined to 183,200 in 2016.

3. When talking about the revenue, it is expected to decrease to $27 billion in 2020 from about $30.5 in 2016.

Despite the decline in the industry, one of the leading newspapers has managed to increase its circulation revenue and also raise their digital subscription. That newspaper is The New York Times.

The company’s circulation revenue in 2016 amounted to almost $880 million, which was a massive increase of $30 million from the previous year. On the digital side, they had 800,000 subscribers at the beginning of 2014, which has increased to 1.6 million in 2016.

India

While the global newspaper industry is facing a slum, India has a healthy growing industry.

Some facts on the Indian newspaper industry are:

1. In 2017, the value of newspaper revenue was Rs. 290 billion, which is expected to reach Rs. 354 billion in 2020.

2. India also has the world’s largest number of paid newspapers of 7,871 in 2017, which continues to grow.

3. The newspaper circulation has grown by 60% to 62.8 million copies in 2016 from 39.1 million copies in 2006.

It has been observed that the print circulation revenue is highest in Hindi rather than in English and other regional languages. Why is that so? The publishers in India use the local language to appeal to the people and get their word out.

So, what is the reason for this growth of the Indian newspaper industry? If you are thinking, the lack of Internet access then you are wrong. In the last 10 years, the number of people having access to the Internet has increased by almost 20%.

Rather, it is the increased literacy rate, which reached 79% last year and the convenience of morning newspaper delivery to the households.

Europe

Just like other markets around the world, the European newspaper industry has been suffering from sales dropping by almost a quarter in the last 5 years.

Some facts on the European newspaper industry are:

1. The newspaper advertising revenue, in the EU 28, fell from €22 billion in 2009 to €54 billion in 2016.

2. In Norway, the revenue of the newspaper fell to 10.5 billion Norwegian Krone in 2015 from 13.7 billion in 2011.

3. The number of employees in the industry, in Denmark, fell drastically to 8,889 in 2004 from 9,863 in 2013.

The digital media and the change in reading choices by the customers are causing a stir among European newspaper companies as we see in the case of The Independent. This newspaper company shut down their print editions in 2016 and switched to an only digital edition.

The future of the global newspaper industry

While we might curse the digital media for the decrease in the print revenues and other factors, the biggest advantage offered is access to a much wider global audience. A company will not face any entry barriers when it comes to opening a website and reaching an audience outside the home country, as every person can access the content from their phones.

The change from reading printed newspapers to browsing online for news is inevitable. To align with this shift the newspaper companies, therefore, need to make adjustments to their businesses and recognize the advantages that are given.

What do you think about the shift in the newspaper industry? Let me know in the comments section below!