Print, once a hero of the media industry, has lost some of its sheen in the past few years mainly due to the pandemic and the advent of digital. Delving deeper into this was the dentsu-e4m digital advertising report 2024 that reveals print’s media share has seen a gradual decline from 35 per cent in 2016 to 18 per cent in 2024(see graph) .

It stood at 34 per cent in 2017, dropping to 31 per cent in 2018, 29 per cent in 2019, 25 per cent in 2020, 23 per cent in 2021, 22 per cent in 2022 and 20 per cent in 2023.

The drop in readership of print has also been attributed to the availability of news content on digital platforms.

However, in terms of value, ad spending on print stood at Rs 18,652 crore in 2023, a rise of 33.5 per cent from Rs 13,970 crore in 2020. While in 2021 it was Rs 16,599 crore, in 2022 the spending was Rs 18,258 crore.

When it comes to ad spending on different mediums, print has been at the third spot in the last few years with TV and digital neck-to-neck for the top two places.

According to the report, the decline in print’s ad share can be attributed to the rise in digital technology and shifts in consumer preferences towards digital screens, particularly among the younger demographic. Additionally, rising costs, distribution challenges and environmental sustainability concerns pose further obstacles to the growth of print publications, the report stated.

A look at categories reveals the government sector was the leading advertiser on Print in 2023 with 79 per cent of its ad spends dedicated to the newspaper audience.

M&E and education categories have contributed 56 per cent each of their total ad spends to print in 2023. M&E, in particular, has invested aggressively in the medium in the last five years, aligning 50 per cent of ad spends towards print in 2021, climbing to 57 per cent in 2022. Similarly, the education sector also dedicated 50 per cent of its budget to print in 2021, which dropped to 45 percent in 2022.

Retail and Auto sectors have also been among the top advertisers on print in recent years. The retail sector spent 58 per cent of its total ad spends on print in 2023, 56 percent in 2022, 65 per cent in 2021, 47 per cent in 2020 and 51 per cent in 2019.

In 2023, the auto sector spent 33 per cent of its ad spends on print, six per cent lower than 2022’s 39 per cent. This was again a 6 per cent drop from 45 per cent in 2021.

FMCG and E-commerce categories have reduced their spending on print in the last few years. They spent only four per cent each and this number was two to three per cent less than the previous years. In 2020, FMCG allocated 11 per cent of its ad budget for print, which dropped to seven percent in 2021 and further to six percent in 2022. On the other hand, e-commerce’s 16 per cent ad spend went towards print in 2019, which further decreased to 14 per cent in 2020, eight per cent in 2021 and seven per cent in 2022.

The BFSI sector has been spending fairly well on print over the past few years but is now shrinking its budget. In 2023, this category spent 25 per cent of its ad spends on print, a decline from 2022’s 32 per cent and 2021’s 33 per cent.The tourism sector, which has been a new entrant in the top advertisers of 2023, assigned 39 per cent of its ad budget towards print. For Real Estate, this number stood at eight per cent and for telecom at six per cent. Consumer Durables and Pharma spent 17 per cent and 16 per cent on print respectively, in the same year.