ABC sets up panel to engage advertisers and reinforce its role as print currency
Karunesh Bajaj, ABC Chairman, says the committee will engage with publishers who left ABC to learn about their concerns
Pitch Feature
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A day after pitch reported that the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) had formed a high-level committee—chaired by Aniruddha Haldar of TVS Motor Co.—to address structural gaps that may discourage publisher participation, it has now come to light that the Bureau has set up an additional panel to engage advertisers, agencies, and government bodies to strengthen its role as India's key industry-accepted print media currency. This committee aims to encourage advertisers and media buyers to actively reference "ABC-certified circulation data" when planning and assessing print media investments.
Karunesh Bajaj, Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), is leading the five-member panel.
"The Coordination Committee includes both publisher and non-publisher Council members. It will maintain regular engagement with advertising agencies, advertisers, PSUs, and government organisations," Bajaj, who also serves as Executive Vice President - Marketing & Exports at ITC Limited, told e4m.
Bajaj added, "Given the absence of an alternative industry-accepted currency, the committee will focus on educating stakeholders about ABC’s thorough audit procedures before certifying circulation figures for member publications. It will also encourage advertisers and media buyers to include ABC-certified circulation data in their print media planning and decisions."
This renewed initiative comes as the Indian Readership Survey (IRS), historically regarded as the print industry's readership benchmark, has been stalled for almost five years. In September last year, MRUCI had announced plans for a pilot survey to evaluate the feasibility of physical fieldwork post-pandemic, especially in metro markets, but the results are yet to be released.
Currency is crucial for advertisers as print remains relevant in media strategies, with many advertisers still allocating approximately 10-15% of their overall budgets to the medium.
On publishers who opted out
Within the industry, it is widely noted that several publishers—despite long-standing ABC membership—have opted out of the audit process, reportedly due to circulation pressures, particularly post-Covid.
When asked whether ABC plans to re-engage publishers who exited, Bajaj said, "The committee will reach out to former ABC members, gather their feedback, and understand the reasons behind their decision to opt out."
"This will involve evaluating whether these decisions are influenced by current market conditions or specific ABC guidelines that may have restricted them from auditing certain publications or editions," he explained.
Bajaj emphasized that the engagement is not solely defensive. "The purpose of these interactions is not just to defend the audit framework but also to understand market realities and identify areas where clarification or engagement can help—without compromising the core audit principles that lend ABC its credibility," he said.
Importantly, ABC—India’s only audit-based circulation authority—aims to expand its membership and has formed a committee to engage with publishers nationwide to bring them back on board. Currently, ABC has around 750 publisher members.
By contrast, the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), which relies mainly on documentation-driven data, lists over 21,000 newspapers among its 1.44 lakh registered publications.
