INS member publications report 11% rise in ad business in 2023

For the calendar year 2023, Indian Newspaper Society (INS) member publications reported a total advertising business of Rs 16,472.40 crores, as against Rs 14,892.34 crore in 2022, as reported in INS’ Annual Report for 2023-24. Amongst the various sources of advertising revenue, accredited advertising agencies continued to dominate advertising business of INS members.

The distribution of business from accredited agencies was dominated by Indian Language Dailies accounting for 56.25% and English Dailies accounting for 42.95%.

Bad Debts

The debts written off over the past five years which remained well below 1% reflects the efficiency of the INS credit monitoring system. Over the five years period, the aggregate write-off in relation to volume of business at 0.15% is considered a creditable performance in the Indian market. The write-offs indicate the balance of unpaid amounts by Advertising Agencies over and above the collateral (Bank guarantees/ Security deposits) that were encashed while revoking an Agency’s accreditation due to unsatisfactory payment history.

Monitoring of payment to Publications

The Society monitors payment to publications from advertising agencies through a system of Monthly Review Verification (MRV). Although the numbers fluctuate from month to month, it may be stated that out of 702 accredited agencies about 500-525 manage to keep the level of their arrears below 5%. At the other end of the spectrum, there would be about 100-130 agencies whose arrears are in excess of 5% and the performance of these agencies are kept under close scrutiny.

The challenges

INS stated, “The print media industry in India has maintained its relevance in an ever-evolving media ecosystem. Despite the rapid growth of other media, print continues to be a trusted and an influential medium for a significant portion of the population. With its linguistic diversity, it connects with readers on a more personal and cultural level. The continued demand for printed newspapers/ magazines is driven by the public’s trust in the print and the tradition of reading, which is deeply ingrained in the Indian society.”

At the same time, the Society also acknowledged the challenges that the industry has been facing during these past years due to declining advertising revenue, increasing production costs, depreciation of Indian rupee, and levy of customs duty on newsprint, which have posed significant hurdles and pressure on the Indian publishers.

The INS continues to pursue the matter with the Government for withdrawal of 5% Customs Duty on import of newsprint. In its various representations, it has constantly been pointed out that indigenous newsprint manufacturers do not produce glazed newsprint and 40/42 GSM newsprint, besides there is a shortfall of approximately 0.7 million tons of total newsprint consumption in India. “Hence, there is no case for levy of Customs Duty on Newsprint,” INS maintained.

INS further stated that it has requested the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) to exempt levy of GST on digital news subscription. In this connection, vide letter dated 09.11.2023, MIB informed the Society that the request for exemption of GST on Digital News Subscription was examined by the Ministry and the matter has been taken up with the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

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