Exclusive | Year 2012 was tough for media cos: NPHL's KK Goenka

Prabhat Khabar, one of the well known publications saw a phenomenal growth this quarter. It was a success story for the group as it garnered 2761 from 2621 (Q2) after gaining140 AIRs. Prabhat Khabar which was started in 1984 from Ranchi was taken over by the present management in 1989. At that time it had only one edition with a circulation of 500 copies. In the last 24 years the group has established Prabhat Khabar as the no 1 daily of Jharkhand.

In conversation with Adgully, K K Goenka, Managing Director, NPHL shared some insights about the growth.

Adgully (AG): Shed some light on Prabhat Khabar’s journey so far?

KK Goenka (KG): The journey has been quite event full and interesting.  2010 onward we launched 3 more editions from Bihar and we also revived our existing Patna edition. Now, we are the only newspaper in Bihar and Jharkhand which has 8 editions- Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Deoghar, Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya. We have two editions in Bengal, Kolkata and Siliguri respectively. We also have two radio stations, one from Ranchi and the other from Jamshedpur which is titled radio Dhoom. We have a weekly panchatyatnama targeting the rural market. Prabhat khabar has achieved this success because of its content and editorial credibility.

AG: Share some key milestones or some success stories of 2012.

KG: I think the year 2012 was very tough for each and every media house. Even the top national dailies could only manage single digit growth in advertising revenue while costs were escalating everywhere. There was tremendous pressure on all the media companies to maintain the bottom line. All these factors compelled print media companies to revise cover price in most of the markets. Under such challenging situation Prabhat Khabar has done reasonably well.
We have achieved a growth of above 15% in advertising revenue. On the circulation front we have done very well in Bihar where major expansion has taken place. We are selling 3.80 lakh copies in Bihar which is very close to the no2 player. We have added more than 10 lakh new readers in the last 18 month and as per IRS we have registered the highest growth ( in total readership) among the top 10 dailies continuously since last 6 terms. We have consolidated our position in Bihar and maintained our leadership in Jharkhand as per ABC.

AG: Looking at the growth of Prabhat Khabar, how will you define the state of print industry in our country, against the growing rate of internet users?

KG: I am a strong believer of the print medium. I feel the future of print media, particularly language dailies in India is still very bright. We have valid reasons for the same. According to the IRS, India has a large base of 86 crore, 12+ population of which only 59 crore is literate. Out of this 59 crore literates only 33 crore are following any form of print medium, so there are potentially 26 crore literates still left to become readers.

Print follows where the literates are. With the increase in literacy rate these numbers will go up further in future. On the revenue front, print is still enjoying a larger pie of total advertising revenue, and with the increase in local advertising, print will become the major beneficiary. The buying power in India has now shifted to tier 2 and tier 3 cities compared to metros. Advertising expenditure in these markets will go up in the future and this has been visible in the recent past. Language newspapers will be benefited due to this development.

AG: Do you visualize any major changes in the print industry in 2013?

KG: I do not think there will be any major changes in 2013. However I hope 2013 will be better than 2012, since elections are due in 2014, advertising expenditure by the government will increase.

AG: Is growth being converted into revenue?

KG: Yes. We are getting a very positive response from all our advertisers, media planners and agencies. Our major growth in IRS is because of the new edition in Bihar. We are now publishing our paper from 4 places (Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Gaya) in Bihar. Our total circulation in Bihar is around 3.75 lakh copies daily. We have added more than 10 lakh new readers in Bihar (AIR) as per IRS in last 2 years. As a result there is a substantial growth of 40% in advertisement revenue from Bihar local market whereas the National market has also grown by 20%.

AG: Is the growth in line with your actual circulation?

KG: We still feel the growth is not in line with our actual circulation strength in Bihar and Jharkhand.. Our readership per copy is only 4 against 8 of Hindustan in the same market. We are unable to understand the reason for the same.

AG: How is the competition reacting to your growth?

KG: Competitors are under pressure due to our sudden growth in Bihar. They have had to lower their advertising rates. On the circulation front they have had to spend more on promotional schemes and  they now consider Prabhat Khabar as a serious player which was not there earlier.

AG: How is the industry reacting to the growth?

KG: Very positively. In the last 2 years we have upgraded ourselves from the 9th to the 7th position among the top 10 Hindi dailies. Our readership has doubled in the last two years. People have grown to respect our publication.

AG: What is the marketing strategy for the next financial year?

KG: We are trying to update all the media planners , clients and agencies regarding our phenomenal growth. We are trying to reach out to the maximum no of people. We are hopeful to get a decent growth in the next financial year.

AG: Are there any plans for bringing out new editions next year?

KG: We will focus on consolidation in the next one year. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com] & Rabab Rupawala [rabab(at)adgully.com]