Print Media Still Stays Strong In South India

30-Dec-2019

Media Research Users Council (MRUC) disclosed the results of Indian Readership Survey on December 27, 2019. The Q3 report is rolling average over the last quarter of 2017 (Q4), and three quarters of 2019 (Q1+Q2 +Q3 2019). According to the data, irrespective the increase in the use of internet in the country, this in-return continues to expand reach across all media.Readership stood at 38 per cent in Q3 2019 as compared to 39 per cent in Q2 2019.

The AIR for regional dailies stood at 7.6 per cent in Q3 as against 8.05 per cent in Q2. The TR for regional dailies stood at 18.6 per cent as compared to 19 per cent in the Q2 2019. Among the South regional dailies, Malayala Manorama has won the first spot among Malayalam dailies. Vijay Karnataka clinched the first spot among the Karnataka dailies.

Considering the readership trend across languages, Kerala witnessed a slight drop in this quarter. The readership stood at 84.5 per cent as compared to 85.4 per cent in the last quarter. The state witnessed a drop in AIR with 52.3 per cent while in the Q2 it stood at 57.2 per cent.

Speaking to exchange4media Varghese Chandy, Vice President, Marketing, Advertising Sales, Malayala Manorama said, “This is basically a data correction when the old data of 2017 is taken off. So we cannot consider this as a drop-in readership.”

He continued, “In Kerala, there is a slight drop in AIR, but in case of TR it is by or large the same. AIR going down can be attributed to the unprecedented rain that happened in Kerala in the last 2 years. With TR remaining stable I believe that we will be able to get the AIR numbers back.”

The TR and AIR in Karnataka remained stable with TR clocking 39.7 per cent in Q2 and Q3 2019. Vijaya Vani bagged the second spot among the Kannada dailies and witnessed growth in readership and added 1.5 lakh readers in Q3 2019.

Tamil Nadu and Puducherry witnessed an increase in the TR, where it stood at 52.1 per cent this quarter as compared to 51.6 per cent in Q2. Telangana state’s TR dropped to 30.4 per cent this quarter from 34.4 in the last quarter.

Among the dailies in Malayalam, Mathrubhumi clinched the second spot.

Commenting on the Q3 survey results Sreyams Kumar, JMD, Mathrubhumi said, "Print media continues to be stable and balanced in its growth trajectory. The report suggests that total reach across media platforms continues to grow. “

“Our radio station Club FM became No 1 FM station in Kerala with 49.54 lakh ever listeners, which is a testament of loyalty by our constituents in the brand, which trust we are beholden to repay by continuously upgrading content,” he added.

The South Indian states also witnessed an increase in the number of English reading audiences. Among the English dailies, Times of India bagged the first spot in Chennai and added 1.03 lakh readers in this quarter. The Hindu clinched the second spot and added 95000 readers in Q3 2019.

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