The figures for the Indian newspaper market look very promising:

• Seeing that newspapers only reach 35% of the adult population, of which 65% is literate, there is significant room for growth.
  
• The sheer number of publications has created fierce competition which has kept prices low which in turn has caused publishers to depend more on advertising revenues.
• Advertising revenues in 2006 are predicted to see a 15 to 20% spike. In 2005, 48% of India's total advertising market went to newspapers, 7% more than went to television.
  
• Circulation could rise by a whopping 14% riding the back of the advertising boom.

Still, the market is facing some limits. The price of newsprint is skyrocketing which does not bode well for an industry that uses 1.6 billion tons of it per year. But analysts predict that new approaches and innovations will be an additional boon to the market.

Content, by some counts, will be increasingly diversified into niche publications whose cover price will be augmented to compliment the growing educated population. Publishers in turn will be less dependent on ad revenues.

And new media will "drive growth." According to executive editor of the regional daily Malayala Manorama Jacob Mathew, "Eventually, major newspaper groups will emerge as multiple media enterprises combining the strengths of electronic and print media."

Commenting on the Internet, CEO of India Today Group, Aroon Purie said, "The 300 pound gorilla, which I think publishers don't know what to do with it. Internet does not have to be a competitor like radio and television. It can be partner to the print media. It can only supplement the distribution of content and leverage the print brand."

Sources: Indiantelevision.com, The Hindu Business Line