The Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity, which gives out government advertisements to various publications, is also in the process of revising advertisement rates for the regional media
With an eye on tapping the country's rural population, the Centre has decided to prioritise regional media and give out a major share of government advertisements to them.
Highly placed sources in the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry said the government has decided to shift its focus from the mainstream media – which was the norm so far – and empower the regional media instead by giving out more government advertisements to them.
The Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP), which gives out government advertisements to various publications, is also in the process of revising advertisement rates for the regional media.
A senior government official said the decision was taken keeping in view of the government's target audience.
"The target audience of the government lies in the rural pockets of the country, who do not have access to the mainstream media and are dependent on the local media. So the rural population do not always get to know about the schemes advertised by the government, many of which they can avail of," an official said.
The official added that both regional TV channels and print media will get more government advertisements as compared to their mainstream counterparts, which are mostly consumed by the urban population.
Insiders informed the decision has also been taken keeping in view that people from the rural parts of the country comprises the major share of India's voters, and boosting the regional media is also an important measure to reach out to them.
Sources also informed that the government will also give out more advertisements to online media given their rates are much cheaper than mainstream TV and print media.
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