The media industry is looking forward to the general elections as a major stimulus and expects business worth Rs 600 crore from promotional campaigns of various parties.
Robbed off a lion's share of its advertising revenue due to the global economic downturn, the media industry is looking forward to the general elections as a major stimulus and expects business worth Rs 600 crore from promotional campaigns of various parties.
Print media and news channels are expected to be the major beneficiaries in the elections, while radio channels and new media platforms, such as mobile and Internet, are also being used by the political parties and candidates in their campaigns, according to a report by brokerage firm Centrum.
"Elections have historically attracted viewers to the Hindi news space. Political parties are expected to spend about Rs 600 crore on promotions, of which 55 per cent would
be on print media and eight per cent on radio," Centrum said.
According to industry experts, election season has injected a fresh lease of life for the media companies, a number of whom have embarked upon significant cost-cutting
measures due to dearth of advertisements as advertisers are cutting down on their spending due to the global economic downturn.
Some parties have already started airing their promotional campaigns on TV, while the momentum is expected to gather steam as the election dates approach and similar is the
scenario for other media platforms, they noted.
As per the estimates of Centre for Media Studies, a total of about Rs 10,000 crore could be spent during the Lok Sabha elections, which includes about Rs 2,000 crore by the Election Commission and other government agencies and the remaining Rs 8,000 crore by the political parties and candidates.
While door-to-door campaigning and rallies continue to be the mainstay of their campaign, political parties are also looking at ad campaigns across media platforms to reach the elusive voter, especially in urban areas, Centrum said.
"We estimate political parties would spend at least Rs 600 crore on advertising and publicity during the general elections, which would come as a shot in the arm for the media space," Centrum said, adding that this spending could help the industry grow by about five per cent.
"We believe print media would benefit more, accounting for 55 per cent of spending. The out-of-home platform, which has been the favorite for regional and smaller parties, is expected to account for 15-20 per cent of this spending.
"The television segment is expected to receive only 15 per cent as it is regarded as expensive medium. Radio, which has been given permission only recently, could garner nearly Rs 50 crore where as new media such as Internet, mobile and others could be less than five per cent," it noted.
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