20 Jul 11: After the Wall Street Journal has launched its India-specific website in 2009, now it is the turn of New York Times and Huffingtonpost.com. These two media organizations are very popular internationally and are trying to enter in to the Indian market due to its highest share in the global Internet users.
New York Times is planning to launch its digital imprint in India in the first week of August and the Huffington Post may launch its site in the next few months. These sites will offer news, blogs, features, videos and editorials specific to Indian market.
Keeping in view the appetite for international and local news among the local citizens, news sites are growing rapidly in the country. Recently, Financial Times too has created India specific home page which has a combination of both international and local news. International media companies who want to foray in to the Indian market are opting for online publications due to the increasing Internet usage and bandwidth in the country.
Many surveys have also pointed out that the organizations can easily attract the local audiences through digital medium. According to a report released by ComScore in May, the news and information category in India has grown by 36% and the average time spent by users on news sites has grown by 22% in the country. Among the top 15 news websites visited the most by Indians, Yahoo News, New York Times Digital, BBC, CNN network and Huffington Post are few. Among the global newspaper websites mostly visited by Indians are The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.
According to the consultancy, Ernst and Young India Pvt. Ltd., the upcoming sites will have 50% growth in their ad revenue due to the increased business for these news sites. According to the media report from Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry – KPMG 2011, the total digital advertising market in India is worth Rs.1,300 crore and it is expected to grow 28% annually.
One of the reasons behind the increase in growth of digital media is due to strict regulations in the print media. The FDI’s allowed in the print sector is currently limited to 26% in news and current affairs. Many international brands are looking to enter in to the print sector if these rules are made more liberal.
Source: Livemint.com