Sakal distributes more than one million copies a day across Maharashtra, yet its leadership notes a lack of knowledge about its readership. Speaking at the 34th Indian Printers Summit in Pune, Sakal Media Group CEO Uday Jadhav laid bare an industry-wide data deficit that has left major newspaper publishers largely in the dark about who actually consumes their journalism.
Yet, we don’t know who the reader is, what type of content they like, how much content they like, and what time they expect to deliver the content,
Jadhav told more than 270 participants gathered from 36 organisations at the two-day event held on September 9–10.
For an industry historically built on tracking raw circulation figures rather than individual consumer habits, this lack of audience intelligence presents a severe operational hurdle. Newspapers have traditionally relied on distribution chains mediated by hawkers, positioning publishers to focus primarily on aggregate circulation and advertising revenue while keeping the reader at the very end of the supply chain.
We never prioritised the circulation function, we never prioritised the readers to get data,
Jadhav acknowledged during the summit.
Flipping the Revenue Model
At present, advertising accounts for almost 80 percent of revenue, with subscriptions or circulation contributing the remaining 20 percent. Industry leaders at the Pune summit argued that publishers must fundamentally flip this revenue model so that the majority of earnings stem directly from the audience.
Achieving that financial shift, however, will require far more than simply raising cover prices. In Maharashtra, Sakal has increased its cover price from 5 rupees (approximately $0.06) to 8 rupees ($0.09) over the past two years, with plans to reach 10 rupees ($0.11) within the next two years. Similarly, Odia daily Sambad has raised its cover price to 9 rupees ($0.10), according to director Monica Nayyar Patnaik.
Higher cover prices alone cannot resolve mounting financial pressures in an environment where operational costs continue to rise. Patnaik emphasized that knowing individual consumer preferences is essential to convincing readers to pay for content. If you have the database with you, you will be the king,
she noted, explaining that detailed audience insights could help publishers tailor content, advertising, and associated services more effectively.
Fragmented Habits and Missing Measurement Data Challenge Publishers
The challenge is compounded by evolving media consumption habits, particularly among younger readers. Patnaik pointed out that a reader might encounter the exact same local news story across a printed newspaper, a mobile application, Instagram, or short-form video platforms, forcing publishers to maintain relevance across fragmented touchpoints.
Compounding this digital fragmentation is a severe absence of standardized audience measurement in India. Amitabh Sharma, Media Director at GroupM, highlighted that the last Indian Readership Survey was conducted in 2019—seven years after the preceding survey in 2012—leaving the market without a reliable, updated industry-wide benchmark.
Because advertisers have grown accustomed to platforms that provide precise audience analytics and outcomes, print publishers can no longer rely on circulation volume as sole proof of advertising value. Publishers have not focused on building an infrastructure around their audiences,
Sharma said. They never thought about building their platform, they didn’t invest in technology to measure that.
Beyond Selling Space
While some regional publishers have diversified their operations—Sambad, for instance, has expanded into FM, television, and digital platforms—diversification does not automatically guarantee monetization. Patnaik noted that audience scale on secondary platforms is not yet large enough to monetize at alternative levels.
Jadhav pointed out that print organizations continue to pitch to advertising agencies primarily by selling physical newspaper space, even as corporate clients demand integrated solutions such as public relations, product sampling, and on-ground activations. We are trying to sell only space to the agencies. We are not monetising our readers,
he said.
In the absence of formal industry readership surveys, some publishers have turned to proprietary tracking methods. Sambad currently monitors competitors’ advertising volumes, measures ad space, and estimates market revenue to gauge its own standing. This internal analysis indicates that Sambad commands roughly 48 percent of advertising volume in its market, providing a metric to present to local advertisers.
As publishers weigh investments in technology, cost management, and talent retention, Sharma suggested that newsrooms look to their existing editorial capital. He noted that respected reporters and editorial chiefs could potentially build direct audiences and drive engagement through podcasts and digital platforms.
