Even as government rules bar global newspaper giants from having a majority stake in Indian print editions, they are looking at the medium of the future.
The Wall Street Journal is working towards aligning its India strategy to the practices it follows globally, that is, to increase focus on digital distribution. WSJ, which publishes a facsimile edition of its Asian edition in India, has strategised to exploit the digital promise that the Indian market holds.
The company launched a news and data browsing application compatible with Blackberry and other smartphones in March and in the past three months, has seen 60,000 downloads.
"Presently, there are around 15 million data-enabled smartphone users in India and we see a huge potential there. We have already monetised our mobile initiative and we have seen that people are ready to pay for content that is useful to them," said Dow Jones India MD, Mitya New.
Though WSJ has an Asian edition, New says it is not an India-centric paper. "India is a priority market for us and since it is a value conscious market, we are working on strategies to have more users. We do not want to cater to just the tip of the pyramid," he said.
The facsimile edition of WSJ Asia has a cover price of Rs 25 in India and at such a high price for a daily, it does not have many subscribers. New said the company was investing a substantial amount in its digital initiative but did not divulge the numbers.
WSJ's mobile application can be downloaded for free and subscribers can access content for a monthly fee of Rs 99. However, the mobile subscription does not automatically allow users to view the WSJ's online content. For now, only Airtel users can download the app and access the content on their smartphones. But, says New, the exclusive agreement with the telecom operator is coming to an end in September.
"Post September, we will be able to tie up with more number of operators and that will add to our subscriber base. After operators start offering 3G services, it will further our growth."
WSJ's biggest competitor, the Financial Times, is also expanding its India product offerings and launched an India homepage for FT.com in March. "In Asia, India has the highest number of unique users and registered users for FT.com. In terms of unique users, the 2009 monthly average was three times that of 2008. In terms of page views, India grew by 40 per cent in 2009 in monthly average. The number of FT.com registered users in India has also been rising. In the first quarter of 2010, we were already close to doubling the number of registered users we had in 2009," said Azmar Sukandar, Head of Communications, Asia Pacific, FT.
FT's subscription charges across Asia is $5.75 per week (Rs 260). Though the fee is quite high, subscribing to FT.com enables customers to access FT content on all devices - PC, mobile or iPad.
Indian newspapers are not far behind, as most national ones have online presence and those that have invested in technology are also capable of offering their content on mobile phones.
While domestic newspapers in the country, both English language and vernacular, are increasing the number of their editions, foreign newspapers do not have that flexibility. Government's guidelines do not allow more than 26 per cent foreign direct investment in print media and that is one reason global giants are going full throttle to unleash the power of the digital medium.
