After an evening of glitz and Bollywood glamour with Shahrukh Khan telling the charmed audience about his “Tryst with magazines”, the 38th FIPP World Magazine Congress kicked off in Delhi on 10 October on a more formal note, with the delegates getting down to business right from the start. There are around 600 delegates from 50 countries attending the Congress this year.
Aroon Purie, chairman and editor-in-chief, The India Today Group and FIPP chairman, addressed the attendees in a keynote speech and said that the fact the Congress is taking place in India is a reflection that the Indian media is ready to explode on the world stage.
“There are 10,000 newspapers and 58,100 magazines registered in India. While newspapers are shutting down around the world, Delhi alone has 16 English and 10 Hindi-language dailies. Of the 1.2 billion population of India, two thirds are below the age of 35; 100 million people are accessing the Internet and are expected to touch 250 million by 2015; smart phones have a penetration of 5-6% of the population and are expected to grow to 25% by 2015 and there are 31 million Facebook users,” said Poorie. “These figures are sure to leave many publishers salivating.”
He further added that the digital disruption that till two years ago was seen as a derailing agent has instead become a digital delight. “Digital technology, especially tablet publishing, has given a fresh lease of life to the magazine industry globally.”
He also said that publishers have to look at alternate revenue streams like events and digital to remain relevant and viable.
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