A fortnight in which attention of the observers of media scene in the country was hogged by the launch of Republic TV and the channel’s subsequent flaunting of the latest viewership figures, the story of world trend-beating growth and leadership was being scripted by Hindi print media.

On May 8 Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), a non-profit independent body which audits circulation figures of newspapers and magazines, released compound annual growth rate (CAGR) figures of Indian media publications for a period of 10 years (2006-2016). Bucking the global trend of decline in print circulation, ABC data shows, 23.7 million copies have been added over the last 10 years to the circulation of Indian newspapers and magazines. This contributed to an impressive CAGR of 4.87%   between 2006 and 2016 across different languages. The growth will look even more spectacular if one takes into account how Hindi publications have led this growth.

Spearheading the growth, Hindi print space registered CAGR of 8.76 % followed by other regional media publications like Telugu (8.28%), Kannada (6.40%) and Tamil (5.51%).

It’s significant that pitted against the healthy growth in Hindi print space, English publications look subdued with a modest 2.87% growth. How advertisers, who use ABC data for placing their ads, are going to react to this, remains to be seen.

Going by the advertising trends, however, it’s less likely that there will be any change in nature of advertisement that Hindi press gets. With high end products preferring English press for catering to higher income and urban readership, one can’t still expect a brand such as Audi or McDonald’s placing ads in Hindi dailies. Conversely, one can’t expect Rupa undergarments or Kamdhenu Saria (iron rods) vying for your attention in English newspapers. While vigyapan-ad divide may persist for reasons rooted in economic and spatial demography of readership, the data may augment the volume of advertisement revenue coming to Hindi publications.

The dominance of Hindi dailies is evident as five of them figure in ABC’S top 10 list of most-read dailies in India ( four in top 5) during July-December 2016. Dainik Jagran continues to be the most widely circulated in India, followed by Dainik Bhaskar.  Amar Ujala and Hindustan get fourth and fifth spots respectively while Rajasthan Patrika is placed at eighth. Interestingly, only one English newspaper- The Times of India (placed at third spot), manages to break into the top 10 most read dailies.)

The regional growth perspective also reflects the effect of expanding readership of the Hindi press. North zone, where Hindi dailies are primarily based, registered the highest growth rate of 7.83 % followed by South zone which grew at 4.95 %. Western and eastern parts of country had a modest circulation growth rate of 2.81% and 2.63% respectively.

It’s obvious that growth in Hindi press has contributed hugely to India escaping the global dip in print readership. ABC, for instance, makes an international comparative study of growth ( or decline) in print media sales for three years-2013, 2014 and 2015- data for which was made available by World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers World Press Trends- 2016 report  (WAN-IFRA WPT-2016 report).

So, what explains the growth trajectory of Hindi print media? There are some generalities which may apply to publications of other languages in India too. ACB’s press release lists a number of reasons for growth in publications across print publications in the country – including impact of growing literacy, economic growth, easy access and entrenched reverence for printed word. I had also attempted to probe the sway of printed world on Indian news consumer’s psyche in a different piece for this site five years back. All that, however, don’t decode the expanding readership of Hindi publications in its entirety.

What’s interesting is that the subtext of social churning, and even political implications of the expanding reach of Hindi dailies has engaged media scholarship. At turn of this century, Robin Jefferey tried to explore the phenomenon in his work India’s Newspaper Revolution- Politics and the Indian-language Press ( Oxford University Press, 2000). Seven years later, with a more specific focus on Hindi press, media analyst Sevanti Ninan came up with Headlines from the Heartland-Reinventing the Hindi Public Sphere (Sage, 2007). At a time when digital technology was challenging and making deep inroads into print media world over, Hindi led growth of print media consumers in India intrigued media observers.

Clearly the pull of reams of newsprint for new generation of readers in Hindi heartland has gone beyond the awestruck reverence of Yashpal’s evocative short story “Akhbaar mein naam”. Amid the positive signs which are definitely identifiable in the healthy growth, is there a disturbing message of digital divide also hidden somewhere? Is print continuing to march triumphantly in Hindi heartland, apart from other obvious reasons, also because of low penetration of internet in the region or low spending on digital access by the readership it is catering too? If that’s true, greater digital access may make this rate of growth hard to sustain. That’s, however, can again be neutralised by other factors that are fueling its current growth. Interesting times ahead.

Three years ago, journalist Aakar Patel, relying on a different set of data, was keen on writing the obituary of Indian newspapers. The healthy growth registered by Hindi press may persuade him to hold his horses. However, if the growth is rooted in lack of digital access not in spite of it, who knows he may be eventually right in being a doom sayer. Till then, the Hindi print space can continue to believe in its world-beating growth, powered by a large number of media consumers in the heartland.

The author can be contacted on Twitter @anandvardhan26