Category: DAS KA DUM

The writing was on the wall and now the latest Indian Readership Survey findings confirms it: that print is declining in India. We asked Dr Bhaskar Das, who is a print media veteran, on his views given the report. Presenting the May 11 edition of Das Ka Dum. Read on…

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Q. The new IRS numbers are out, and we now have data for all four quarters of 2019. While a deep dive may show a more nuanced result for some publications, the broad findings (as per the MRUC deck) say that newspaper readership has de-grown. I have two small questions:

1. Do you think the findings are true – that newspaper readership has de-grown? Let me put it in a different way: do you think lesser number of people are reading newspapers?

2. Do you think newspaper publishers are to be blamed for being complacent?

A. a) The meta principle of any research: the findings are indicative, and not exhaustive. Hence, there is no scope of  contemplating that findings are true or not. Secondly, if number of readers is not growing, it must be a dominant pattern from the sample. In fact,  if one observes, one would notice that the younger generation is accessing news more online/ real-time. So news consumption is still high. Consumption methods are varied depending on the demographic/ social cohort one represents. If future research encompasses news consumption across devices and formats, one might get a better indication of news consumer and their ever-evolving preferences.

b) It’s not about complacency. From hindsight, it’s easy to be critical. Whatever strategy publishers have followed has worked. The proof is that print was the largest medium in terms of investment by advertisers. As in the case of every strategy, its shelf life expires. If research trends are indicating a definite pattern interrruption, it may be the right time to calibrate a renewal strategy for news in general and formats of delivery in particular.

That’s an issue which many people in the business have been raising… that cover price should be increased and how if The Times of India group had upped its price 20-odd years back, the health of the print media would’ve been much better. We asked Dr Bhaskar Das, who a print media veteran and former Big Boss of the TOI group, on his views on the issue. Without further ado, the May 12 edition of Das Ka Dum. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. Assume you are in a time machine. And can travel back in time to Circa 2002. Do you think The Times of India ought to have pushed up its cover price and decreased its dependence on advertising?

A. Business is not a journey in a time machine. Context for a strategy always matters. 2002 contexts were conducive for a winner strategy. Just because the operating environment has been volatile, one can’t surmise that the seeds of strategic transformation, that are relevant now, should have been sowed 18 years back. This is just gobbledygook.

Okay, we obviously didn’t expect BD to give a ‘sureshot’ answer given the uncertainties that lie ahead, but we asked him nevertheless, wanting his unique take on life. Pssst: this bit of “Please don’t give a philosophical answer” was only to put more pressure on him to go ultra-philosophical. Ha ha. Without any further ado, here’s the May 15 edition of Das Ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das of course. Enjoy.

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. A serious ‘Friday’ question: Given the Covid-19-led mayhem in most of our big cities, do you ever think it’s wiser to live in a smaller, less populous town? But, then, in the M&E sector, that’s not really possible, right? Please don’t give a philosophical answer… puhleez.

A. This question is a classic quest for a kneejerk answer to a question at the spur of a moment. Staying in an urban or rural (small town) area is a choice of life, and not a  reaction to a live event. The quality of life in a small town may be a lure, vis-a-vis a metro/big town, but other aspects of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs have to be glossed over then, almost.

The joy of quizzing BD is that you think you’ve asked a straightforward question, but the response you get is so profound, that you need to re-read your question and compliment yourself for asking something with such deep meaning. So here’s our Q&A for May 19  edition of Das Ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das. Read on…

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar.

Q. As a citizen of Mumbai, do you sometimes feel that the mandarins of Lutyen’s Delhi are far removed from the realities of the rest of the country?

A. A very pertinent question to be raised is what is reality. Your and my reality can be very different from the reality of the super-rich or a super-destitute. I don’t want to label holder of one perspective vis-a-vis another as unrelated to reality just because that narrative is at variance with another social cohort’s altered reality. In a democratic society, multiple narratives can coexist. What the majority of the citizens accept, gets reflected in their verdict every five years. In a country like India, the realties if the  privileged classes would never tally with the slew  of  realities that exist at the ground level. So why are you trying to put  a binary tag on  perspectives?