Event Coverage
Print thrives in India amid digital growth
MUMBAI: Print is still breathing strong in India while gasping for life in the US where Internet is poised to overtake the traditional media this year as advertisers chase young audiences.
A wave of acquisitions and expansions through multiple editions have been supported by the raising of capital from initial public offerings (IPOs) and private equity firms. Heightened activity is driven by increasing literacy rates, consumer spending and the growth of regional markets.
Said Business Standard chairman T N Ninan, “In India, the print market shows contradictory trends. Proliferation and consolidation are happening at the same time. New titles are being launched even as the market is consolidating. Advertising is going towards the entertainment media while advertising in news content is moving towards the Internet.”
The encouraging fact is that newspapers have seen 6 to 20 per cent growth in sales, while TV news channels have seen losses. However, Ninan has expressed doubts about certain anomalies in the sector. “English newspaper circulation grows by 70 per cent but readership grows by 2 per cent. Industry practices need to come to focus at some point of time. Metrics of the industry are rigged, so nobody knows the truth,” he said.
HT Media CEO Rajiv Varma said the print medium is still a thriving business in the eastern countries like Japan and Singapore. “The picture is not very encouraging in western countries like the US where print newspaper advertisements have declined from $60 billion in the late ‘90s to $20 billion in 2011. Internet has impacted most newspapers in the last decade in the US. In India, the picture is not very clear. How audience is going to behave in the next decade remains a question. For newspapers to survive, they will have to be more innovative and will have to diversify into other portfolios.”
Advertising is still the primary source of income for print. The business model needs to be tweaked to fit into the new market environment. Said Ninan, “Internationally, the business model is subscription-led. At some point of time, India will have to move towards that model.”
According to Lintas Media Group Chairperson and CEO Lynn De Souza, advertising spends during the last five years have doubled and print has done well to maintain its share. “Ad spends have grown from Rs 150 billion to Rs 300 billion. The share of the print media has remained the same – around 40 per cent,” she said, while speaking at Ficci Frames.
De Souza noted that despite the growth of TV and Internet, the print medium has held fort. “There is certainly buoyancy in the print market,” she said, adding that digital technology was still confined primarily to the English-speaking market and would take time to reach the masses who are already hooked to the print medium, mainly because of its availability in regional/vernacular languages.
Digitisation is putting pressure on print to change. “For decades, newspapers were built on a model where readers would come and engage with the stories to reach the advertised product or message. Digitisation has disrupted that model. Now advertisers do not need to use doors to reach their target as they can reach out to them directly. The online revolution is very young but in the next decade will be more viable and newer models will evolve, ” observed Varma.
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
