The English Language in the Media in India

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The media happens to be a reflection of the culture of the local population. Be it the news, radio broadcasts, print media or the cinema, is the link of an audience to the happenings the world over as well as in their own backyard. It offers the audience a glimpse into the current state of affairs as well as provides a source of entertainment. Often it is a reflection of the society itself. Given the diversity of cultures present across India, the scope of coverage by the media is immense. It is next to impossible for a single form of or mode media to cover this demographic. Thus a large number of regional media have emerged to fulfill the regional demand leaving the national scene to a few big players.

English in Print Media

In any nation across the world, newspapers and magazines form the intrinsic part of a person’s life. Very few people begin their day without the newspaper.

In India thousands dailies are printed all over the nation which are in turn read by millions of people. Some of these dailies are national dailies. However a large number are regionally circulated. Every city or town has its own locally printed English or regional daily. The national dailies tend to be in both English as well as the regional languages. The Times of India (all editions), English daily happens to be the most widely circulated English newspaper in the world. Yet it is not the most widely read newspaper in India. Prominent newspapers like the Dainik Jagran and the Rajasthan Patrika have approximately 3 times more reader base than the Times of India. Hindi readership far outstrips the English readership in India. The reach of these Hindi newspapers happens to be more than those of the English dailies.

India also has a myriad of magazines focusing on affairs like sports, entertainment, business, electronics etc. Few of these magazines are published on the national level. However depending on the demographic of an area, some magazines tend to be regionally circulated. The language of these magazines is varies from English, Hindi and a number of regional languages.

If one only considers size, the market size of the English publishing industry in India comes second only after US and the UK. Reading is widely encouraged among the youth. However sales are low by western standards. As of late, chain book stores are mushrooming in metros around India giving more penetration and providing ample marketing and distribution opportunities. Most of these book stores have a separate section for books in regional languages. Popular English books can often be found in translated versions in either Hindi or other regional languages. Also pushing the growth of English language readership is the norm that imported books and magazines are exempt from customs duty.

English in Television

Satellite television has brought the penetration of television into a large number of houses in India. Almost every home in India now has a television set. Most channels happen to be in Hindi or Regional languages. The viewer ship of English channels is not even in double digits. However there is evidence of a quantum growth in the viewer ship of English channels. The advertising rates for these channels are growing faster than for any other language channel. This can only be explained by the fact that the audience for English channels is growing and is proving to be an attractive market for advertisers to promote their product. American sitcoms are very popular with the youth in India. Global media houses like Disney and Viacom have brought a number of these sitcoms to India. Some of them are even dubbed in Hindi and other local languages to reach a wider audience. Indian versions of TV shows like Big Brother, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader attract a substantial viewer ship.

English Movies in India today

As in print media, movies form an intrinsic part of a culture. Often movies are a reflection of the society they are based on. Most of the population in India watches Hindi movies, often termed as Bollywood movies. Regional language movies are also popular. However their popularity is limited to regions where it is the first language. Many of the Hindi and regional films are often based on scripts of Hollywood movies. English movies are seen by less than 10% of the population. This audience is concentrated only in the urban areas. However the number is rapidly growing thanks to the influx of multiplexes as well as better distribution and promotion of English movies in India. In fact Avatar, an English movie, turned out to be one of the biggest grosser in the Indian box office for the year 2009.

A new genre of Films called “Hinglish” films is evolving in India. In these movies, the dialogues switch between Hindi and English. It is targeted at multiplex audiences, i.e. well to do urban audiences.

Tremendous growth opportunity for English Usage in the media

In conclusion one can only say that the use of English in the Media in India is continuously on the rise. Given the rapid increase in the English speaking demographic, the demand for English media is only going to increase. The English media finds itself on the brink of a quantum growth over the next few years.

For more detailed information on the use of English in India please refer to:

http://www.india-reports.com/summary/English-Ind.aspx

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