All about Pakistan's print sector

 The deal, with local player AG Publications, makes Newsweek the first licensed international news magazine in Pakistan.

1. Newsweek’s local edition will be published weekly in English and have its own staff of reporters and editors.

Up to 40 per cent of its content will be market-specific. AG is headquartered in Lahore; its MD, Fasih Ahmed, has worked with Newsweek before as a journalist. Rhona Murphy, publisher and MD at Newsweek International, says she was approached by several prospective partners in the market before choosing AG on the back of Newsweek’s connection with Ahmed.

2. Murphy points to a significant English-speaking population in Pakistan who do business internationally and have a keen interest in news.

“There is a gap in the market for a heavyweight brand,” she says. “There isn’t a local media owner that can be seen as completely objective.”

Dara Bashir Khan, chairman and MD of PHD Pakistan, says that English literacy is limited to less than two per cent of the adult urban market. “Newsweek is looking for a high-end A1 and A2 demographic between the ages of 18 and 55.”

Newsweek Pakistan’s initial print run will be 30,000, with a target circulation of around 15,000, double the current circulation of the international edition. Ad sales will focus on corporate banking, government and luxury sectors, though Khan predicts that airlines, automobiles, telecom, and IT companies, among others, may be interested.

3. Other English-language magazines, such as the Economist, are circulated in the market, and Time and Reader’s Digest have run local ads in Pakistani print runs for some time.

But none has a local edition. There are also local players. Sarmad Ali, MD for marketing and ad sales at local publisher Jang Media Group, says most news and current affairs titles are monthly, with only five significant weekly players touching on news: Akhbar I Jehan (Urdu tabloid women’s magazine), MAG (English women’s magazine with more serious political opinions), The Friday Times (conservative political weekly), Nida e Millat and Family Magazine (both in Urdu).

4. More broadly, the local magazine publishing market is dominated by women’s magazines, including fashion and weddings.

There are some niche business magazines, especially in IT, and US publisher IDG has a number of English titles in this area.

Ali adds that the total magazine-reading population in urban Pakistan is an estimated 4.4 million. International titles account for 1.5 per cent of this population or slightly more than 300,000 readers.

Newspapers are a far bigger market. Dawn and Jang dominate the English-language market, though competition is growing. Century Publications, publisher of the leading Urdu-language newspaper Daily Express, recently announced it would publish an English-language newspaper focused on Pakistani news and business in co-operation with the International Herald Tribune.

5. Both Ali and Khan point to a difficult year for print in 2009 as the overall media market stalled.

This is borne out by figures from GroupM, which predicts a flat magazine ad market, worth around US$8.6 million, lasting into 2010. The data also shows newspaper ads in decline, to around $59.3 million in 2010. That said, Khan believes this year will see an “up-swing in terms of ad spending on both electronic and print”.

6. So will other media owners rush into the market?

Pakistan has so far received less attention from publishers than India due to its smaller population and unstable political and economic situation. However, Murphy says Newsweek has struggled to launch a local edition in India due to heavy regulation on foreign media in the market. So far, she has not encountered similar obstacles in Pakistan.

However, Khan says there are “no clear signs” of future launches. The Economist has only around 2,000 copies in the country and small advertising sales, making a local launch unlikely in the near future. As such, most publishers seem to be maintaining a ‘wait and see’ attitude.

What this means for...

PUBLISHERS
> Pakistan is not full of untapped magazine ad dollars, though publishers may be able to find niches capable of sustaining print titles. Given the size of Pakistan’s population (160 million), there is scope to build scale. Newsweek’s launch will be closely watched by other publishers keen to get into the market early.

> Urdu is spoken by 95 per cent of Pakistanis, though often as a second or third language. For upscale audiences likely to attract ad dollars, English is preferable.

> Choosing the right local partner is key, though regulatory restrictions on ownership in Pakistan seem less onerous than in India.

ADVERTISERS
> With high rates of illiteracy in Pakistan, print does not have the reach of television. However, there are opportunities to reach key groups. Women are well served by magazines, with wedding titles such as Me & My Wedding and Brides among the biggest sellers.

> Newsweek’s launch has the potential to build an audience for advertisers among an influential and international-leading audience. If Pakistan can finally show greater economic stability, that could be a useful audience for advertisers to target.

> According to one source in the market, print titles’ initial circulation figures should be interrogated closely.

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This article was originally published in the 25 March 2010 issue of Media.