According to the new "India Media Market 2007" report from Heernet Ventures, the Indian media market is expected to grow from revenues of $9.2 billion in 2007 to $17 billion by 2012.
That converts to an estimated INR415.4 billion in 2007 rising to INR766 billion in 2012, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13%.
Accounting for 43% of total ad spending, newspapers are the largest advertising channel in India, followed by television, at 35% of the total, with the other media channels far behind.
Online advertising currently accounts for only 3% of total spending.
These robust projections come on the heels of a 12-month period of exceptional growth for Indian media — when all sectors (with the exceptions of music and marketing services) achieved double-digit growth.
Heernet analysts are forecasting increased advertising spending in the automotive industry, telecom, retail and financial services markets.
Benefiting from growing private consumption, urbanization and increased literacy, the media sectors that are most likely to experience the strongest growth are pay TV, online and radio.
Focusing on online media growth, the report predicts that Internet reach will increase rapidly from the current 4% level of penetration and drive revenue growth at a CAGR of 29.2% to 2012.
eMarketer estimates that there were slightly more than 25 million Internet users in India in 2006, and forecasts that number to grow to more than 33 million this year.
For more information on this vital region of the world, read eMarketer's India Online report.