MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE YEAR AHEAD

Despite the carnage being witnessed globally in the print publishing industry, I don't foresee the same happening in Thailand. The Kingdom has escaped relatively unscathed so far and I can't envisage any significant decline in reading habits - and that should mean print remains attractive and, to a certain extent essential, for brands that want to get their message across in a targeted way.
Although newspapers and magazines have trimmed staffing levels, and indeed some have disappeared or merged, I feel the number of new titles being launched will only increase as the global economic recovery begins to strengthen. Print suffered in 2009 but 2010 is looking more promising, especially for strong and trusted brands that have weathered the crisis relatively intact.
Publishers do need to move more towards increased levels of transparency and honesty, and doing so can only benefit their titles. Strong titles with healthy circulation levels will benefit the most, at the expense of those publishers who have been significantly inflating their sales figures. Publishers should adopt independent circulation auditing before advertisers demand it.
We might also see more widespread use of 'compact' editions of what are now traditionally-sized magazines. These editions are now widespread in Europe and I think it's only a matter of time before these conveniently-sized publications become trendy here.

Have Your Say: What developments do you expect to see in the Thai publishing industry during the year ahead? Leave a comment and join the debate.