Publishers will also become less identified towards a single medium and will repurpose content into a multitude of media, according to Publishing in the Knowledge Economy, the Pira report commissioned by the DTI.

Piras business manager for print and publishing, Richard Gray, said that while magazine and newspaper printers were in essentially mature and static markets, they could diversify to exploit the opportunities surrounding content delivery. On the other hand, publishers would no longer be publishers of books or magazines, but content.

"I dont think that magazine printers will offer digital print or asset management in the same plant," he said. "But they may have subsidiaries that could provide a more rounded service. They may offer e-mail or direct mail services as well."
The report suggests that while Britain enjoys a healthy publishing industry, which at 22bn is twice as big as the pharmaceutical sector, the future for some traditional print sectors will be stagnant.

According to Pira, newspapers advertising revenue will fall by 5% and outdoor posters by 1% over the next five years. The brochure and magazine sectors will also decline slightly.

The exception to the mature print market will be the direct mail sector, which is predicted to rise by 5%.

"Direct mail will grow with the advances in software and digital print," said Gray. "Publishers may want to communicate with the user in more than one way."

Story by John Davies