CII-PwC study forecasts M&E industry's CAGR of 15% between 2013 and 2018

India’s entertainment and media sector is expected to grow steadily over the next five years as per CII-PwC’s latest report titled India Entertainment & Media Outlook 2014. The industry is expected to exceed 227,000 crore INR by 2018 growing at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% between 2013 and 2018.

In 2013, the overall entertainment and media industry was estimated to be 112,044 crore INR and grew by 19% over the previous year. The largest segment, India’s television industry, continued its strong growth momentum led by subscription revenues, representing a year-on-year growth of about 15%. Internet access and internet advertising have been the fastest growing segments with annual growth rates of 47 and 26% respectively.

“The key theme of our report this year is ‘monetisation strategies in media sector’. Clearly, the future lies in digital media as the internet segment is leading the growth in India.” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry.

The revenue from advertising is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% and will exceed 60,000 crore INR in 2018 from 35,000 crore INR in 2013. Internet access has overtaken the print segment as the second-largest segment contributing to the overall pie of entertainment and media sector revenues.

Smita Jha, Leader, Entertainment and Media practice, PwC India, said, “Digital success does not just necessarily mean better, improved technology. It means applying a digital mindset to build the right behaviours among industry stakeholders. This includes getting ever closer to the customer–across the entire organisation, and in everything it does.”

Businesses no longer need a digital strategy, what they need is a business strategy fit for a digital age. The industry needs to get even closer to the consumer and adopt more flexible business models. To do this, companies must exhibit three behaviours: forging trust with consumers; creating the confidence to move with speed and agility; and empowering innovation. This will be an important step in monetising the digital consumer.

Television and print are expected to remain the largest contributors to the advertising pie in 2018 as well. Internet advertising will emerge as the third-largest segment, with a share of about 16% in the total E&M advertising pie. The film segment estimated at 12,600 crore INR in 2013 is projected to grow steadily at a CAGR of 12%, on the back of higher domestic and overseas box-office collections as well as cable and satellite rights.

With the rapidly increasing adoption of smartphones and tablets, the gaming sector is fast emerging as a promising source of revenue for the industry. Efforts by industry players as well as support from the government are expected to provide a major boost to the gaming sector, which is still in its infancy. Out-of-home advertising is gradually expected to slide to the last position in terms of revenue contribution to the sector, with its share declining to 1% in 2018, while music remains constant at 1% revenue share between 2013 and 2018.