Media, entertainment sector in India to cross Rs 240,000 cr by 2022

The Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector in India is expected to cross Rs 2.4 trillion (USD 34 billion) by 2022, with an annual growth rate of 10 per cent mainly driven by rapid proliferation of mobile access, according to a report. The M&E sector in India grew by 9 per cent to reach Rs 1.82 trillion (USD 25.7 billion) in 2019, according to the FICCI EY report 'The era of consumer A.R.T. – Acquisition Retention and Transaction,' launched on Friday.

With its current trajectory, the M&E sector in India is expected to cross Rs 2.4 trillion (USD 34 billion) by 2022, at an annual growth of 10 per cent, the report said. "However, the coronavirus outbreak will have a significant adverse impact on the sector, the situation is still evolving both in India and many parts of the world, the scale of the impact cannot be estimated immediately," EY India Partner and M&E Leader Ashish Pherwani told reporters here.

This report was developed through primary and secondary research, discussions with several companies and industry stakeholders and cross referencing of available data points. While television and print retained their positions as the two largest segments, digital media overtook filmed entertainment in 2019 to become the third-largest segment of the sector.

Digital subscription revenues more than doubled from 2018 levels and digital advertising revenues grew to command 24 per cent of total advertising spend. The sector continued to grow at a rate faster than the GDP, driven primarily by growth in subscription-based business models and India's attractiveness as a content production and post production destination.

The rapid proliferation of mobile access is enabling on-demand, anytime-anywhere content consumption nationwide. With a population of 1.3 billion, a tele-density approaching 89 per cent of households, 688 million internet subscribers and nearly 400 million smartphone users, India's telecom industry is poised to become the primary platform for content distribution and consumption. India ranks as one of the fastest-growing app markets globally, where entertainment apps are driving significant consumer engagement.

Online gaming retained its position as the fastest growing segment on the back of transaction-based games mainly fantasy sports, increased in-app purchases and a 31 per cent growth in the number of online gamers to reach around 365 million. The M&E sector witnessed a surge in content consumption as digital infrastructure, quantum of content produced and per-capita income increased in 2019, Pherwani said. The report revealed that the TV industry grew from Rs 74,000 crore to Rs 78,800 crore in 2019, a growth of 6.5 per cent. TV advertising grew 5 per cent to Rs 32,000 billion while subscription grew 7 per cent to Rs 46,800 billion. Regional channels benefited from the New Tariff Order as their consumption increased by over 20 per cent in certain cases. General entertainment and movie channels led with 74 per cent of viewership, it added.

The news genre witnessed a growth to almost 9 per cent of total viewership, up from 7.3 per cent in 2018. In sports cricket emerged as the big winner in 2019 as it accounted for over 80 per cent of the sports viewership, up from 70 per cent last year, due to the ICC World Cup.

Despite a 3 per cent revenue degrowth at Rs 29,600 crore, print continued to retain the second largest share of the Indian M&E sector. Circulation revenues increased by 2 per cent to Rs 9,000 crore as newspaper companies tactically increased prices in certain markets. Meanwhile, in 2019, digital media grew 31 per cent to reach Rs 22,100 crore and is expected to grow at 23 per cent annually to reach Rs 41,400 crore by 2022. Digital advertising grew 24 per cent to Rs 19,200 crore driven by increased consumption of content on digital platforms and marketeers' preference to measure performance. SME and long tail advertisers increased their spends on digital media as well. Pay digital subscribers crossed 10 million for the first time as sports and other premium content were put behind a paywall. Consequently, subscription revenue grew 106 per cent to Rs 2,900 crore. Digital consumption grew across platforms where video viewers increased by 16 per cent, audio streamers by 33 per cent and news consumers by 22 per cent, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)