The global entertainment market is expanding on multiple fronts, with consumer spending for the combined theatrical and home entertainment markets reaching $88.4 billion worldwide last year.
According to data from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), home entertainment consumer spending also increased globally in 2017 to hit $47.8 billion, up 11% over 2016. US spending alone increased 5% over 2016 to $20.5 billion.
Meanwhile, the number of subscriptions to online video services around the world increased to 446.8 million in 2017 – a 33% increase compared with 2016. Online video content viewing in the US increased in 2017, reaching 167.5 billion views and transactions – a 41% increase compared with 2016.
Americans overall now spend 49% of their media time on a digital platform.
“With more stories and more storytelling mediums than ever, our industry continues to adapt to an ever-changing world,” said MPAA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin. “The global entertainment market is expanding on multiple fronts, constantly innovating to deliver an unparalleled experience to audiences worldwide. In 2017, not only did the global box office hit yet another record high, the number of subscriptions to online video services around the world jumped 33% to reach 446.8 million.”
The global box office meanwhile reached a new record of $40.6 billion in 2017 – up 5% from the previous year. This high was driven by a 7% increase in international markets ($29.5 billion), in large part due to growth in China. Japan, the UK, India and South Korea rounded out the top five international markets after China.
Cinema screens meanwhile increased 8% globally in 2017, reaching just over 170,000, led by continued double-digit growth in the Asia Pacific region (up 16%).
“With the global box office continuing to grow and movies drawing younger, more diverse audiences, we see a bright future for theatrical entertainment,” said John Fithian, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO). “We are relentlessly innovating, investing in top-notch cinema infrastructure and advanced technology, to give audiences the very best movie experience.”
In the US and Canada, while the domestic box office did not quite reach last year’s record of $11.4 billion, its robust performance matched 2015’s previous high of $11.1 billion. This audience comprises 263 million moviegoers and is the largest box office market globally.
On the demographics front, more than three-quarters of that population went to the cinema at least once last year, and the gender composition of the audience was evenly split among men and women. However, more young people and diverse populations went to the movies in 2017. Audiences between the ages of 12 and 17 attended an average of 4.9 movies over the course of the year – more than any other age group, and closely followed by 18- to 24-year-olds (4.7).
Per-capita attendance was highest among Latino (4.5) and Asian (4.3) audiences.
