Indian E&M industry to reach Rs 3.5L cr by 2022; to emerge as one of the top 10 largest OTT video markets: PwC report

Mumbai: The Indian Media and Entertainment Industry is expected to reach Rs 3.5 trillion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 11.6% between 2018 and 2022, according to the report Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2018-2022 by PwC.

The report also states that the industry is also expected to move into top 10 largest OTT (over-the-top) video markets in the same period with a growth rate of 22.6% CAGR to Rs 5,595-crore revenue despite piracy problems, according to a report.

Frank D’Souza, partner & leader, entertainment and media, PwC India, said, “It is not surprising that India continues to be one of the fastest growing entertainment and media markets. However, what is encouraging is how non-linear media is expected to grow on the back of increase in device penetration, lower internet prices, consumer content demand and portability preferences. This will manifest in significant growth in OTT, e-sports and internet advertising.”

In the last two years, nearly 30 OTT platforms have come to the fore, including American services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and local players like Balaji Telefilms’ ALTBalaji and those owned by broadcast networks like Star India’s Hotstar and Sony Entertainment Television’s SonyLIV.

The growing competition among international and regional subscription Video on Demand(SVoD) platforms is evident with over 70% of revenue in 2017 attributable to subscription services, the report said. This trend will grow with 79.4% of total market revenue expected from SVoD by 2022.

India did not feature among the top 10 global SVOD countries by revenue in 2017. US topped the list, followed by China, Japan, UK and Canada. However, among the countries with the highest SVOD CAGR in 2017, India stood third after Indonesia and Philippines.

The Indian traditional gaming is expected to grow by a 55.9% CAGR over the forecast period from Rs 1,645 crore to Rs 14,772 crore by 2022, surpassing the traditional market in 2018.

Total Internet advertising revenue in India reached Rs6,513crore in 2017, a rise of 25.4% over 2016. Mobile video advertising is the fastest-growing sub-segment of India’s Internet advertising market, expected to rise at 32.8% CAGR by 2022, when revenue will total Rs2,155crore.

The report explored the Cinema segment and forecasted that the total movie revenue is expected to rise at 9.4% CAGR over the forecast period. Average ticket prices in India will move up to reach Rs78 by 2022 from Rs55 in 2017. The number of screens are also expected to increase to 12,775 in 2022, up from 11,672 in 2017 at a 1.8% CAGR. The main area of growth in exhibition is in digital screens. There are expected to be 5,532 digital screens in 2022, a significant addition to the 2017 figure of 3,524. 

 “To succeed in the future that’s taking shape, companies must revisit every aspect of what they do and how they do it. This means going above and beyond in how they envision their business, generate revenues, create and organize their capabilities and build and retain trust,” said Christopher Vollmer, global advisory leader for entertainment and media, PwC US.

While the media and entertainment companies are looking to expand beyond traditional revenue sources, telecom companies are targeting the M&E sector to revitalize their growth.