The Indian Media and Entertainment sector grew 16.4 percent in 2021 to reach Rs 1.61 trillion (US$21.5 billion), according to the EY-FICCI report- ‘Tuning into consumer – Indian M&E rebounds with a customer-centric approach’. The growth is still 11% short of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, due to the second wave of COVID-19 which impacted the April – June quarter.
While television remained the largest segment, digital media cemented its position as a strong number two segment followed by a resurgent print. By 2022, The M&E sector will grow by 17 percent to reach Rs 1.89 trillion (US$25.2 billion) and recover its 2019 levels, then grow at a CAGR of 11% to reach Rs 2.32 trillion (US$30.9 billion) by 2024.
Except for in-cinema advertising and TV subscription, all M&E segments grew in 2021. The Digital media grew the most at Rs 68 billion and consequently, increased its contribution to the M&E sector from 16% in 2019 to 19% in 2021. The share of traditional media (television, print, filmed entertainment, OOH, music, radio) stood at 68% of M&E sector revenues in 2021, down from 75% in 2019.
At Rs 746 billion, advertising recovered to just 6% below 2019 levels. While digital advertising grew Rs 55 billion, the highest growth was in television advertising of Rs 62 billion, followed by a growth of Rs 29 billion in print.
TV remained the largest earner of ad revenues in 2021, contributing 42% to the total. Digital advertising increased to 33% of total advertising in 2021, from 24% in 2019 (excluding SME and long-tail advertising). Together, television + digital contributed 75% of all advertising spends.
Overall, subscription grew Rs 15 billion with film, print and digital showing a combined growth of Rs 42 billion while television saw a drop of Rs 27 billion. Overall, subscription revenues were 18% below 2019 levels due to:
- Lower theatrical revenues as lockdowns and capacity restrictions impacted film releases
- Fall in pay TV households and reduced television ARPUs, and
- Reduction in absolute print circulation, particularly in metros and for English dailies.
Share of subscription reduced from 51.5% of total revenues in 2020 to 46.5% in 2021. Most investment was made in digital media and gaming, with one marquee deal in TV. New media accounted for 86% of the deal volume in 2021.
The Indian M&E sector will grow at a CAGR of 13% and add Rs 707 billion in three years. The key contributors to this growth will be digital, films and television (together adding 65% of the growth), followed by animation and VFX (14%) and online gaming (7%). Given that video, audio, text and experiences are available across almost all segments, the M&E sector is redefining itself across these 4 verticals: • Video – TV, video OTT, short vide, • Experiential – Online gaming, cinemas, events, OOH.
Video remained the largest earning segment in 2021, holding on to its gains of 2020 as work-from-home and school-from-home remained significant for most Indians throughout 2021. The pandemic-impacted year, 2020, caused a fall in the share of experiential, but we expect it to recover by 2024. Text has probably seen a permanent loss due to the fall of print circulation, but will grow its share on the back of online advertising and print and digital subscription growth. Audio revenue models remain largely ad supported, and their revenue share will therefore remain stable.
