India’s Entertainment and Media industry expected to grow at 9.48% CAGR to reach Rs 6,828,944 crore by 2027: PwC Report

As per the report, Print still dominates the Indian market, accounting for 80.1% of total revenue in 2022.

PwC's Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023-2027 is the 24th annual analysis and forecast of E&M spending by consumers and advertisers across 53 territories in 13 sectors.

India’s Entertainment and Media industry is expected to reach Rs 6,828,944 crore (US$73.6bn) by 2027 at 9.48% CAGR, according to PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023-2027, the 24th annual analysis and forecast of E&M spending by consumers and advertisers across 53 territories in 13 sectors.

With new launches from international players and increasing “pay-lite” options, OTT revenue has surged in recent years, expanding a further 25.1% in 2022 to reach Rs 148,554 crore (US$1.8bn). This is over six times the revenue of 2018. As per PwC, the market will continue to increase at a rate of 14.3% CAGR to produce revenue of Rs 288,855 crore (US$3.5bn) in 2027. This will be driven by the competitive SVOD sector, which accounted for 78.1% of market revenue in 2022. Although subscription service revenue will expand at a 13.0% CAGR to reach Rs 214,578Cr (US$2.6bn), advertising-supported services (AVOD) will grow at a higher rate, albeit from a lower base.

Moving further, the report delved into the Indian video games market in the world. It stated that India’s total video games and esports revenue was Rs 140,301 crore (US$1.7bn) in 2022 and is expected to reach Rs 346,626 crore (US$4.2bn) by 2027, increasing at a formidable 19.4% CAGR. Year-on-year growth in 2022 was 28.8%, a slight slowing of 2.1 percentage points over the previous year. Although growth will continue to slow across the forecast period, it will remain significantly faster than the global average.

Werner Ballhaus, Global entertainment and Media Industry leader, PwC Germany, said, “We have seen impressive growth in the entertainment and media industry over the past two years following a surge in demand for digital products during COVID-19. However, macroeconomic challenges, increased industry competition, and a reduction in production costs – particularly in digital services and experiences – have reduced revenues and consumers’ willingness-to-pay. If companies in the EM industry are to successfully engage consumers and drive growth, they need to transform their service-offerings and tap into new and emerging markets and technologies, such as Asia and generative AI.”

According to the report, the Indian Internet advertising market is among the fastest-growing in the world, with a 12.3% CAGR expected to see total revenue climb from Rs 363,132 crore (US$4.4bn) in 2022 to Rs 651,987 crore (US$7.9bn) by 2027. PwC predicts that there will be growth across the market over the forecast period, with the strongest performances coming in the mobile sector, where an overall CAGR of 13.7% is expected to push total revenue from Rs 255,843 crore (US$3.1bn) to Rs 478,674 crore (US$5.8bn). In the wired sector, revenue will increase from Rs 115,542 crore (US$1.4bn) to Rs 173,311 crore (US$2.1bn), at a CAGR of 8.9%, the report stated.
Highlighting about newspapers and consumer magazines, the reports stated that India’s consumer book market will increase at a 3.7% CAGR between 2022 and 2027, with total revenue increasing from Rs 90,783Cr (US$1.1bn) to Rs 107,289Cr (US$1.3bn). Most of the growth will come from the electronic books sector, where revenue will see an impressive increase at a 10.3% CAGR. In the print sector, growth will be more modest, with increase at a 1.7% CAGR expected.

Print still dominates the Indian market, accounting for 80.1% of total revenue in 2022, with electronic books making up the other 19.9%. Electronic books will gain ground over the forecast period, making up 27.2% by 2027.

India’s out-of-home (OOH) advertising market is rapidly expanding. In 2022 total OOH revenue increased by 63.4%, this saw revenue valued at a new high of Rs 56,202 crore (US$681mn). This pace will be sustained for years to come. An increase at a 9.9% CAGR will outperform every other OOH market in Asia Pacific and the world over the forecast period. OOH has a low penetration rate in India and a number of hurdles have held back further development to date.

Moreover, India’s TV advertising market recovered rapidly from the COVID-19 pandemic downturn, with revenue expanding 19.0% in 2021 and 11.9% in 2022 to reach Rs 387,891 crore (US$4.7bn). There remains considerable room for growth with advertisers keen to access India’s vast population and large live audiences. TV ad spend will grow at a 6.4% CAGR to reach Rs 536,445 crore (US$6.5bn) in 2027. At this time, India will be the fourth-largest TV advertising market globally, after the US, Japan and China. The market’s expansion continues to be based on economic development and an increasing proportion of households having television sets.

“As the adoption of emerging technologies such as AI, ML and the metaverse increase, the range of use cases will broaden, leading to a significant disruption in the media industry. Media companies and content creators are already striving to provide more interactive and immersive experiences to viewers. We anticipate that Media & Entertainment enterprises will invest heavily in the transformative ideas of the future to maintain relevance with their audiences,” Manpreet Singh Ahuja, chief digital officer and leader of Technology, Media and Telecom at PwC India, added.

The Indian cinema sector suffered badly during the COVID-19 pandemic but is now rebounding rapidly. Total cinema revenue in India was up sharply in 2022, reaching Rs 90,783 crore (US$1.1bn), up from Rs 3317 crore (US$402mn) in 2021. Revenue is expected to reach Rs. 189,819 crore (US$2.3bn) by 2027 representing an increase at a 15.1% CAGR. Admissions are also rebounding. They were at 379mn in 2021 but went up to 986mn in 2022 and are expected to reach 1.4bn by 2027.