'India's media sector likely to exceed USD 40,000 mn by 2020'

With factors such as demographics and increasing literacy rates, India's entertainment and media sector is expected to grow steadily over the next four years and exceed USD 40,000 million, a report said.
"The industry is expected to exceed USD 40,000 million by 2020, growing at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3 per cent between 2016 and 2020," said PwC's Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2016-20.
"In terms of admissions, India is currently the biggest cinema market in the world. It will remain so until the end of the forecast period, although China is expected to be close to overtaking it at that point," it added.

In 2015, admissions were at an estimated 2.04 billion and in 2020 are predicted to be at 2.80 billion, rising at a 6.6 per cent CAGR.
Box office revenue in India stood at an estimated USD 1.64 billion in 2015 and will rise to USD 2.74 billion in 2020, at a 10.9 per cent CAGR.
"There is still a considerable room for expansion. In terms of multiplexes, India remains undeserved. At the end of 2014, there were around 11,200 screens in the country as a whole - a small number given the population and the appetite for cinema," the report added.

The report also highlighted growing importance of new forms of advertising.

Paid search Internet advertising revenue is, and will continue to be, India's largest Internet advertising sub-component over the forecast period. Paid search grew 26.7 per cent year-on-year in 2015, reaching revenue of USD 211 million, the report said.
"With a forecast of 18.5 per cent CAGR over the next five years, paid search Internet advertising revenue will rise to USD 492 million by 2020," it added.
TV advertising in India is expected to achieve double-digit growth over the forecast period at a 11.7 per cent CAGR and will generate revenue of USD 5.54 billion in 2020, compared with USD 3.19 billion in 2015.

Even publishing industry is reporting good growth in India, unlike the trends in the rest of the world, where magazine, books and newspaper publishing combined are at a near flat or negative growth trajectory, PwC said in the report.
"What would be more interesting is how rapidly India
would catch up with global trends, where traditional media is finding it hard to remain relevant, and the digital sector is leading the growth trajectory and consequently bringing in continuous disruptions. That will all depend on how quickly the Indian digital/broadband ecosystem matures, and how the Indian players adapt and drive business models in what would be a rapidly changing environment for consumption of data/content fashioned largely by India's under-35 population," PwC India Partner and Leader - Entertainment and Media, Frank D'Souza said.

Paid search internet advertising revenue will continue to be India's largest internet advertising sub-component over the forecast period, the report said.
Paid search grew 26.7 per cent year-on-year in 2015, reaching revenue of USD 211 million. With a forecast of 18.5 per cent CAGR over the next five years, paid search Internet advertising revenue is expected to rise to USD 492 million by 2020.
Online spend on display ads in India has witnessed strong growth and revenue has almost tripled since 2011, reaching USD 200 million in 2015.
On the publishing side, it observed that where global trends in magazine, books and newspaper publishing combined are at a near flat or negative growth trajectory, Indian publishing remains one of the fastest growing the world.

"Demographics, ever increasing literacy rates, educational needs, and strong desire to consume news and content in local languages, combined with nascent digital/broadband penetration, would fuel the growth and keep it relevant over the 2016-20," it said.
In 2015, the overall publishing revenues were at USD 6133 million, an increase of USD 302 million over 2014.