India’s Entertainment & Media industry expected to grow at 9.48% CAGR by 2027: PwC Report

The PwC Report titled Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2023-2027 provides an in-depth analysis of global entertainment & media consumer and advertising spending.

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

Key findings for India in this year’s Outlook include:

OTT Video: 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 INR 148,554Cr (US$1.8bn). This is over six times the revenue of 2018. The market will continue to grow at an impressive rate, increasing at a 14.3% CAGR to produce revenue of INR 288,855Cr (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 INR 214,578Cr (US$2.6bn), advertising-supported services (AVOD) will grow at a higher rate, albeit from a lower base.

Video Games & Esports: India is the second-fastest-growing video games market in the world behind Pakistan. India’s total video games and esports revenue was INR 140,301Cr (US$1.7bn) in 2022 and is expected to reach INR 346,626Cr (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. 

Internet advertising: 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 INR 363,132Cr (US$4.4bn) in 2022 to INR 651,987Cr (US$7.9bn) by 2027. 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 INR 255,843Cr (US$3.1bn) to INR 478,674Cr (US$5.8bn). In the wired sector, revenue will increase from INR 115,542Cr (US$1.4bn) to INR 173,311Cr (US$2.1bn), at a CAGR of 8.9%.

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Newspapers & consumer magazines: India’s consumer book market will increase at a 3.7% CAGR between 2022 and 2027, with total revenue increasing from INR 90,783Cr (US$1.1bn) to INR 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.

Out-Of-Home Advertising: 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 INR 56,202Cr (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.

TV advertising: 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 INR 387,891Cr (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 INR 536,445Cr (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.

Cinema: 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 INR 90,783Cr (US$1.1bn), up from INR 3317Cr (US$402mn) in 2021. Revenue is expected to reach INR 189,819Cr (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.

Music, Radio & Podcast: India’s total music, radio and podcasts market passed the INR 82,530Cr (US$1.0bn) milestone in 2022 to reach INR 90,783Cr (US$1.1bn) and is forecast to reach INR 123,795Cr (US$1.5bn) in 2027. Radio and recorded music revenue are the key drivers. As Indian consumers log onto their favourite streaming platforms en masse, the business for recorded music added over INR 16,506Cr (US$200mn) in the five years to 2022. India’s relatively small live music market has rebounded, and eclipsed pre-pandemic results. Revenue from live is expected to come in at INR 10,398Cr (US$126mn) in 2023 and lift to INR 11,884Cr (US$144mn) by 2027, a CAGR of 5.5%.

Manpreet Singh Ahuja, Chief Digital Officer and Leader of Technology, Media & Telecom at PwC India, stated, "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."

Rajib Basu, Partner & Leader – Entertainment & Media, PwC India said, “The Indian Media and Entertainment outlook for the next few years will show an exciting pace of growth. We have a good view of how the industry has reset itself after the pandemic. Increased mobile penetration and the use of digital technologies are poised to disrupt existing channels and create new possibilities in the years ahead for the sector. It is increasingly becoming important for traditional media and entertainment businesses to adopt the right strategies for growth as they face competition from digitally powered businesses.”

Werner Ballhaus, Global Entertainment & 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.”