India’s Media and Entertainment Industry to Reach Rs.4.3 Lakh Crore by 2026
These numbers were part of a global projection based on research conducted by consultancy firm PwC for the next five years
India’s media and entertainment industry could potentially register an 8.8% CAGR over the next five years to reach Rs.4.3 lakh crore by 2026, says a report circulated by global consultancy firm PwC. A large chunk of this growth would be engined by digital media and advertising through deeper penetration of the internet and mobile devices.
However, traditional media would continue to grow at about the present rate, says the report which highlights that television advertising itself would reach over Rs.43,000 crore by 2026, making India the fifth-largest TV ads market at a global level behind the United States, Japan, China and the United Kingdom.
India’s internet advertising market is set to increase at a 12.1 per cent CAGR to reach Rs 28,234 crore by 2026. “Given India’s mobile-first Internet access market, the mobile sector dominates the country’s Internet advertising market, accounting for 60.1 per cent of total revenue in 2021, rising to 69.3 percent by 2026,” the report said, adding that “display advertising dominates the mobile sector, accounting for 90.7 per cent of revenue in 2021 though its share will fall to 88.9 per cent of the total in 2026”.
The OTT Video services are expected to become a Rs 21,031 crore industry in the next four years by 2026, in which Rs 19,973 crore would come from subscription-based services and Rs 1,058 crore from Transactional VOD. “It is subscription services that are driving this rapid growth, accounting for 90.5 per cent of revenue in 2021 and set to account for 95 per cent in 2026,” the report said.
The population size and widespread use of mobile-led Internet video will underpin rapid growth in the OTT market over the forecast period. In particular, uptake of 5G will permit low-latency services such as OTT video streams, greatly boosting the sector. “As infrastructure improves in the long term, the scale and diversity of the population will lend itself to a wide range of platforms,” says PwC.
TV advertising would grow up to Rs 43,568 crore in 2026 from Rs 35,270 crore in 2022, registering a growth of 23.52 per cent. “After several years of rapid expansion, India’s TV advertising market was hit by the COVID-19 recession in 2020, causing a 10.8 per cent decline over the 2019 levels. This proved to be a temporary setback. With the country’s return to economic growth in 2021, this segment grew by 16.9 per cent to Rs 32,374 crore,” it said.
Another interesting facet is the expected growth in the music, radio and podcast segment. It grew by 18 per cent in 2021 to Rs 7,216 crore and is set to rise 9.8 per cent CAGR to reach Rs 11,536 crore by 2026. The video games and esports revenue is estimated to reach Rs 37,535 crore by 2026, increasing at an 18.3 per cent CAGR.
The Indian cinema industry is expected to garner a revenue of around Rs 16,198 crore by 2026, of which Rs 15,849 would be Box office revenue and the rest Rs 349 crore from advertising. India today is the third largest market globally in terms of admissions after China and the United States, but is set to grow at a fast pace over the next five years.
Coming to the total revenues from magazines and broadsheets, India could see revenues increase by 2.7 percent CAGR from Rs 26,378 crore in 2021 to Rs 29,945 crore in 2026. This would see India leapfrog France and the UK to become the fifth largest newspaper market by 2026. “India will also be the only country in the world to grow daily print newspaper copy sales (by volume) during the forecast period,” the report says.
