India Media and Entertainment Industry Poised for Growth

New Delhi, India, April 1, 2015--A new Study by FICCI and KPMG  estimate that the Indian media and entertainment market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 13.9 per cent, to increase from Rs 1026 billion in 2014, to Rs 1964 billion by 2019 — a growth rate that is almost double that of the global media and entertainment industry.  

The growth in popularity of digital media continued to surge in 2014, with a significant increase of 44.5 per cent (over 2013) in digital advertising. At the same time, traditional media continued to exhibit healthy growth rates as well, with the television sector continuing on its path to cable digitization; advertising across media buoyed by the spends during the 2014 Parliamentary elections, and the emergence of e-commerce as a significant new category, according to the report entitled FICCI-KPMG  Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2015.

Last year, Indian Direct-to-Home satellite  operators saw ARPU growth of between 12-15 per cent, and this followed on from 2013’s growth rates of about 8-9 per cent. The overall averages were helped by growth in HD TV services, a growing number of Premium channels and other value-added elements in particular set-top boxes with added storage, and more recently the introduction of 4K transmissions.

Advertising revenues in 2014 grew at a rate of 14.2 per cent over 2013, to reach Rs 414 billion, of which print (43 per cent) and television (37 per cent) captured the lion’s share.  

The media and entertainment sector in the country is poised for exciting times, powered by the growth in digital media consumption, and the supporting environment created by regulatory reforms. The new digital ecosystem, however, brings with it a new set of challenges, like an increasingly-fragmented and on-the go audience and hurdles to monetise digital platforms. To seize the opportunities, front-runners are expected to continue to place consumers, both domestic and global, at the heart of their strategies for content and access channels.

Collaboration across players may remain the key to success. Efficient and transparent measurement systems at an industry level, and focus on big data analytics at a stakeholder level, can be critical to measure and monitor performance. The momentum generated by regulatory reform needs to be underpinned by strong implementation on the ground, and partnership across the value chain, according to the report.  

However, thee report also cautions against Digital piracy which is on the rise in India and unless sticter enforcement and regulations are put in place could stifle the growth of the media and entertainment sector.