Parul
According to the EY-FICCI report ‘Tuning into consumer – Indian M&E rebounds with a customer-centric approach’, the Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector grew 16.4 per cent Rs 1.61 trillion (US$21.5 billion) in 2021. Assuming no further impact of the pandemic, it is expected to grow 17 per cent in 2022 to reach Rs 1.89 trillion (US$25.2 billion) and recover its 2019 pre-pandemic levels, then grow at a CAGR of 11 per cent to reach Rs 2.32 trillion (US$30.9 billion) by 2024.
Digital media has firmly established itself as the second-largest segment. It grew by Rs 68 billion in 2021. Share of traditional media stood at 68 per cent of sector revenues.
Ashish Pherwani, EY India Media & Entertainment Leader, stated, “India has always been a different kind of media and entertainment market. High on volume and low on ARPU, yet up top with the rest on technology and ahead of the pack when it comes to digital adoption.” He added
“Technology has led to the democratisation of M&E in India – content is now created for the people, by the people and of the people. The flow of consumer data provides rich and real-time insights on what the consumer likes and dislikes, when where and how it is being consumed, and whether the price-points are appropriate.”
Sanjay Gupta, Chairman, FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee stated, “The massive disruption of COVID-19 in 2020 was a seminal event for all industries and more so for M&E as more people relied on it to educate, inform and comfort them during these challenging and complex times. I am pleased to see that, in 2021, the industry and consumers have embraced the choices that have emerged wholeheartedly, and recovery is well underway with digital serving a pivotal role in it. In particular, the growing animation and VFX segment sets India up well to become the preferred content creator for studios globally.”
Jyoti Deshpande, Co-Chairman, FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee, said “India is back post-pandemic with a 16 per cent growth in the M&E sector, helping us reach Rs 1.6 trillion. After a difficult year and a half, we have adapted and evolved with new ways of storytelling and innovation at every step. The creator market has exploded, we have hyperlocal content meeting cross-border collaborations, all of it being leveraged by India’s unique ‘and’ market where the TV, Digital, Print, Radio and OOH not only coexist but complement each other. It’s an exciting time in the media & entertainment industry and I’m eager to see what new horizons we uncover.”
Advertising to reach Rs 1 trillion by 2024:
In 2021, when India’s nominal GDP grew 19 per cent, advertising growth outperformed and grew 25 per cent. The highest growth was in television advertising of Rs 62 billion, followed by digital advertising of Rs 55 billion and then of Rs 29 billion from a resilient print. By 2024, India’s advertising market should reach Rs 1 lakh crores (Rs 1 trillion).
Digital infrastructure – towards a billion screens by 2024:
India is getting connected – it now has 795 million broadband connections, over 500 million smartphones and 10 million connected TVs, apart from170 million active TV connections. 390 million Indians played online games, 150 billion streams of online music were consumed, 40 million Indian households paid for 80 million online video subscriptions and 400 million subscribers consumed bundled content in 2021. We expect the number of screens in India to reach 1 billion by 2024-25.
The great Indian content factory goes global:
India is amongst the largest content producers in the world – with 150k hours of TV content, 2,500 hours of premium OTT content and 2,000 hours of filmed content produced in 2021. India has over 950 animation and VFX studios, 185k electronic artists and 139 universities – and is fast becoming the content back office of the world.
There were over 100 M&E mergers and acquisitions in 2021:
The massive pace of change in M&E led to over 100 deals in 2021 – 86 per cent of which were in new media and gaming. In 2021, many internet companies were listed on Indian stock exchanges. Unicorns in the M&E sector are expected to enter capital markets through a listing on Indian stock exchanges or through a SPAC listing in the United States in the next 2-3 years.
M&E sector will reach Rs 2.32 trillion by 2024:
The Indian M&E sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13 per cent and add Rs 707 billion in three years to reach Rs 2.32 trillion by 2024. The key contributors to this growth will be digital, films and television (together adding 65 per cent of the growth), followed by animation and VFX (14 per cent) and online gaming (7 per cent).
