Media firms need to implement strategies at ‘end of the digital beginning’

Editor ©RapidTVNews | 12-06-2012


Even as global entertainment and media (E&M) market is set to grow from $1.6 trillion in 2011 to $2.1 trillion in 2016, the players need to make clear and committed choices about what role or roles they should play in the digital value chain.
According to industry analyst PwC's Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2012-2016, over the next five years, compound annual advance. Interestingly, GDP growth is predicted to be 6.6% over the same period, reflecting said PwC, the on-going shift from higher-priced physical distribution to lower-priced.

Indeed the research found that digital is now embedded in business as usual, as digital moves to the heart of many media companies, and presents the greatest opportunity for growth going forward.
PwC said that in the face of sweeping change and uncertainty, the E&M industry has spent the past few years seeking effective business and operating models for the new world, through what it calls “a cycle of constant experimentation, on-going innovation and targeted analysis of the results.” But with digital now at the core of business-as- usual, PwC believes that experimentation and execution are no longer sequential but will proceed in parallel, enabling E&M companies to press ahead into the ‘new normal’ with confidence.
Furthermore, and in the face of continued economic uncertainty, PwC observed that global sales of tablets and smart devices reach record levels once again, underlining the growing revenue opportunities from digital delivery of E&M content and advertising to increasingly connected, and particularly mobile, consumers.
“The various segments of the E&M sector are at different stages of digital development, but in all cases, digital is now embedded in day-to-day business. Consumers are demanding digital content that meets their needs – which are increasingly for on-demand entertainment, education and information on mobile devices – and companies have moved past initial experimentation and into a new normal,” explained Phil Stokes, lead entertainment and media partner at PwC. “E&M companies have reached what we’re calling the ‘end of the digital beginning’: they’ve made the commitment to a digital future, and are now striving to make the necessary changes to their products, distribution and organisations to deliver sustainable – and profitable – growth.”
Looking at specific territories, the report found that in 2011, the UK had the second largest E&M market in EMEA at £54 billion with the combined broadcast and online/mobile TV sector set to grow at 2.2% CAGR to £4.1 billion and TV subscriptions to grow by 4.9% CAGR to £6.8 billion in 2016. Overall E&M is set to grow 3.1% from 2012 – 2016 to a value of £63 billion.