Global entertainment market rises 9% annually to near $100BN mark
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 21 March 2019

Data released by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has revealed that entertainment has not lost its popularity making significant annual gains in both theatrical and home sectors.

The 2018 THEME Report, an analysis and survey of the theatrical and home entertainment market environment (THEME), showed that the global entertainment market reached $96.8 billion in 2018, a 9% increase compared with 2017. It found that 2018 global box office grew to $41.1 billion, while global home entertainment increased by 16% compared with the previous year’s total to reach $55.7 billion. The study included reporting on global 3D box office estimates, data on the volume of original series production for television and online video services and detailed demographic data for home entertainment viewing in the United States.

Global home entertainment growth was driven by digital home entertainment, with US digital spending increasing by 24% and international digital spending increasing by 34%. Since 2014, digital spending has increased 170% globally. Globally, the number of subscriptions to online video services reached 613 million, an increase of 27% in just a year and the 2018 THEME Report found that subscriptions to online video services surpassed cable subscriptions for the first time in 2018.

In 2018, overall spending on home entertainment in the US increased to $23.3 billion, up 12% over 2017. I addition, it found that Americans now spend 52% of their media time on a digital platform.