With factors such as demographics and increasing literacy rates, India's entertainment and media sector is expected to grow steadily over the next four years and exceed $40,000 million, a report said.
“The industry is expected to exceed $40,000 million by 2020, growing at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3 per cent between 2016 and 2020,” said PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2016-20.
“In terms of admissions, India is currently the biggest cinema market in the world. It will remain so until the end of the forecast period, although China is expected to be close to overtaking it at that point,” it added.
In 2015, admissions were at an estimated 2.04 billion and in 2020 are predicted to be at 2.80 billion, rising at a 6.6 per cent CAGR. Box office revenue in India stood at an estimated $1.64 billion in 2015 and will rise to $2.74 billion in 2020, at a 10.9 per cent CAGR.
“There is still a considerable room for expansion. In terms of multiplexes, India remains undeserved. At the end of 2014, there were around 11,200 screens in the country as a whole — a small number given the population and the appetite for cinema,” the report added. The report also highlighted growing importance of new forms of advertising.
Paid search Internet advertising revenue is, and will continue to be, India’s largest Internet advertising sub-component over the forecast period. Paid search grew 26.7 per cent year-on-year in 2015, reaching revenue of $211 million, the report said.