PwC Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2025-2029: Study Notes

Global Entertainment & Media Industry Outlook 2025-2029: Key Insights

Total Revenue Forecast: The global entertainment & media (E&M) industry is projected to reach US3.5 trillion in revenue by 2029, up from nearly US3 trillion in 2024.
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR): The industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.7\% until 2029.
- This rate is above the projected global economic growth average.
- However, it remains below pre-pandemic highs.
Key Drivers: Growth is primarily driven by advertising spend, live events, and video games.
Challenges: Economic uncertainty, anaemic consumer spending growth, and heightened domestic and international competition are expected to moderate E&M growth rates during the forecast period.

Leading Powerhouse: Advertising is emerging as the leading driver of revenue for the E&M industry, especially as growth for paid or subscription products slows in mature markets due to competition and constrained consumer spending.
CAGR Comparison: Advertising is forecasted to grow three times as fast (6.1\% CAGR) as the consumer category (2\% CAGR).
Fastest Growing Segments (Advertising-Driven):
- Retail advertising: 15\% CAGR.
- Social and mobile on-stream video advertising: 15\% CAGR.
- Connected TV in-stream internet advertising: 14\% CAGR.
Digital Dominance: Digital formats, which constituted 72\% of overall ad revenue in 2024, are projected to rise to 80\% by 2029.
- New technologies like AI and hyper-personalisation are expected to accelerate this shift.
High Growth Areas within Digital Advertising:
- Retail search advertising in e-shopping: Expected to increase from 32.7\% in 2020 to 45.5\% in 2029.
- Advertising in video games: Forecasted to rise from 32.8\% in 2024 to 38.5\% in 2029.
Connected TV (CTV) Advertising: Revolutionized by digital engagement and AI-assisted hyper-personalisation.
- In 2020, CTV advertising revenue was just 5.9\% of traditional broadcast TV advertising.
- By 2024, this jumped to 22\%.
- Projected to reach 51 billion by 2029, equaling 45\% of traditional broadcast TV advertising.

Transformation of Advertising Models: AI is set to transform advertising delivery models, driving hyper-personalisation and significantly influencing revenue growth.
Democratization and Curation: AI is expected to democratize content production, enable highly curated content experiences, and reduce barriers to entry for content creators.
Cost-Effectiveness: The combination of advertising and AI facilitates more cost-effective and personalized content creation and engagement models.
Strategic Importance: Companies need to remain nimble and proactive to embrace AI and satisfy consumers with tailored content in a creative-rewarding ecosystem.

Consumer Preferences: Despite increased online engagement, consumers continue to spend a larger portion of their entertainment budget offline.
Non-Digital Share: In 2024, non-digital formats (including live music, events, and cinema box office) accounted for 61\% of consumer revenue, a share expected to largely persist.
Global Cinema Revenue: Expected to rise from 33 billion in 2024 to 41.5 billion in 2029.
- Consumers' preferences are shifting towards locally produced films.
- The market share of the top five US studios globally has dropped from over 60\% pre-pandemic to 51\% in 2024.

Largest Category: Connectivity remains the largest E&M category.
Revenue & Growth: Spending is projected to reach US1.3 trillion in 2029, growing at a CAGR of 2.8\%.
Main Driver: Mobile internet service revenue is the primary driver for connectivity growth.
Narrowing Gap: Advertising's higher growth rates are expected to rapidly narrow the revenue gap between connectivity and advertising by 2029.

Industry Bright Spot: The global video gaming industry continues to be a significant engine of E&M growth.
Exceeds Combined Industries: The global video games market now exceeds the combined revenues of the movie and music industries.
Revenue Growth: Total revenues were 224 billion in 2024, with a forecast to grow to nearly 300 billion in 2029.
CAGR: The video gaming industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.7\%.

US Market: Excluding connectivity, the US is the world's largest E&M market by revenue, with a forecast CAGR of 3.8\% until 2029 (below the global average of 4.2\%).
China: The second-largest market, with E&M revenues projected to rise at a CAGR of 6.1\%.
- Powered primarily by its internet advertising segment, which has a CAGR of 8.9\%.
Developing Markets Lead Growth: The fastest-growing markets globally are in developing regions, including India and Indonesia, all with CAGRs above 7.5\%.
- India: Much of the growth stems from internet advertising, which is growing at a CAGR of 15.9\%. This is driven by expanding internet penetration, rising 5G connectivity, and the popularity of social media and short-form video content.

Consumer Spending Stagnation: An unprecedented choice of entertainment services, coupled with economic uncertainty and rising costs, is causing consumer spend growth to stagnate.
Need for Connected Ecosystems: Entertainment and media businesses must think about the connected ecosystems they operate within.
Leveraging Advertising and AI: To capture new audiences and generate growth, businesses need to leverage the combined power of advertising and AI for cost-effective and personalized content creation and engagement.

Annual Report: This report is an annual publication from PwC covering the E&M industry.
Expanded Coverage: This year's report includes Mauritius and Oceania as a reported region.
Detailed Data: AVOD (Advertising-Video On Demand) revenue is now broken down by broadcaster and non-broadcaster across all markets. FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) vs. non-FAST data is available in 20 markets.
B2B Segment: Includes more detailed business information revenue for 10 markets.
Geographic Scope: Covers 54 territories across North America, Western Europe, Central Europe, Middle East & Africa, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.
- The 'Rest of MENA' grouping includes Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, and Qatar.
- These 54 territories account for approximately 74\% of the global population and form the basis for the total estimate.
Forecasting Methodology:
- Data Collection: Combines accurate historical data from publicly available sources (trade associations, government agencies) with proprietary insights from interviews with industry associations, regulators, and leading market players.
- This robust foundation ensures comprehensive and reliable forecasts.