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Reinvent: India’s M&E sector is innovating for the future

Photographic portrait of Ashish Pherwani
Ashish Pherwani

EY India Media & Entertainment Leader

4 minute read 05 Mar 2024
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Indian M&E sector crossed INR2.3 trillion in 2023, and is expected to reach INR3.1 trillion by 2026.

In brief

  • The Indian M&E sector continued its growth trajectory. It grew by INR173 billion (8.1%) to reach INR2.3 trillion (US$27.9 billion)
  • While the sector was 21% above its pre-pandemic levels, television, print and radio still lagged their 2019 levels
  • While television remained the largest segment, we expect digital media to overtake it in 2024
  • We expect the M&E sector to grow 10.2% to reach INR2.6 trillion by 2024, then grow at a CAGR of 10% to reach INR3.1 trillion by 2026

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The Indian M&E sector’s growth outpaced that of many developed countries. Consumption trends in India continue to favor digital media, social media, video and audio streaming and online gaming. Yet traditional media – regional television, print, radio, Out of Home (OOH), and cinema – also grew and were profitable.

We are at an “inflection point” when digital finally overtakes traditional media in the Indian M&E space.  In 2023, new media comprised 52% of total advertising revenues, and digital subscription, if corresponding data charges are included, would also comprise a majority of subscription revenues. 70% of the M&E sector’s growth in 2023 was driven by new media.

New media, comprising digital and online gaming, emerged as the frontrunner in growth, contributing INR122 billion of the overall increase of INR173 billion, and consequently, increased its contribution to the M&E sector from 20% in 2019 to 38% in 2023.

Experiential (outside the home and interactive) segments continued their strong growth in 2023, and consequently, online gaming, filmed entertainment, live events, and OOH media segments grew at a combined 18%, contributing 48% of the total growth. With the exception of television, which experienced a marginal decline of 2%, all other segments experienced positive growth in 2023.

Segmental performance in 2023

 

Television: Television advertising fell 6.5% due to a slowdown in spending by gaming and D2C brands, which impacted revenues for premium properties. The Hardware Security Modules (HSM) market was also soft, resulting in a 3% overall ad volume de-growth. Subscription revenue grew after three years of fall on the back of price increases, though pay TV homes fell by two million. While linear viewership grew 2% over 2022, 19 to 20 million smart TVs connected to the internet each week, up from around 10 million in 2021

 

Digital advertising: Digital advertising grew 15% to reach INR576 billion, or 51% of total advertising revenues. Included in this is advertising by SME and long-tail advertisers of over INR200 billion and advertising earned by e-commerce platforms of INR86 billion

 

Digital subscription: Digital subscription grew 9% to reach INR78 billion. This was a third of 2022’s 27% growth, as premium cricket properties were moved in front of paywalls. Paid video subscriptions reduced by two million in 2023 to 97 million, across 43 million households in India. Paid music subscriptions grew from 5 million to 8 million, generating INR3 billion while online news subscriptions generated INR2 billion

 

Print: Bucking the global trend, print continued to thrive in India. Advertising revenues grew 4% in 2023, with a notable growth in premium ad formats, as print remained a “go-to” medium for more affluent and non-metro audiences. Subscription revenues grew 3% on the back of rising cover prices. Digital revenues were insignificant for most print companies

 

Online gaming: The segment’s growth slowed to 22% in 2023 to reach INR220 billion. It overtook filmed entertainment to become the fourth largest segment. There were over 450 million online gamers in India, of which around 100 million played daily. We estimate over 90 million gamers paid to play; real money gaming comprised 83% of segment revenues. Impact of a higher GST levy was largely absorbed by larger players, impacting margins, but protecting growth

 

Film: The segment grew 14% to reach INR197 billion. Over 1,796 films were released in 2023, and theatrical revenues reached an all-time high of INR120 billion. Number of screens grew 4% and fewer films released directly on digital platforms. 339 Indian films were released overseas

 

Animation and VFX: The Hollywood writers’ strike impact global supply chains, and consequently, the segment grew just 6% in 2023. Potential mergers and falling ad revenues also reduced the slate of animated content produced for broadcast in India. A revival in demand in the second half of the year led to growth, boosted by the trend of using more VFX in Indian content

 

Live events: The organized segment grew 20% to finally exceed its pre-pandemic levels. Growth was driven by government events, personal events and weddings, and ticketed events, including several international formats

Out of Home (OOH): OOH media grew 13% in 2023 and crossed its 2019 levels. Premium properties and locations led the growth.  Active digital OOH screens crossed 100,000 and contributed 9% of total segment revenues

 

Music: The Indian music segment grew by 10% to reach INR24 billion in 2023, slower than previous years as certain music OTT platforms went pay and stopped or reduced their free services. 87% of revenues were earned through digital means, though most of it was advertising led on YouTube, there being around only 8 million paying subscribers despite music streaming’s reach of 185 million

 

Radio: Radio segment revenues grew 10% in 2023 to INR23 billion on the back of more retail and local advertising, and alternate revenue streams. Ad volumes increased by 19% in 2023 as compared to the previous year, though ad rates remained below their 2019 levels

How EY can help

The bid-ask spread between buyers and sellers on valuation multiples was one of the major hurdles, impacting the number of transactions closed. However, India’s growth story, global competitiveness, and elevated levels of dry powder are expected to help to narrow the gap between investor valuations and seller expectation and the long-term outlook on resilient India’s PE/VC ecosystem remains positive. Despite the global headwinds, the underlying strength of India's economy, along with the ongoing reforms, position the country as a beacon of opportunity for investors seeking long-term value creation. 

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Summary

The Indian M&E sector continued its growth trajectory. It grew by INR173 billion (8.1%) to reach INR2.3 trillion (US$27.9 billion). The growth of INR173 billion was half of the INR371 billion growth that took place in 2022, mainly due to headwinds in advertising during the first half of the year. New media (digital and online gaming) grew the most, providing INR122 billion of the total growth, and consequently, increased its contribution to the M&E sector from 20% in 2019 to 38% in 2023.

About this article

Photographic portrait of Ashish Pherwani
Ashish Pherwani
EY India Media & Entertainment Leader
EY India M&E sector leader with more than 20 years of experience, serving companies in all the M&E sub-sectors. A mentor and coach to teams.
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