Who Else Wants to Be A Part of the Great Indian Media?

FICCI-PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Indian Entertainment and Media industry - Unravelling the potential, Points out that The Indian entertainment and media (E&M) industry has out-performed the Indian economy and is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. The E&M industry generally tends to grow faster when the economy is expanding.

The Indian economy has been growing at a fast clip over the last few years, and the income levels too have been experiencing a high growth rate. Above that, consumer spending is also on the rise, due to a sustained increase in disposable incomes,brought about by reduction in personal income tax over the last decade. All these factors have given an impetus to the E&M industry and are likely to contribute to the growth of this industry in the future. Owing to the strong impetus for growth from the economic and demographic factors coupled with some regulatory corrections, the sector also recently witnessed increasing foreign investment inflows in most segments of the E&M industry, especially the print media. Recent examples include foreign investment in English dailies such as Hindustan Times and Business Standard by Henderson Global and Financial Times respectively. Vernacular media too saw its share of foreign investment with a strategic equity investment by Independent News & Media in Dainik Jagran, a leading Hindi Daily.

The Indian economy continues to perform strongly and one of the key sectors that benefits from this fast economic growth is the E&M industry. This is because the E&M industry is a cyclical industry that grows faster when the economy is expanding. It also grows faster than the nominal GDP during all phases of economic activity due to its income elasticity wherein when incomes rise, more resources get spent on leisure and entertainment and less on necessities. Further, consumption spending itself is increasing due to rising disposable incomes on account of sustained growth in income levels, and this also builds the case for a strong bullish growth in the sector. The size of E&M in India is currently estimated at INR 353 billion and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 19 percent over the next five years.

An estimated 28 million Indians are currently hooked on to the internet. And this rising number is leading to the growth of internet advertising, which today stands at approximately INR 1 billion. The internet is being used for a variety of reasons, besides work, such as chatting, leisure, doing transactions, writing blogs etc. This offers a huge opportunity to marketers to sell their products. And with broadband becoming increasingly popular, this segment is expected to grow by leaps and bounds.

With rapid advancements in technology, we believe that convergence will play a very crucial role in the development of the Indian entertainment and media industry where consumers will increasingly be calling the shots in a converged media world. Broadband access and Internet Protocol (IP) will be the technology enablers that will evolve this new breed of consumers. In the converged world of tomorrow, content and access will no longer be in short supply. Opportunities for consumers to access and manipulate content and services will not only be abundant, but overflowing. However, consumer time and attention will be limited. Thus, established approaches of pushing exclusive content through non-linear-channels or networks to mass or segmented audiences will no longer guarantee competitive advantage.

The Indian entertainment and media industry today has everything going for it - be it regulations that allow foreign investment, the impetus from the economy, the digital lifestyle and spending habits of the consumers and the opportunities thrown open by the advancements in technology. All it has to do is to cash in on the growth potential and the opportunities. The government, on its part, needs to play a more active role in sorting out policy-related impediments to growth. The industry needs to fight all roadblocks- such as piracy- in a concerted manner, while churning out high-quality, world class end products. The entertainment and media industry has all that it takes to be a star performer of the Indian economy.