PwC has released its annual entertainment and media outlook report, highlighting the expected trends in the different sectors for the next five years. Michael Bratt attended the launch event to find out more about the research as well as to put the minds of media professionals at ease.
Since PwC released its entertainment and media outlook report last year, many media professionals who have looked at the numbers have said they are wrong and do not reflect what is actually happening in the industry. In particular, the print numbers failed to garner a positive response. At this year’s presentation, Vicki Myburgh, entertainment and media leader for PwC Southern Africa, admitted “Something didn’t sit right with last year’s numbers” in terms of the newspaper section.
She explained that PwC uses a blend of available public sources to compile its research, including Adex, ZenithOptimedia and WARC, as well as local market assumptions and context. Myburgh said, “The newspaper section of the report has been a challenging element” but said, “A lot of work has been done on that section, I feel a lot more comfortable with the numbers this year.” Myburgh concluded by saying that the numbers will never be 100% of what is happening in the industry but she encouraged the industry and industry players to keep engaging with PwC to ensure they are as close to accurate as possible.
In terms of what this year’s report revealed Charles Stuart, associate director at PwC says there are three key trends. Firstly the growth in the South African entertainment and media industry is encouraging. It is expected to increase from R112.7 billion in 2014 to R176.3 billion in 2019. Secondly, video based consumption and the digital migration needs to be at the forefront of producers, advertisers and consumers’ minds. Total digital spend is expected to overtake traditional spend in the next five years. Thirdly, despite the move already to digital there is still plenty of room for growth. Mobile consumption and advertising is being driven by smartphones and tablets are being used more and more for traditional media and entertainment consumption. But despite the digital move Stuart says newspaper and television advertising together still have the biggest slice of the advertising pie. “Their share is expected to drop from 52% to 51% in the next five years. Digital is gaining but it is at the expense of newspapers, magazines and out of home.
Stuart concluded by stating that the way in which entertainment and media companies can thrive and succeed is if they always put the consumer first in their approach to business. “We are in the environment where consumers want to have want Increased flexibility and freedom, i.e. a choice of what they want to consume and when they want to consume it. The user experience must be personalised, compelling and engaging.”
