Covid will be a two-year hit to media and entertainment in India: KPMG

According to a KPMG in India report, digital and OTT advertising revenues have grown by 24% to reach 199 billion rupees in the FY2020. 

 

Television is the only other medium to experience growth, as it has risen 4% to reach Rs 262 billion.

 

Print (-10%), radio (-13%), films (-7%) and OOH (-9%) have all declined.

 

The report further states that in 2021, every medium other than digital and OTT along with gaming is expected to face a dip in revenues before a recovery in 2022.

 

Ad revenues are also expected to be hit severely in 2021. Digital is again the only category that's expected to grow and overtake television. Print is expected to drop by 46% in 2021. In 2022, KPMG expects print to recover but still be below the numbers it has in 2020. Similary, television will also decline in 2021. The expected dip is 17% before recovering to Rs 258 billion in 2022 (Rs 4 billion lesser than its numbers in 2020).

 

 

The media and entertainment sector has been significantly impacted, particularly with all forms of outdoor entertainment coming to a standstill, a significant slowdown in advertising spend and content supply chains breaking down. As a result, the M&E sector is expected to contract by a significant 20% in FY21.

 

On the other hand, extended lockdown is accelerating digital consumption and segments such as Digital and Gaming are seeing rapidly growing user penetration and engagement levels. The M&E sector is expected to bounce back in FY22 with a growth of 33.1% over FY21 to reach a size of INR1.86 trillion, at a CAGR of 3.2 per cent over FY20-22, with gaming and digital being the fastest growing segments.

 

Satya Easwaran, partner and head, technology, media and telecom, KPMG in India, said, “The distinction among segments of M&E has become more pronounced with the experience of the lockdown. Marketing spend has moved perceptibly towards digital media and away from traditional segments like print, radio and to some extent TV. A greater reliance on subscription and other paid options as well as the development of a credible digital business model is going to be inevitable for these traditional media segments.”