• by Aaron Baar , June 5, 2013

Increasing Internet access, particularly through the mobile channel, and the expected explosion of devices that go with it will lead to steady growth in entertainment and media spending (both by consumers and marketers) over the next five years. 

According to PwC’s “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook” report, global spending in the sector will increase from $1.6 trillion in 2012 to $2.2 trillion by 2017 (a compound growth rate of 5.6%). In the U.S, spending will grow from $499 billion in 2012 to $632 billion in 2017. Furthermore, the digital channel will account for nearly half (44%) of all entertainment and media spending by 2017 in mature markets (up from 34% in 2012), largely driven by widespread device ownership and mobile Internet access. (In the U.S. the digital channel will account for 34% of spending in 2017, up from 22% in 2012.)

“Internet access globally and mobile Internet access in the U.S. is a huge driver of consumer spending on entertainment and media,” Sean De Winter, a partner in PwC’s Entertainment, Media & Communications practice, tells Marketing Daily. “We’re seeing more and more people walking around with more mobile devices, and using them over their laptops.”

As consumers get even more control over their entertainment and content options (moving from a “mass media” to a “my media” model), marketers will need to review the way they approach consumers with their advertising and content to ensure it really does give consumers something of value and doesn’t require a lot of extra work, De Winter says. 

“Consumers want content plus something else, and that ‘plus’ is something that is cool and is seamless across all devices,” he says. “Consumers want advertising that provides some sort of utility, entertainment or relevant information.”

This will require marketers to not only be nimble and agile, but also able to harness and understand the big data streams that are available through these digital channels, De Winter says. The content will also have to become platform agnostic to optimize the experience across multiple screens, devices and platforms. Over the next five years, the second screen may very well be the one in the living room, as opposed to the one in a person’s hands.  

“What is the ‘second screen’?” De Winter asks. “Is it the TV, now that more people are watching content with their tablets?”