Worldwide entertainment and media business is expected to grow 7.3% this year to $2.51 trillion dollars versus a year ago -- rising another 5.1% next year to $2.64 trillion, according to business consultancies PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) and Omdia.

“This year, as we struggle — not always successfully — to put the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic behind us, we have tightened our focus on what lies ahead,” the authors of the report say.

Although the report cites recent and continuing challenges in public health, supply chain, and geopolitics, it says the changing entertainment/media business is now operating “from new baselines... that is more digital, more mobile, more pitched at media that attracts the young, more evenly distributed around the globe and more dependent on advertising in all its forms.”

Filtering in all of this, it projects modest growth over the next five years -- yielding a 4.6% average compounded growth rate from 2021 through 2026, to reach $2.93 trillion.

Looking at major entertainment categories, video-game revenue will be the star over the next five years, rising at a compounded growth rate of 8.4% through 2026, landing at $321 billion.

OTT/streaming revenue will see slightly less growth, but still strong results -- a 7.6% growth rate through 2026 to $114.1 billion.

Two other categories -- Traditional TV and cinemas -- will see a tougher picture.

Legacy TV will see virtually flat to slightly lower revenue, due to heavy competition from OTT -- at a 0.8% average decline to $222.1 billion by 2026. The theatrical movie business will continue to struggle, and is not estimated to reach 2019’s global box-office mark of $45.2 billion until next year.

Global advertising will see a 6.6% average compounded growth rate over the next five years to $1 billion, while internet/digital advertising spend will continue to outperform legacy ad business -- up 9.1% to $723.6 billion by 2026. Non-digital ad spend is estimated to reach $290 billion.

Due to this rapid growth, the report says, advertising will become the biggest of three main entertainment/media sectors by 2026 -- with a 35.1% share. Consumer spending will be at 33.5%, and broadband/internet spending will hit 31.4%.

Data and projections in the PwC/Omdia report are based on consumer and advertising spending in 14 business segments across 52 territories.