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India's media and entertainment industry stages a comeback after the pandemic, propelled by a digital boom

Post-pandemic, India’s media and entertainment sector has seen a massive improvement in its earnings. According to the latest FICCI-EY Media and Entertainment report, revenues from domestic theatres rose more than threefold, reaching ₹12,000 crore in 2023 from ₹3,900 crore previously. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of key developments across various industry segments in recent years and outlines future growth drivers for each segment.

Interestingly, the report predicts that sector revenues are poised to stabilize and continue growing in a fixed range even after this substantial expansion. Here are several prominent trends of the key segments in the media and entertainment sector expected to emerge in the next two years.

FILMED ENTERTAINMENT

In 2023, the total value of India’s filmed entertainment segment, encompassing revenues from theatres, digital and broadcast rights sales, and in-cinema advertising, grew by 15% to reach an all-time high of ₹19,700 crore. Some of the key trends estimated by the FICCI-EY report are:

• The segment is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7% to ₹23,800 crore by 2026. This growth will be driven by increased affluence, the availability of high-quality mass content, innovations in pricing, infrastructure, and distribution.

• In the coming years, the segment’s growth will rely heavily on Hindi films focusing on massy themes. The report notes that Hindi movies embracing mass-market storytelling, incorporating more VFX to enhance the movie-going experience, and expanding aggressively into tier-II and tier-III cities are likely to experience higher growth in theatrical revenues.