PwC Middle East launched Beyond Digital; Middle East and Africa insights from PwC’s 16th annual edition of the Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2015-2019 at the Dubai Film Market on Thursday, December 10, 2015.
According to the E&M Outlook, the rise of mobile internet is an important opportunity for data driven advertising in today’s age. Mobile internet subscribers in the Middle East and Africa are expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.9% to 2019, and global smartphone connections are forecasted to double from 1.92 billion in 2014 to 3.85 billion in 2019 (half the world’s population) and PwC forecasts that the global mobile internet advertising spend will be second only to Search spend, surpassing Display by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 23.1%.
In the Middle East and Africa, entertainment and media spend will increase from $38.8 million in 2014 to $61.1 million in 2019. This is due to changing customer habits, where consumers now want flexible, on-demand tv and film viewing across platforms, with OTT/streaming reaching $19.2 billion globally by 2019.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is expected to have the highest film market revenue growth (albeit from a low base) at a CAGR of 18.5% from 2014-2019, driven by OTT/streaming and there is no cinema sector in the country. While in the UAE, popular TV and film Intellectual Properties (IPs) are being integrated beyond the big screen into leisure attractions, including several upcoming theme parks. It has a relatively large filmed entertainment industry for the region, expected to reach $141.9 million by 2019.
Commenting on the launch, Philip Shepherd, PwC Middle East’s Entertainment and Media Partner said: “Customer habits are ever-evolving and changing all the time. With the availability of all digital resources at our fingertips, consumers will choose the most convenient, flexible and fastest methods to connect digitally.”
Jayant Bhargava, Middle East Digital Media and Entertainment Partner with Strategy& (formerly Booz & Company) said: “Time spent with media and video viewing is at an all-time high. Proliferation of devices and connectivity is driving a culture of media snacking and multi-tasking. Today, consumers have access to a wide range of content and a multitude choice of how and when to view it. This is driving an explosion in video content and new genres are being introduced by emerging artists world over.”
During the launch of the event, PwC and Strategy&, part of the PwC network, Entertainment & Media leaders gave an overview of the global spend by platform, flexibility in consumption platforms in the film entertainment industry and the filmed entertainment spend by segment.