Indian media, entertainment industry grew 12% in 2013: survey

India's media and entertainment industry logged a relatively healthy 12 per cent growth in 2013 over the previous year, standing at Rs92,800 crore. The growth was largely driven by digitisation, according to the latest FICCI-KPMG report.

The report will be formally released at the 15th edition of the annual 'Frames' event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry – a three-day international industry event due to begin Wednesday next week with the theme 'Media and Entertainment: Transforming Lives,'. Australia is the partner country.

The event is expected to be attended by a host of media, film and entertainment personalities and industry leaders from the country and abroad, and will include telecom regulator Rahul Khullar, information & broadcasting secretary Bimal Julka, and other senior government officials.

The report did not offer any growth projection for the current year. But it said advertising revenues of mass media like television and newspapers were hit mainly on account of the economic slowdown and depreciation of the rupee, affecting the fortunes of print, cable and DTH TV companies.

The print sector grew at a CAGR of 8.5 per cent to reach Rs24,300 crore, the report found. However, this was countered by the impact of continued digitisation of media products and services and growth in the regional media domain.

"2013 has been an extraordinary year for the media and entertainment sector -- a year of challenges and significant change which saw the industry dealing with a host of issues," chairman of the FICCI M&E committee Uday Shankar said.

Television saw the implementation of the 10+2 advertising cap and significant progress in seeding of set top boxes, which set the stage of revenue growth and expansion in genres, he said. The film sector continued to mature on the back of multiplex expansion and a wide variety of content, while the radio and print continue to defy global trends and await positive regulatory intervention that will take these sectors to greater heights, added Uday Shankar.

Digitisation of cable saw progress of television industry moving in the right direction, with the mandatory Digital Access System (DAS) roll-out almost complete in Phase II cities. Consequently, carriage fees saw an overall reduction of 15-20 per cent, the study pointed out.

However, the anticipated increase in ARPUs and subscription revenues for broadcasters and MSOs (Multi System Operators) is expected to be realised only over the next two to three years, it said.

Other key highlights in 2013 were the inclusion of LC1 (less than class I) markets in TV ratings, the 12 minute advertising cap ruling and the shift from TRP to TVT ratings. The study also found that growth of multiplexes is expected to slow down in the near future, in line with the overall delays and slow pace of retail sector and commercial real estate development, impacting box office growth in the short term.

Approximately 90-95 per cent movie screens are now digitised in the country, with a shift in focus to Tier II and III cities.

The film industry recorded a double-digit growth in 2013 albeit slower than in 2012, the previous year, with multiple movies scoring big on box office collections. The total Internet user base in India reached around 214 million in 2013 with almost 130 million going online using mobile devices. Mobile Internet users dominated the total internet user base capturing an overall share of 61 per cent.

Digital media advertising in India grew faster than any other advertising category. Streaming and download services continued to see growth in the music industry, with the growth in mobiles, in particular smartphones, contributing significantly to increased consumption of music 'on-the-go'.

However, with the continued decline in physical sales, compounded by the significant fall in ringback tone revenues (following the backlash of TRAI guidelines issues in 2012), the sector saw an overall fall in size by 10 per cent in 2013.