Digital media to outgrow television this year: Report

Digital media is expected to outpace television as the largest media segment in 2024. The FICCIEY report released on Tuesday in Mumbai estimated that digital media will be valued at ₹75,100 crore in 2024, while television will accrue ₹71,800 crore. EY predicts that the disparity will widen in 2026 when digital media is expected to be valued at ₹95,500 crore, versus television’s expected value of ₹76,600 crore. From 202326 digital media and television are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.5 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

The Indian Media and Entertainment (M&E sector) as a whole grew by 8 per cent in 2023 at ₹2.3 lakh crore ($27.9 billion), 21 per cent above its prepandemic levels in 2019.

After two years of doubledigit increase in advertising, growth slowed down in 2023, in line with existing reports.

TV ADVERTISING

The report said advertising was impacted by a ban on highyield categories such as gaming and betting and D2C brands also avoided investments with the slowdown in the economy, but the report added that based on past trends, growth in advertising would outpace nominal GDP growth.

Television, in particular, is struggling with advertising. It was the sole media segment to show degrowth in 2023 at ₹29,700 crore in 2023, versus ₹31,800 crore in the previous year (for ad revenue). Digital grew by ₹49,900 crore to ₹57,600 crore. Digital, for the first time, contributed more than half of ad revenues at 51 per cent in 2023. Television’s contribution has dropped to 26 per cent from 30 per cent.

While print media continued to grow in revenue and readership in 2023, it is expected to stop growing by 2026. “Print will reach a steady state with a loyal reader base within the next three years, most of which will probably come from the growing base of educated people entering the workforce, who need news and information to build their careers, as against faithful ageing audiences,” the report said.