Digital spend is rising and, in particular, the growth of the mobile internet will result in the capture of 42pc of all internet advertising in two years.
Digital spend in Ireland is on track to overtake non-digital by 2020, but the country is still lagging behind international trends.
Ireland’s entertainment and media industry is set to grow at a rate of 3.4pc per year until 2022, according to the latest Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2018-2022 from PwC.
‘We see traditional newspaper publishing continuing to lose ground with a decline of 4pc annually over the period’
– AMY BALL
By 2022 it is forecast that the total entertainment and media (E&M) market will be worth €5.1bn, comprising €2.64bn in digital and €2.45bn in non-digital spend.
The growth projection incorporates all Irish E&M industry sectors including internet and out-of-home advertising, internet access, TV subs and licenses, radio, video games, filmed entertainment, newspaper, book and magazine publishing.
Globally, the E&M industry is expected to grow at 4.4pc compound aggregate growth rate (CAGR) in the period.
This boost will see the industry’s global revenue reach US$2.4trn in 2022, up from US$1.9trn in 2017.
The smartphone has become the omni-media device
Growth in the Irish market lags the global forecast largely due to less protracted growth in the digitally driven segments such as OTT, or over-the-top, video (8.8pc CAGR domestically compared to 10.1pc globally) and video games and e-sports (5pc CAGR v 7.3pc).
This is partially offset by higher domestic rates of growth in more traditional media forms such as books, radio and music revenue in Ireland.
The global virtual reality (VR) market experienced a major breakthrough in 2017, with revenue growing by over 350pc to $3.9bn.
“Growth of 3.4pc annually presents significant opportunities for the Irish E&M industry,” said Amy Ball, partner in PwC’s entertainment and media practice.
“This growth is primarily driven by growth over the period in internet access (6.7pc), internet advertising (6.5pc) and video games (5pc).
“In particular, the rise of mobile internet advertising, tracking at 11pc annually, will represent 42pc of all internet advertising spend in Ireland by 2022.
“We see traditional newspaper publishing continuing to lose ground with a decline of 4pc annually over the period,” Ball added.