The UK is expected to maintain its position as the leading entertainment and media (E&M) market in Europe over the next four years, reaching revenue of £100 billion by 2027.
The latest data from accounting company PwC predicts E&M revenue will reach £38.5 billion this year, with an expected growth of 4% over the next four years and reaching £100 billion by 2027.
The report – Global Entertainment & Media (E&M) Outlook 2023-2027 – notes that while the overall rate of growth is expected to fluctuate year-to-year given variable economic conditions, some specific segments are consistently driving revenue.
Internet access is forecasted to reach £16.7 billion this year, growing to £20 billion in 2027. Internet advertising revenue is expected to grow to 2023 before reaching £35.5 billion by 2027 – a third of the total predicted E&M revenue.
Similarly, overall advertising revenue in the UK is predicted to reach £35.7 billion in 2023. While digital provides the majority of the revenue (such as internet advertising), TV remains a significant medium, expected to decline by 3% in 2023 before recovering with 4% growth in 2024, to a total of £4.8 billion.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing campaigns sent straight to your inbox each morning
In addition, the report pointed out the fastest growing segment, the virtual reality (VR) market is set to see an increase from £1.3 billion in 2023 to £2 billion in 2027.
Other segments expected to see a strong growth include the out-of-home (OOH) advertising market, which is predicted to continue its post-pandemic recovery growth over the next four years, hitting £1.13 billion by 2024.
The news of the UK market’s resilience comes after fears of the industry’s outlook following the macroeconomic challenges of earlier years.
“2022 was a challenging year for the UK entertainment and media industry as the economy struggled to return to normality. In the midst of continued change and disruption, the industry reassessed its strategies and refocused on core operations,” said PwC media and telecoms leader Mary Shelton Rose.
“For years, the overarching story in E&M has been a technology-inspired shift to digital and mobile. But this year, very quickly, a new force is coming into focus: generative AI. Going forward, leaders must evaluate and embrace the potential power of AI holistically as an enabler for productivity and creativity.”
PwC Strategy partner, Dan Bunyan, commented: “The internet advertising sector remains highly dynamic. We continue to see spend moving into new channels (e.g. retail media, gaming) and new data sets (e.g. cookieless solutions, contextual data), as brands reassess the most fruitful ways to engage consumers online.
“Generative AI is likely to play a growing role in the UK internet advertising market, across a range of channels and content creation.”
