2015 Global Digital Media - The Unstoppable Video Streaming, TV and Entertainment Industries

Multiple viewing platforms compete for consumer attention

The global digital media entertainment market continues to go from strength to strength in 2015. This highly competitive industry sector is flourishing on the back of improved mobile and broadband infrastructure and consumers continue to embrace being entertained and connected via gaming, social media, video streaming and music. Advertising models are expanding in order to capture revenue from an industry where direct revenue-generating business models are not well received by the broader public.

The video media industries continue to evolve and consumer habits are shifting from broadcast TV to on-demand content – especially streaming. Traditional TV viewing is increasingly facing competition from other viewing platforms such as smart phones, tablets and Smart TVs.

Choice is the key. Broadcasters are no longer in charge of the global viewing habits of consumers, who have the choice of, and the ability to access, an enormous amount of movie and TV series content through internet broadband.

Pay TV across the various platforms – including cable TV, IPTV, and satellite TV – continue to rise in popularity and this trend is reflected in the market’s increasing service revenues. IPTV is the fastest-growing pay TV platform from a global perspective.

Video streaming already makes up the largest component of internet traffic and is set to continue growing faster than other digital formats. Video streaming over mobile networks is forecast to grow strongly, although not quite as dramatically as initially expected. Due to poor data allowance and steep prices, users tend to watch mobile video over WiFi more than over a cellular network.

With the rise of digital platforms, the media industry is rapidly changing. In newspaper and book publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, film, music, and other forms of media, we see that the national walls that protect local organisations within traditional models are crumbling. In other words, it is no longer an issue of local market share. It is now about international market share.

Key developments:

• In 2015 the number of apps available from the Apple, Google and Amazon app has reached around 3 million.
• Mobile TV is a key growth area for global mobile entertainment for at least the next five years.
• The revenue derived from global digital music sales has finally equalled the amount derived from physical formats.
• Nintendo’s proposed entry into the mobile gaming market in 2015 may certainly shake-up this emerging sector and increase competition significantly.
• Online video advertising is one of the key digital advertising growth areas - and spending on this medium is currently growing at around 20% per annum.
• In 2015 Netflix has over 60 million subscribers to its service globally – however the majority are still in the US.
• Five countries – China, USA, India, Japan, and Brazil – together account for nearly 60% of the world’s digital TV households.
• The market for 4K TV sets and content has started to gather serious pace.
• IPTV operators in Japan and Korea are expanding their IPTV offerings to include games, e-books and shopping.
• The market for on-demand audiovisual services in Europe is developing rapidly.
• Revenue streams will shift in North America due to the ongoing migration of viewing habits from satellite and cable TV to online and on-demand content.
• Developments in digital TV and digital connectivity across Africa have been swift in recent years.

Companies mentioned in this report

Facebook; Instagram; Foursquare; Zynga; Apple; Google; Twitter; Blackberry, Netflix; Amazon; Hulu.