Perspectives: Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2024–2028

The US, representing more than one-third of global spending in 2023, remains the world’s biggest E&M market for the combined advertising and consumer spending markets by a wide margin. But this scale brings with it maturity and hence relatively slower growth, which is projected to run at a 4.3% CAGR through 2028—behind the global rate of 4.6%.

Among the larger markets showing rapid growth, the clear stand-outs are Indonesia and India, followed by China, at a 7.1% CAGR. By 2028, China’s advertising and consumer spending revenues (US$362.5 billion) will be less than half of those in the US (US$808.4 billion). Each of these territories has its own distinctive market dynamics. India will be the world’s fastest-growing OTT video-streaming market over the forecast period, serving its vast, diverse and widely dispersed population—many of whom are obsessed with sports content in general, and cricket in particular: Reliance’s JioCinema app attracted a record 32 million viewers for the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) final between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans. And China’s continued strong growth means it’s steadily closing the gap on the US in terms of market size, although tight government regulation can make investing there more complex than in other territories.

Among the relatively small markets that show extremely rapid growth, Nigeria (10.1% CAGR through 2028) leads the way. It has a predominantly young population of 220 million consumers, and is widely acknowledged as Africa’s leading E&M hub, home to the world-renowned Nollywood movie industry, which produces around 2,500 films annually. Growth in Turkey’s E&M industry (9.5% CAGR through 2028) is bolstered by widespread use of social media.

E&M is a realm in which real-life, in-person, increasingly tech-enabled experiences—music performances, theatre, cinema, sports and more—matter a great deal. And in the wake of the covid pandemic, IRL (in real life) events have been enjoying something of a revival. Live music revenues rose by 26.0% in 2023, and accounted for more than half of the overall music market. The growth in live music was skewed towards large events such as the tours by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Coldplay and Elton John. The opening of the Sphere in Las Vegas in September 2023 highlighted the ways in which live experiences are getting an immersive tech upgrade. Alongside a strong showing from live music, cinema also performed well globally in 2023, with a 30.4% year-on-year increase in spending at the box office. The ‘Barbenheimer’ combo of Oppenheimer and Barbie grossed a total of US$2.4 billion. Together, movie box office and live music ticket sales represented well over one-third—38.6%—of 2023’s net increase in consumer spending on E&M worldwide. Global cinema revenues are poised to surpass their pre-pandemic, 2019 levels in 2026.