Accounting firm giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has released its annual Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report which offers forecasts for the next four years across the entertainment industry.
The report indicates that in spite of slower-than-expected post-pandemic recovery, the cinema sector is expected to show steady growth over the period.
Thanks to higher ticket prices, they predict global cinema revenue will reach pre-pandemic levels by 2025. However it won’t be until 2027 that global cinema admissions and U.S. cinema revenue will come up to comparable levels – and even then won’t quite match the highs of 2019.
China is expected to lead global total cinema revenue for much of the next four years – rising to estimates of $13.2 billion in 2027 compared to a forecast of $11.9 billion in 2027 for North America.
They indicate global cinema admissions will reach 7.2 billion in 2027, which is below pre-pandemic 2019 when 7.9 billion admissions were recorded – but a long way above the 1.9 billion admissions recorded in 2020.
They conclude: “The underlying appetite for filmgoing remains, as does the audience’s willingness to pay premium prices for the big-screen experience.”
On the TV front, subscription streaming video growth will reportedly slow over the next five years, even though the global streaming market will expand further to nearly $175 billion by 2027 (up from $133 billion for this year).
Advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) will be the big driver even as subscription VOD (SVOD) will reportedly still account for 62.5% of the global streaming market in 2027.
Pay TV and cable on the other hand will plummet as cord-cutting really digs deep. They predict that in the U.S., more than 14 million homes will quit pay TV between last year and 2027 – reducing total penetration to 49.9 million homes and only 38% of total U.S. homes by 2027.
Source: THR
