Strong growth in the media and entertainment industry
According to a PWC study, the Swiss media and entertainment industry grew by 3.8% last year. This means that it grew faster than the rest of the Swiss economy.
Consumers spent a total of CHF 13 billion on media and entertainment. The Swiss market therefore grew more strongly last year than in 2013 (+2.7%). And the outlook apparently remains intact: According to the study by PWC Switzerland, growth of 2.2% to CHF 13.3 billion is expected for the current year.
In the current year, the TV and print markets will suffer the most from the strong franc, according to a press release issued by the company on Friday. Cinema, cinema advertising and the film business (filmed entertainment) are expected to continue to decline, but digital sales are likely to increase. The consultants also expect an annual growth rate of 2.2 percent for the following years. In 2019, turnover is therefore likely to rise to CHF 14.6 billion.
As the consumption of content is much more important to users than owning it, platforms that aggregate content, streaming and subscription models continue to gain ground, the study states. According to PWC, the producers of content - whether games, films, music, newspaper articles or magazine features - are thus taking a back seat and have to find their market position anew. For media companies, this means that cross-format competition is growing with every digitalization push - especially from sectors outside the industry.
According to the consultancy firm, networking is the key to the further development of the entire industry and offers huge potential for existing platforms - across all media and on all devices. Games, music, films, articles from various newspapers and magazines, accessible on one platform, are currently the preferred way of using media.
