According to a consultant, the country's media and entertainment (ME) sector would be the fastest-growing in the world in terms of consumer and advertising spending by 2025 and will be worth over Rs 4 lakh crore. According to PwC, the sector would expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.75 per cent over the following four years, reaching Rs 4,12,656 crore by 2025.

"Despite the pandemic, the Indian entertainment and media sector has shown remarkable resilience," the consultancy's partner Rajib Basu said, adding that India will be the fastest-growing entertainment and media market globally in terms of consumer and advertising revenue.

Technological advancement and deepening of internet access will continue to influence the way Indians consume content, he said adding that there will be more appetite for localised content, and newer business models will also evolve. TV advertising grew to Rs 35,015 crore in 2020 despite the pandemic and will expand at the rate of 7.6 per cent to contribute over Rs 50,000 crore to the overall pie, it said.

Advertising on the internet is expected to grow at a faster clip of 18.8 per cent per annum during 2020-2025 to over Rs 30,000 crore by the end of the cycle, it said. The report added that the revenue from mobile internet advertising in India was Rs 7,331 crore in 2020, and will rise to Rs 22,350 crore by 2025, showing a 25.4 per cent increase.

The newspaper and consumer magazine industry are, however, estimated to grow at a much lower clip of 1.82 per cent to Rs 26.299 crore by 2025, it said adding that print advertising revenues fell 12 per cent and print circulation revenue was down by 4 per cent in 2020 due to the pandemic in 2020.

Box-office revenue is expected to recover and grow at a CAGR of 39.3 per cent to Rs 13,857 crore by the end of 2025, it said. PwC added that the cinema industry which has been deeply hit by the pandemic will be back to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2023.

India's total music, radio, and podcasts market revenues dropped in 2020 to Rs 4,626 crore, as the pandemic stripped almost Rs 522 crore from the country's live music sector, it said. The overall music, radio, and podcast industry will grow 19.1 per cent per annum to reach Rs 11.026 crore in 2025, the consultancy added.

Video games and e-sports revenue reached Rs 11,250 crore in 2020 and is set to expand to Rs 24,213 crore in 2025, at an annual growth rate of 16.5 per cent, it said.