Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019-2023

Australia's leading industry forecasting report into consumer and advertising spend across 12 segments

- 3 items

The search for growth

Welcome to the Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook 2019-2023

Segments

Trends identified across 12 segments

Special Features

Deep dive into live entertainment and streamed content

The search for growth

Welcome to the Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019-2023. We trust you will find this, the 18th edition of the Outlook, an insightful resource to help navigate the challenges and opportunities of the contemporary Australian entertainment and media landscape.

The unifying theme of this year’s Outlook is the search for growth. Across the 12 segments we forecast in the Outlook, all players are united by an urgent search for growth and implementing the organisational transformation necessary to deliver it.

For innovation-focused media organisations, the search for growth has in many cases meant a ‘back to basics’ reorientation around fundamental value delivered to consumers, and a willingness to break away from legacy models defined by platform.

So in 2019,

The newspaper business is now the news media business.
The live entertainment business is now a multifaceted customer experience business.
The magazine business is now the lifestyle media business.
The academic book business is now the education aid business.
The free-to-air television business is now the professionally generated content production, utilisation and distribution business.

What has been the catalyst in the search for growth? We believe it is driven by two contrasting forces that, in effect, are radically reshaping the media landscape: fragmentation on one hand, and consolidation on the other.

Fragmentation. As consumers have spread their time across multiple platforms, events and devices, the difficulty of aggregating a mass audience has increased. The ‘race for reach’ has become a growing challenge for advertisers. The industry has responded with cross-platform innovation and asset investment. New integrated advertising solutions are helping media organisations deploy effective campaigns in an environment of channel proliferation.

Consolidation. Media owners’ sprint to meet marketers' demands for mass- reaching assets has seen a mergers and acquisitions boom across the media and entertainment business landscape - Nine’s merger with Fairfax, and JCDecaux of APN are but two examples.

As the conversation about growth and transformation in media matures, we are (thankfully) moving beyond some of the tired dichotomies that have dominated industry debate about disruption so far. Combat between ‘new’ and ‘old’ media, ‘traditional’ and ‘digital’, ‘analog’ and ‘smart’, is giving way to more stabilised sectors with broad acceptance of the role for (and revenue from) multiple complementary channels. Radio has a strong analog business, but with new opportunities for growth in podcasts. Free-to-air television has a strong broadcast business, but is seeing increasing returns from video-on-demand platforms, where programming is moving beyond catch-up and into back-catalogue viewing.

But as the current wave of innovation is digested, two strong consumer headwinds will require both the entertainment and media industries to build on the innovation bench-strength developed so far.

The most apparent of these is the challenge into growing share of wallet. In an Australian economic environment characterised by minimal inflation, flat-lined wage and household expenditure growth, and where new players continue to reduce the pricing power of incumbents, the opportunities for price driven growth are much diminished. This will be of particular challenge to the growing number of businesses implementing subscription models, where the battle to survive as the second or third service for households will be hard fought.

Equally, as households take a closer look at discretionary expenditure, the preparedness of consumers to spend money on the range of live entertainment options now available means that they will most likely look for those opportunities where it has a greater level of uniqueness, personalisation or engagement.

Perhaps the bigger challenge will be to grow share of attention. While consumption of media across all devices may be increasing, time is a finite resource, so the competition for consumer attention will be fierce. It is little wonder that Netflix sees sleep as one of its main competitors. The relationship between attention-growth and revenue-growth will drive increasing strategic focus across industry on winning the marginal minute of consumer attention.

Legacy reinvention, a changing macroeconomic environment, and global competition across every moment of Australian media consumption - this is an exciting time to publish the Outlook and follow the search for growth across the Australian entertainment and media landscape.

Segments

Consumer and educational books

Australia's book industry has stabilised, and alongside it, gained a renewed confidence.

Consumer magazines

New offerings show the sector is targeting more niche audiences and specific lifestyle trends.

Filmed entertainment

Crafting premium experiences for content-hungry consumers will ensure the growth of film.

Free-to-air television

Free-to-air TV has never been more accessible for the Australian consumer.

Interactive games and e-sports

The transition from individual gaming to mainstream family entertainment is a major growth driver for the sector.

Internet access

The current explosion of data usage shows no sign of easing.

Internet advertising

Online video advertising is growing fast, driven by the increasing consumer preference for video content.

Music

Artists and record labels continue to experiment with new ways of monetising content.

Newspapers

News media brands are redefining what it means to be a publishing brand.

Out-of-home

The digitisation of remaining static assets is a major growth driver for the OOH sector.

Radio

Consumers' ease of access to audio content is increasing.

Subscription television

Australians are showing a growing appetite for multiple subscriptions.

{{contentList.dataService.numberHits}} {{contentList.dataService.numberHits == 1 ? 'result' : 'results'}}

Stay up to date

Entertainment and Media Outlook 2019 - 2023

{{contentList.dataService.numberHits}} {{contentList.dataService.numberHits == 1 ? 'result' : 'results'}}

A final word of thanks

This is the first edition of the Outlook for more than 12 years that has not carried the imprint of former PwC Partner, Megan Brownlow. Megan’s incredible contribution to the industry and this publication cannot be overstated. She has shepherded its development into the leading forecasting resource for Australian media and entertainment businesses. As the new editor, I know I can speak for all the contributors and the editorial committee when I say how privileged we feel to be taking on this publication. We have appreciated the enthusiastic support Megan has provided to the new team, and to me personally. We hope she enjoys this year’s Outlook. - Justin Papps

Follow PwC Australia

Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019-2023

- 3 items

The search for growth

Segments

Special Features

The search for growth

Justin Papps

Charmaine Green

Segments

Consumer and educational books

Consumer magazines

Filmed entertainment

Free-to-air television

Interactive games and e-sports

Internet access

Internet advertising

Music

Newspapers

Out-of-home

Radio

Subscription television

{{filterContent.facetedTitle}}

{{item.title}}

{{filterContent.facetedTitle}}

{{item.title}}

A final word of thanks

Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019-2023

- 3 items

The search for growth

Segments

Special Features

The search for growth

Playback of this video is not currently available

Justin Papps

Charmaine Green

Segments

Consumer and educational books

Consumer magazines

Filmed entertainment

Free-to-air television

Interactive games and e-sports

Internet access

Internet advertising

Music

Newspapers

Out-of-home

Radio

Subscription television

{{filterContent.facetedTitle}}

{{item.title}}

{{item.title}}

{{filterContent.facetedTitle}}

{{item.title}}

{{item.title}}

A final word of thanks