UK media market ‘to be worth £64bn’ within four years

The study by PwC predicted that the fastest growing areas in the entertainment and media market will be internet advertising, internet access, out-of-home advertising, video games and TV advertising.

Steve Denison, partner at PwC in Leeds, said: “This growth is being driven by the internet and by consumers’ love of new technology, particularly mobile technology and applications powered by analytics and the cloud; they demand excellence in customer experience – a social experience as well as a personal one.”

According to PwC’s latest Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2014-2018, the UK entertainment and media (E&M) market is expected to grow by 3.1 per cent compounded annually from 2013 to 2018.

In 2013, the UK had the second largest E&M market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at £58.6bn, behind Germany, and it will maintain this position to 2018.

Total E&M spending on digital, excluding spending on internet access, is forecast to grow at a 10.9 per cent compound annual growth rate between 2013 and 2018 and account for 34 per cent of the UK’s entertainment and media spending growth – more than one in every three pounds.

Mr Denison added: “London is widely considered the digital advertising capital of Europe, and linguistic similarities mean that the UK tends to be the first port of call for US publishers and ad tech players entering the European market.

“All of this adds up to a vibrant, and still growing, internet advertising sector.”

Paid search still dominates the sector in the UK and will continue to do so, with revenues set to reach £4bn in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of 7.5 per cent.

Mr Denison added: “The fact that the English language is the most-used online language is also likely to be a factor in the strength of the UK’s paid search internet advertising market.”