What lies ahead for M&E industry in 2025

WITH SLOWING TV REVENUE GROWTH, STREAMING WILL FUEL INDUSTRY EXPANSION

- Shuchi Bansal

As the year wraps up, it is time to take stock of the broad trends that marked the media and entertainment (M&E) industry in 2024 and what to expect in the future. The mega merger of The Walt Disney Co.'s India operations with Reliance Industries' media assets, now called JioStar, was the biggest event in the sector which created an entertainment behemoth commanding 40% viewership share in the Hindi speaking and regional markets (except Tamil Nadu at 26%) and 34% share in digital streaming under Disney+Hotstar and JioCinema. The synergies between TV and digital platforms under the merged entity can create seamless cross-platform experiences for advertisers and audiences alike, said Lalatendu Das, CEO, Publicis Media, South Asia, last week.

LV Krishnan, CEO of TAM Media Research expects further consolidation or possible collaborations among companies in the M&E sector as the unprecedented proliferation of content, platforms and devices has made it tough for a single organization to manage and monetize all the screens. When broadcast TV was the only source of video, it was easy to reach audiences. "As the number of platforms and screens multiply, finding an audience that meets your content, budget and revenue needs gets hard," Krishnan said. A complex media landscape may encourage collaborations, he added.