Segmental performance in 2023
Television: Television advertising fell 6.5% due to a slowdown in spending by gaming and D2C brands, which impacted revenues for premium properties. The Hardware Security Modules (HSM) market was also soft, resulting in a 3% overall ad volume de-growth. Subscription revenue grew after three years of fall on the back of price increases, though pay TV homes fell by two million. While linear viewership grew 2% over 2022, 19 to 20 million smart TVs connected to the internet each week, up from around 10 million in 2021
Digital advertising: Digital advertising grew 15% to reach INR576 billion, or 51% of total advertising revenues. Included in this is advertising by SME and long-tail advertisers of over INR200 billion and advertising earned by e-commerce platforms of INR86 billion
Digital subscription: Digital subscription grew 9% to reach INR78 billion. This was a third of 2022’s 27% growth, as premium cricket properties were moved in front of paywalls. Paid video subscriptions reduced by two million in 2023 to 97 million, across 43 million households in India. Paid music subscriptions grew from 5 million to 8 million, generating INR3 billion while online news subscriptions generated INR2 billion
Print: Bucking the global trend, print continued to thrive in India. Advertising revenues grew 4% in 2023, with a notable growth in premium ad formats, as print remained a “go-to” medium for more affluent and non-metro audiences. Subscription revenues grew 3% on the back of rising cover prices. Digital revenues were insignificant for most print companies
Online gaming: The segment’s growth slowed to 22% in 2023 to reach INR220 billion. It overtook filmed entertainment to become the fourth largest segment. There were over 450 million online gamers in India, of which around 100 million played daily. We estimate over 90 million gamers paid to play; real money gaming comprised 83% of segment revenues. Impact of a higher GST levy was largely absorbed by larger players, impacting margins, but protecting growth
Film: The segment grew 14% to reach INR197 billion. Over 1,796 films were released in 2023, and theatrical revenues reached an all-time high of INR120 billion. Number of screens grew 4% and fewer films released directly on digital platforms. 339 Indian films were released overseas
Animation and VFX: The Hollywood writers’ strike impact global supply chains, and consequently, the segment grew just 6% in 2023. Potential mergers and falling ad revenues also reduced the slate of animated content produced for broadcast in India. A revival in demand in the second half of the year led to growth, boosted by the trend of using more VFX in Indian content
Live events: The organized segment grew 20% to finally exceed its pre-pandemic levels. Growth was driven by government events, personal events and weddings, and ticketed events, including several international formats
Out of Home (OOH): OOH media grew 13% in 2023 and crossed its 2019 levels. Premium properties and locations led the growth. Active digital OOH screens crossed 100,000 and contributed 9% of total segment revenues
Music: The Indian music segment grew by 10% to reach INR24 billion in 2023, slower than previous years as certain music OTT platforms went pay and stopped or reduced their free services. 87% of revenues were earned through digital means, though most of it was advertising led on YouTube, there being around only 8 million paying subscribers despite music streaming’s reach of 185 million
Radio: Radio segment revenues grew 10% in 2023 to INR23 billion on the back of more retail and local advertising, and alternate revenue streams. Ad volumes increased by 19% in 2023 as compared to the previous year, though ad rates remained below their 2019 levels
