Digital Content Revenues to Pass $200bn in 2018 – Report

Global consumer spend on digital content will reach $202 billion in 2018, up by 10% on this year’s total of $184bn.

This is according to a report by Juniper research titled Digital Content Business Models: OTT & Operator Strategies 2017-2022.

The report found that subscription video on demand (SVOD) services will be a key driver of growth, with major over the top (OTT) players such as Netflix and Amazon committing budgets of more than $5 billion to original content over the coming year.

Meanwhile, Apple and Facebook are each expected to invest at least $1 billion for their on demand digital content services – Apple iTunes and Facebook Watch and Facebook Live.

“Around 35% of UK households now subscribe to one or more SVOD services, a proportion which rises to 76% in the US. Furthermore, the trend towards multiple subscriptions per household was increasing, leading to a greater opportunity for content aggregation and curation,” notes the research.

Meanwhile, the research also found that both telcos and OTT players were increasingly seeking to augment their offerings with the acquisition of eSports rights, and suggested that ultimately players might evolve from creating their own teams to developing and owning eSports tournaments.

There are around 109 million Netflix users globally, with the company expecting six million new users to be added in Q4 this year. ShowMax, the Naspers-owned VOD platform available in 65 countries, houses Africa’s largest subscription video entertainment catalogue. The company announced in November 2016 that it had surpassed the 20 million cumulative views mark.

According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, the pay-TV, VOD and Internet Protocol television services market in Africa is growing rapidly as significant Internet penetration and smartphone adoption in the continent alter the manner in which consumers view content.

“MultiChoice DStv and GOtv, and StarTimes are among the leading pan-African pay-TV operators, while IROKOtv, ShowMax and Netflix lead the VOD space. Despite DStv’s dominance, SA has the most developed pay-TV market, whereas triple-play services are more developed in Kenya,” the research points out.

According to a report by market analyst firm Dataxis, the total number of pay-TV subscribers in Africa has reached approximately 23.7 million, representing quarter-on-quarter growth of 2%, and year-on-year growth of 18%.