And what about cinema?
Just a small increase, says Sidebottom, from $23 billion in 2005 to $30 billion in 2011. And, the market for off-the-shelf CDs, DVDs and video games will decline slightly in the next four years as downloads take off.
The biggest share of wallet will continue to be with the most familiar of devices. “TV will still take the biggest proportion of consumer entertainment spending in 2011, easily the biggest,” Sidebottom says. At $220 billion, the pay TV market will represent more than half of all consumer entertainment spending in 2011, says Understanding and Solutions, thanks to new innovations with video-on-demand services and personal video recorders such as Virgin Media’s VPlus and Tivo.
The big concept in TV entertainment will be the notion of “personal TV,” where the viewer can watch what they want when they want. The other big innovation over the next five years is mobility. Next-generation mobile phones and gadgets will give the consumer the ability to take their home entertainment preferences – whether it be gaming, TV programmes or music – with them on the road.
“The idea the lone box in the room will still be hugely important, but broadcasters will have to look at other platforms and other services as well to be competitive,” Sidebottom says.
Prepare yourself for “EastEnders” on the bus.
Back to page one.
Bernhard Warner is a technology reporter based in Rome. He is the former European Internet Correspondent for Reuters and, prior to that was a senior editor at The Industry Standard. His work has appeared in Wired, The Times Online, Time and The Guardian, to name a few. He also works as a Web 2.0 consultant for Custom Communication
Published on 05 July 2007
