PricewaterhouseCoopers’ has released its Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2005-2009. This report (US$995 price tag) has forecasts for every content sector: Films, TV, music, Radio, Internet and video games.
The report is, in my view, bullish about advertising newspapers in the Asia/Pacfiic region through 2009. This infers strong circulation because without readers there is no advertising. It’s also bullish about magazines in our region forecasting a 4.5 percent compound annual rate of growth in magazine advertising.
The report provides flat and even bad news for the US, Canadian and European marketplaces.
The most interesting part of the report (or the bits I could access) is that relating to games. Here’s a fraction of what the report had to say:
The video game market in the United States, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia/Pacific, Latin America, and Canada will increase from $25.4 billion in revenue in 2004 to $54.6 billion in 2009, growing at a 16.5 percent compound annual rate. Asia/Pacific, the largest market, at $10.1 billion in 2004, is projected to maintain its leadership, growing by 18.0 percent on a compound annual rate through 2009, reaching $23.1 billion.
This is an opportunity for newsagents. We need to view games as content and our businesses as content destinations. We sell game magazines so why not the games themselves – or at least the best sellers?