It has been a slow year for the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) business.

After two years of double-digit growth, it grew at just about 8 per cent in 2023 over 2022.

It now stands at Rs 2.33 trillion in advertising and pay revenues.

Online gaming and live events are among the fastest-growing parts of the business, albeit on a small base.

The big surprise is print media, which grew by 4 per cent.

Indian cinema had a great 2023, and it shows.

The movie business grew 14 per cent.

Television, which is facing the brunt of the advertising slowdown and the rising migration to digital, saw a de-growth of 2 per cent.

By the end of this year, digital will overtake television as the largest chunk of the Indian M&E business.

The media sector is expected to grow by 10.2 per cent to reach Rs 2.55 trillion by 2024.

It will then expand at a compound annual growth rate of 10 per cent to reach Rs 3.08 trillion by 2026.

These, among others, are the big takeaways from the annual Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)-EY report that takes the most comprehensive look at the business in India.

The report was released at FICCI-Frames, the organisation s annual media event, on Tuesday morning.

It has been a while since the M&E sector grew slower than Indian GDP, but that was 2023 in a nutshell.

Headwinds from geopolitics, the uncertainty of war, a funding scarcity and regulatory implications impacted advertising spending and reduced consumption.

Yet the Indian M&E sector grew, outpacing that of many developed countries, writes Ashish Pherwani, M&E sector leader for EY, in the report.

The big disappointment of 2023 has been a flat ad market.

At Rs 1.1 trillion, advertising is now 0.33 per cent of India’s GDP, much lower than large developed markets where it ranges between 0.6 and 1 per cent, says the report.

In 2023, new media comprised 52 per cent of total advertising revenues.

Digital subscription, if corresponding data charges are in clu ded, would also comprise a majority of subscription revenues.

Over 70 per cent of the sector s growth in 2023 was driven by new media.

Overall, subscriptions grew by Rs 75,000 crore to hit Rs 95,600 crore.

Online gaming and digital brought 58 per cent of this growth.