Declining print sales to ‘outweigh’ digital growth for print-media publishers, says PwC

Newspaper publishers in the Republic are expected to see a pick-up in revenues from digital media over the next five years, according to a new PwC Ireland study, but the increase will not be enough to outweigh the expected decline in print sales.

The latest entertainment and media sector outlook from the professional services group indicates the broader Irish entertainment and media sectors are primed from expansion in the period leading up to 2027, mostly due to the growth of the telecommunications, internet advertising and video-on-demand sectors.

PwC is forecasting Ireland’s internet access market — a proxy for spending on broadband services — to grow at a compound annual rate of 6.5 per cent between 2022 and 2027, from €1.6 billion to €2.2 billion. This will mostly be driven by the Irish mobile market, which is expected to expand by 8.7 per cent, overtaking the traditional broadband sector for the first time.

Mobile internet advertising, meanwhile, is forecast to grow by 3.7 per cent each year to reach €819 million by 2027, below the global average of 6.5 per cent while spending on video-on-demand — including subscription and transactional services — will expand by 8.9 per cent to €‎433 million after nearly a decade of strong growth.

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Ireland is expected to remain a popular hub for foreign film-makers with the sector generating €161 million in annual revenues by 2027, up from €124 million in 2019. This is due largely to the section 481 tax credit incentive, PwC said, coupled with the recent global production boom.

The forecasts are less encouraging for Ireland’s print publishers. Valued at €379 million in 2022, the newspaper market will fall to €288 million by 2027, according to the report, despite a sharp rise in digital revenues from €88 million to €113 million over the same period.

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That increase “will not be enough to outweigh the decline in print sales”, which are forecast to fall from €291 million to €175 million within the next four years.

“Weighed down by the rising costs of paper and production of physical magazines,” PwC said the print magazine sector was expected to see revenues drop sharply across the board from print contracting to digital sales.

“We have seen robust growth for Ireland in the entertainment and media industry over the past two years following a surge in demand for digital products during Covid-19,” said Amy Ball, partner at PwC Ireland’s entertainment and media practice. “Increased reliance on mobile and digital technologies, heightened industry competition, an evolving regulatory environment and disruptions posed by new and emerging technologies will create new tensions and possibilities in the years ahead for the sector.”

The report indicates that generative artificial intelligence is expected to be disruptive for the entertainment and media sector and companies must play a role in safeguarding data against this backdrop. “As organisations assess their approach to generative AI, they will need to identify and adhere to responsible AI principles by addressing critical risks related to transparency, privacy and consent,” said Conor Forde, director of PwC Ireland’s entertainment and media practice.

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