India’s E&M industry to reach USD36.7 bn by 2030 as AI reshapes content creation and monetisation: PwC India report

India’s E&M market projected to grow at a 7.4% CAGR or nearly twice the global rate as AI, connectivity, and digital ecosystems move the sector from scale to sustainable value creation

Mumbai, 27 August 2026: PwC India today released the India findings of its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2026-2030, which projects that India’s entertainment and media (E&M) market is set to grow from USD25.7 bn in 2025 to USD36.7 bn by 2030. At a CAGR of 7.4%, it is projected to grow at nearly twice the global industry growth rate of 4% over the same period.

India’s E&M sector is evolving from a scale-driven market to a value-driven one. While audience acquisition defined the first phase of India’s digital growth, the next phase will focus on monetising engagement, improving revenue generation and building sustainable user economics. This shift is being supported by digital ecosystems, regional content, and technology-led revenue streams. Regional language content is emerging as a powerful growth engine, helping media companies unlock new audiences and monetisation opportunities across India's diverse linguistic markets.

Internet advertising, OTT video, and gaming are expected to account for much of the sector’s incremental growth. Advertising-supported models are creating new monetisation opportunities across digital media, while traditional television and print continue to demonstrate resilience in India despite declines in global markets. Regional content is also becoming increasingly important, helping platforms reach and monetise India’s diverse audiences.

Rajesh Sethi, Partner and Leader – Media, Entertainment, and Sports, PwC India, said, “India has already demonstrated its ability to build audience scale. The next phase is about converting that engagement into sustainable value. AI is beginning to improve how content is created, discovered, and personalised, while regional storytelling and premium experiences are creating new ways to deepen engagement and monetisation. Companies that combine innovation with relevance, operational discipline, and trust will be best placed to lead the next phase of growth.”

Key trends shaping India’s E&M sector:

• Internet advertising remains the primary growth engine: Internet advertising revenue is projected to nearly double from USD7.5 bn in 2025 to USD14.3 bn by 2030, growing at a 13.9% CAGR. Search and video advertising are supporting this expansion.
• OTT video moves from subscriber scale to stronger monetisation: India’s OTT market is projected to grow from USD2.2 bn in 2025 to USD3.6 bn by 2030, at a 10.2% CAGR. Advertising-supported offerings are becoming an important monetisation lever alongside subscriptions, while platforms increasingly focus on engagement, retention, revenue per user, premium content, and regional programming.
• Gaming and e-sports broaden their revenue models: Video games and e-sports revenue is projected to increase from USD1.5 bn in 2025 to USD2.6 bn by 2030, at an 11.3% CAGR. As the market matures, in-game advertising, sponsorship-led e-sports, and recurring revenue models are expected to play a greater role in converting engagement into sustainable revenue.
• AI and technology reshape the E&M value chain: AI is increasingly being applied across content creation, production, discovery, advertising, and audience engagement. Applications include pre-visualisation, de-ageing, multilingual voice modelling, virtual production, generative engine optimisation (GEO), personalisation, and recommendation systems. AI is also helping create opportunities to improve both efficiency and monetisation.
• Connectivity becomes a critical enabler of digital media: Data connectivity revenue is projected to grow from USD36.5 bn in 2025 to USD58.6 bn by 2030, at a 9.9% CAGR. Expanding mobile, broadband, fibre, and 5G infrastructure is supporting richer content experiences, new advertising models, and larger addressable audiences across India’s digital ecosystem.
• Premium live and out-of-home experiences create new monetisation opportunities: Across music, sports, and cinema, consumers are demonstrating a greater willingness to pay for immersive, exclusive and differentiated experiences. Premium ticketing, hospitality-led offerings, and higher-value cinema formats are shifting value creation towards spend per consumer and opening new revenue pools.
• Traditional TV and print remain resilient: Traditional TV revenue is projected to grow modestly from USD7.2 bn in 2025 to USD7.5 bn by 2030, while newspaper revenue is expected to rise from USD3.0 bn to USD3.5 bn. Their continued growth in India, despite declines in several mature global markets, reflects the strength of regional audiences, advertiser demand, trusted brands, and deeper integration between traditional and digital channels.

As infrastructure, connectivity, platforms, advertising, and AI increasingly converge, India’s E&M market is entering a phase in which value creation will depend less on reach alone and more on the ability to monetise engagement sustainably. Building trust with consumers, advertisers, and creators will be critical to translating technology-led innovation into long-term value.

“India’s E&M sector is entering a period of meaningful transformation. The opportunity ahead will extend beyond expanding audiences and platforms to building stronger connections between content, technology, and consumer experiences. As these ecosystems become more integrated, organisations will need to rethink how they create value, collaborate across the industry, and build trust in an increasingly AI-enabled environment. The leaders of the next phase will be those that can turn this convergence into distinctive, sustainable, and responsible growth', Sethi added.

Read the full report:  www.pwc.in/GEMO.