The global media and entertainment industry is picking up and expected to grow at an annual rate of 6.3 percent over the 2004-08 period after three years of sluggish development, according to a study released Wednesday.

Global media and entertainment industry, which was hit hardly due to the global economic slowdown and terrorism woes in the past years, is projected to hit 1.67 trillion US dollars in 2008, according to the fifth annual edition of Price waterhouse Coopers' "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook."

The study said the Asia-Pacific region will lead the recovery in the next four years with an annual increase of 9.8 percent while China and India will serve as the two main growth engines. The US market is set to expand at a 5.4 percent compound annual rate.

The report identifies video games and the Internet as key growth opportunities for media and entertainment companies.

Film growth is set to slow as the DVD market moves toward a maturation point in the United States, while advertising trends will be uneven over the five-year period, PwC predicts.

"While terrorism remains a grave threat, economic conditions inmost countries have improved, and the entertainment and media industry is expanding," the report indicated.

PwC's annual outlook covers 14 industry sectors - from print, film and television to radio, recorded music and video games - in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Europe/Middle East/Africa region.

It calculates media and entertainment revenue from two sources --consumer spending and advertising.

Last year, the industry expanded its revenue 4.2 percent to 1.23 trillion dollars globally, with the US market increasing 4.3 percent to 523.2 billion dollars. For 2004, PwC projects a 5.7 percent improvement in both figures to 1.3 trillion and 552.9 billion dollars, respectively.

However, over the full five-year period, the worldwide industry's growth will outpace US gains. The Asia-Pacific region showed media and entertainment revenue of 229.1 billion dollars last year, up 5.6 percent year-over-year.

Global advertising revenue will increase at a 5.3 percent compound annual rate to hit 412 billion dollars in 2008. The US market will exceed this growth rate, with PwC estimating a 5.8 percent expansion.

Source: Xinhua