Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) expects spending by global entertainment and media (E&M) companies to grow by 6.6 percent, compounded annually, for about five years.

Marcel Fenez, the global managing partner of PwC, said the sizzling E&M business will create a huge windfall in the future, noting that the total E&M spending is estimated to soar from $1.6 trillion to $2.2 trillion between 2007 and 2012.

Computer and video games are a huge market, particularly among younger demographics. AFP

At the same time, the E&M business growth in the Asia-Pacific market will outpace the global average, hitting 8.8 percent annually - equivalent to an increase in spending in the region from $333 billion in 2007 to $508 billion in 2017.

He said emerging countries in the region, such as Vietnam and India, will be the main growth sources with the increasing disposable incomes in those regions.

He believes the region will capture more and more international funds; and more cross-border collaborations are expected to take place.

Regarding the E&M in Hong Kong and Macao, Fenez predicted it will grow in Hong Kong from $6.2 billion in 2007 to $8.4 billion in 2012, representing a compounded annual growth of 6.1 percent.

"Advertising spending in the Hong Kong E&M industry will increase 7.3 percent annually to $3.5 billion in 2012," Fenez said, "while the E&M consumer end-user spending will rise 15.6 percent to $29 billion with the inclusion of Macao's casino business."

Although the E&M is buoyed by massive consumption from the "net generation" of people born after 1977, Fenez said the Internet and gadgets are far from completely replacing the status of traditional media in the coming years.

Looking at Hong Kong's traditional media, Fenez said their advertising revenue remains healthy - the terrestrial television advertising and newspaper print advertising totaled about HK$7.4 billion and HK$9.6 billion, respectively, in 2007.

(HK Edition 06/19/2008 page2)