Worst year for media since 2002 speeds digital migration

After the worst year for media deals in the UK since 2002 with similar trends worldwide, the irresistible pace of the digital revolution looks set to take hold.

Always inevitable, plummeting revenues and the growing graveyard of bankrupt media houses are forcing executives to tune in to what frugal consumers want quicker, or face closure.
A meagre 29 media deals were sealed in the UK last year, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, down from 45 in 2008. The 36% drop in volume was accompanied with a drop in value from £3.6 billion to £2.39bn (Dh21.51bn - (Dh14.28bn).

The only time it was lower was in 2002, after the dotcom crash, when 25 deals fetched £1.85bn.

The US was spared a similar fate, but only due to the Comcast's $13bn purchase of NBC Universal. That deal, closed in December last year, pushed the total value of media deals up to $36.51bn from $32.68bn in 2008. Volume was still down by 37%, however, according to stats from BeverlyNoyes plummeting from 700 deals to 441.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2009-2013 predicts minimal growth in global E&M for this year, of just 0.4 per cent.

"What we are sure about is that this recession will last longer than previous ones due to a steeper downturn and that the impact on consumer spending will be much steeper than in the past", states the report.

The analysis from the report suggests that "the economic downturn does not change the underlying drivers for digital migration and will more likely influence their pace and power and hence the timing of industry change. In short, making it more difficult to hide from the digital migration."