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Interactive Gaming To Head Up Media Growth...
Australia’s media sector will expand by 4.1% over the next five years as interactive gaming and the internet continue their trailblazing growth and Australian companies eye off opportunities in Asia.
According to the 'Outlook: Australian Entertainment and Media report from PricewaterhouseCoopers', the sector will reach a total of $37.2 bn in 2015.
Advertising spending is expected to reach $15bn, growing at a rate of 4.4%, which is slower than the global rate forecast at 6.2%.
Interactive gaming will be the locomotive of growth for the sector over the next five years with compound annual growth of 9.5% by 2015, ahead of the global rate of 8.2%.
PwC predicted a spike in market share for gaming from 8.8% of consumer spending in 2010 to 11.4% in 2015.
“Consoles are consolidating their position in the living room by becoming entertainment hubs through partnerships with content providers such as subscription television,” the report read.
Subscription TV revenues are forecast to grow by 5.1%. Advertising through the medium is tipped to reach 3% growth, outstripping its free-to-air counterpart that is forecast to grow by 2.3%
Meanwhile, consumer magazines and recorded music are headed for troubled waters, representing the only sectors expected to shrink.
As interactive gaming continues its rapid rise through the media and entertainment ranks, advertising executives are beginning to zero in on the opportunities.
Globally, advertising via the internet and within interactive games had the highest forecast growth rates, at 9.6% and 8.2% for 2011-2015 respectively.
Despite this, local players appear laggard as the domestic market for advertising in interactive games “is negligible” according to PwC.
Internet access spending represents a third of all consumer media and entertainment spend, however PwC expects slowing growth as the market gets larger and nears saturation.
Locally, the net will spearhead advertising growth in spite of this, predicted to grow by 13.5% over the five year period. The outdoor segment is running a distant second, expected to notch up 5.4% average growth.
“Consumer spending on entertainment and media products and services will reach $248 bn by 2015 in the Asia-Pacific region,” said PWC partner and author of the report David Wiadrowski. “It is time for Australian businesses to think about how best to share in the boom taking place on our doorstep.”
Gaming could prove pivotal to Australian media companies penetrating the faster-growing Asian markets.
“Asia Pacific, with three of the top four counties in the world in terms of spending on video games; China, Japan and South Korea, is the largest region at $24.3 bn in 2010,” said Wiadrowski. “It is projected to be the fastest-growing region during the next five years, increasing 11.8% on a compound annual basis to $42.3 bn in 2015.”
Gambling service in high demand...
There is already high demand for the ACT's new gambling support service, with dozens of referrals being made during its first month of operation.
Mission Australia is running the ACT Government's service which includes crisis support, financial counselling and early intervention programs for those at risk of developing an addiction.
The service is funded by a levy on gambling revenue and was officially launched today.
Lisa Short from Mission Australia says it is already receiving two referrals a day.
"We've only been operating for a few weeks. We're quite new to Canberra and we haven't sort of had a lot of advertising out there at all, yet we're getting that many referrals a day so that's quite pleasing," she said.
"We expect that to increase once our profile increases in the community over the next couple of months."
Ms Short says the uptake shows there is a real need for the service.
"People are recognising that their gambling issues may be becoming a problem and they actually want to do something about it. So it's quite promising," she said.
Ms Short says it is the first service of its kind in the capital.
"There have been gambling services in the ACT however not something that is holistic as this service," she said.
"Previously there was one-on-one counselling. We're now doing the whole gamut from early intervention with small children right through to the counselling, but also addressing those other issues," she said.
"So we take a person, it's not just their gambling that we'll be looking at, it's all the other issues that come as a result of that gambling. So we'll be working with people around their homelessness issues or their mental health.
"It's like a one-stop-shop for people who may present at other services - homeless services or mental health services - because they're experiencing that at the moment. But the underlying cause of that has been problem gambling."
Mission Australia is also working with the Australian National University to undertake research into different types of gambling intervention programs.
"We'll be developing that evidence base which is pretty cutting edge in Australia," Ms Short said.
Gaming tax changes to boost community coffers...
Local clubs say changes to gaming tax rates equals more money for the local community.
The New South Wales Government has announced tax breaks in exchange for an increase in grants for community and sporting groups.
The gaming manager for the Tamworth-based Wests group, Geoff Shanley, says the changes mean Wests alone will be able to contribute and extra $350,000 over the next four years.
He says the tax break is a also a considerable saving for local clubs
"Its also means that we can donate more to the community and local sporting groups and also maintain the level of staffing," he said.
"We estimate the tax break will be worth more than what we're obliged to give in extra donations to the community but we are a non-profit organisation, so those additional funds will be made available to improve customer services."
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