The combination of election-related investment and a return to production following the Hollywood strikes are leading to a boost in spending on content.
Ampere Analysis is forecasting global content spend will increase by 2% year-on-year following a plateau in 2023. Strike action led by WGA and SAG-AFTRA resulted in a two percentage point decline relative to original expectations.
As broadcasters and streaming services revive postponed productions a steady flow of content is expected to push global content into mild growth.
Ampere’s forecasts estimate that the industry will reach $247 billion in 2024, up on 2023’s $243 billion.
“2023 was a worse than expected year for content spend due almost entirely to the Hollywood strikes. The good news is we can look forward to a small recovery of 2% as production resumes and the US election approaches<’ said Hannah Walsh, Principal Analyst, Ampere Analysis.
Despite production reaching a near-complete halt in the United States, global streaming services were able to weather the storm and continue a steady delivery of new original content in 2023 with the help of non-US productions.
Heavier investment in original shows and movies from markets including Germany, India and South Korea helped boost global streaming services’ expenditure on original content to over $27 billion, an increase of 13% year-on-year.
However, while the US broadcasters were worst hit throughout the industrial action in 2023, the 2024 presidential election is set to bolster advertising revenue and content spend, preventing further decline this coming year.
“Global streaming services are forecast to increase total content investment by 7% in 2024 and thus remain key for content spend growth. However, it’s not all rosy as many studios look to cut back on theatrical releases, and broadcasters cut spending due to ongoing declines in TV advertising,” adds Walsh.
With a continued focus on international productions, the delayed release of US original titles, and an increased desire for sports rights, global streaming services are set to increase their total content spend by 7% in 2024 to $46 billion.
