A market that is growing in double digits (+ 21%) even after the 39% growth recorded in 2020. It is a golden moment for digital content, from podcasts, to music, from news to gaming, to entertainment, which in 2021 reached almost 3 billion euros. This is what emerges from the Digital Content Observatory – School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano. “Thanks to the positive effect on digitization brought about by the pandemic, in the last two years the production and supply of content has exploded, driven by a sharp increase in demand and consumption”, explains Samuele Fraternali, director of the Digital Content Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic.
Spending doubled between 2018 and 2021
According to data from the Observatory, consumer spending on digital content has more than doubled from € 1.448 billion in 2018 to an estimated 2.944 billion for 2021. Gaming takes the lion’s share (1.725 billion estimated for 2021 against 993 in 2018) followed by video entertainment which rose from 241 million in 2018 to 807 in 2021. Music podcasts and audiobooks (241 million from 98 in 2018) and news and ebooks (166 million from 113 in 2018) close the picture.
Loading…
The difficulties of digital information
The web-generated habit of free access to news represents a very difficult obstacle to overcome in the way that can lead to the search for a solid and sustainable paid revenue model. The prevailing subscription model, with paywall (for newspapers) and without paywall (for magazines), still generates limited revenues, albeit on the rise: in 2021 the expenditure of the Italian consumer to digitally use information content will reach 73 million euros, up 21% compared to 2020. After the year of the pandemic, with a sharp increase in the demand for daily information captured by publishers with aggressive pricing actions (in 2020, spending had grown by + 29%), the challenge for newspapers in 2021, explains the study by the Milan Polytechnic Observatory, «is to minimize the churn rate in favor of greater loyalty. The focus is on original in-depth content, supported by innovative formats (podcasts and videos), and on the customer experience ».
The growth of the adv
Difficulties in working on the paid side have prompted the industry to invest in advertising revenue as an alternative revenue component. In this context, the advertising collection is obviously the primary source for the industry and in 2021 it is worth about 520 million, up by + 7% compared to 2020 when there was a decrease due to the economic slowdown of investors. In 2021, the value returns to exceed, albeit slightly, the collection recorded in 2019, a sign of a good recovery.
The surge in eBooks
The pandemic has pushed the eBook market. In fact, in 2020, Italian consumer spending grew by + 35%, exceeding 100 million. The positive effect, however, seems to be partly linked to the limitations to physical retail caused by the lockdown. In 2021, spending will record a decline of around 8%, settling at 93 million euros. However, explains the Polimi Observatory, “a value considerably higher than 2019 (75 million euros) but the dynamic suggests a return to the pre-pandemic growth trend for the next few years”. On average, 32% of Italian internet users, mainly the younger groups, declare that they use eBooks and 10% say they do so for a fee. But due to the flat markets it does not seem that there are particular technological and product developments on the eBook.