THE UK entertainment and media (E&M) industry is forecast to grow by 20% over the next five years as consumers turn on, tune in and log on to exciting new advances.

After a decline last year, the E&M market is forecast to spring back, powered in part by widespread internet access, an advertising recovery, and the explosion of mobile.

The latest PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2010-2014 forecasts an incline in 2010 that gathers pace in 2012/2013 and is estimated to reach £58.4bn in spending in 2014 – a 20% overall rise in five years.

Economic uncertainty took hold of the global E&M industry in 2009, with some exceptions such as China and India, and recession in countries such as the UK led to steep declines in advertising. However, the downturn did nothing to slow the pace of change – which, in some areas, has been even faster than predicted 12 months ago.

Ben Parrott, PwC director North West, said: “E&M is an industry accustomed to embracing disruptive technologies; however, the current wave of change is of a different magnitude to previous ones – in its speed and simultaneous impact across all segments, accompanied by falling barriers to entry.

“The recession has not slowed the ever-advancing digital transformation or the rapid consumer uptake of new media experiences.”

Advertising revenues were hit particularly hard by the turbulent markets and saw a compound annual rate (CAR) fall of 11.5% in 2009, but by 2014 revenues should have picked up to show a 3.8% CAR growth over the five years.

Advances in mobile technology and products, such as the new iPhone4 which launched last week, will see increasingly converged, multi-functional and interoperable mobile devices come of age as a consumption platform by the end of 2011.

Wireless network upgrades are facilitating faster transmission speeds, which is enticing users to access the internet via their mobiles.