Net traffic props up SA media sector
During 2015 and last year the entertainment and media industry grew by 10.7% due to internet spend.
The figures are revealed in a PricewaterhouseCoopers entertainment and media outlook report for 2017 to 2021.
It provides in-depth analysis of the trends shaping the entertainment and media industries in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania.
The report said South Africa's entertainment and media industry's total revenue was forecast to reach R177.9-billion by 2021, up from R132.7-billion last year, with internet access accounting for R27-billion, or 60%, of the increase.
Mobile internet penetration of 52.3% in 2016 is set to increase to 77.8% by 2021.
"Over the next five years there will be 100-million mobile internet subscribers in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania," said PricewaterhouseCoopers entertainment leader Vicky Myburgh.
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Digital revenue is also the source of the large majority of growth, says the report.
Internet advertising in South Africa continues to grow rapidly, with the total online advertising spend growing by 16.5% last year, reaching R4.4-billion.
By 2021 it will increase by R8.1-billion.
Myburgh said music streaming had grown by 76%. "It is a saviour to the music industry in South Africa," she said.