Auditing giant PricewaterhouseCoopers have issued a report that many financial commentators may find surprising. Where as other industries are feeling the pinch of the increasingly shaky economy, PwC predict that the entertainment sector will experience a rise in compound growth of nearly 7% over the next five years.



Incorporating a huge international survey, PwC claim that, despite aggregate share values for multi-media companies falling by 13% since the start of the year, at the end of 2012 the global entertainment industry will be worth over 1.1 trillion GBP. The report is not all a bed of roses however. The author, Marcel Fenez, lays out a stark warning to producers, managers and chief execs. "We used to talk about survival of the fittest" he begins, "but I believe that it's very much now about how we collaborate as different parts of the media value chain to really exploit the opportunities there are in the market place."

The results of Fernez's account are in plain contrast to findings laid out in a BBC report published today. The article opens with the assertion: "The British Chamber of Commerce's (BCC) quarterly report found that the credit crunch and rising costs had dented the most important sectors of the economy". Though the survey focusses on 5000 small businesses around the UK, the long term effects on the wider economy are obvious. The financial advisor to the BCC, David Kern, even claimed that: "We are now facing serious risks of recession"

The PwC's findings take on a far more global perspective than those carried out by the BCC. With a nod to the appetite of developing countries, the report touches upon the shift by many entertainment companies from West to East. In just the last few months Hollywood's most celebrated director, Stephen Spielberg, moved his DreamWorks company from Paramount Pictures in a 300 million GBP financing deal with India's Reliance ADA Group.

The lesson from PwC would seem to be that, though the future may be brighter than most for the entertainment sector, it certainly has to adapt in order to flourish. No longer, it would appear, can multi-media conglomerates, television firms, record companies and theatres exist in western-centric isolation but their careful interplay will see them bloom against the drab realities of the impending economic decline. If Fernez's study is to be believed then, come 2012, the only thing glittering in the financial overcast will be show business and its updated global bedfellows.