Juniper: digital content spend to reach US$250bn in 2019

Global consumer spend on digital content will reach US$250 billion in 2019, an increase of US$23 billion year-on-year, driven in part by digital sports rights, according to Juniper Research.

The company said that SVOD services will be a key driver of growth as major players, including Amazon, Facebook and Twitter, have acquired sports rights in the last few years.

“The worldwide reach and significant subscriber numbers of these players position them as effective partners for sporting tournament and leagues aiming to increase viewership,” according to the report.

Juniper forecasts that in 2019, video will have the highest year-on-year growth across the different types of digital content revenues, reaching an estimated US$94 billion and accounting for 45% of global annual revenue growth.

However, games are tipped to generate the highest digital content revenues of all categories, reaching US$99 billion in 2019 and accounting for 36% of revenue growth.

“Games revenues will be 40% of total content revenues in 2019, unchanged from 2018, as popularity of watching eSports online and attending tournaments remains strong worldwide,” said Elson Sutanto, principal analyst at Juniper Research.