Entertaining figures

The Polish entertainment and media (E&M) market will grow at a slower pace than that of CEE on average, but with $11.6 (zł.37.6) billion by 2010, it will retain its second position in the region, says a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

The expected growth of the entertainment and media market in the CEE region is 12 percent a year, while 6.6 percent is forecast for Poland. The E&M market in the region will reach $62.1 (zł.201.2) billion in 2010 and the fastest growth will be recorded in Russia, at 15.7 percent annually, reaching $34.4 (zł.111.5) billion in four years' time. "The expected fast growth of the E&M market in our region is due to EU membership, fast economic growth and foreign investments, which in total translate into the volume of the advertising market," said Paweł Wesołowski, a manager in PWC's E&M department.

One of the major factors contributing to E&M market growth worldwide will be the increasing number of households with broadband internet connections, which will give a boost to internet advertising. It is forecast that by 2010 the number of households with broadband internet connections will reach 433 million worldwide.

In Poland the number of households with  internet access grew to 2.4 million in 2005 and is expected to reach 4.2 million in 2010. The internet-advertising market in Poland will grow at the rate of 27.9 percent a year, reaching a volume of $213 (zł.690) million in four years' time.

Another sector which will boost the E&M market in the future is the film sector. Despite the sector's slowdown in 2005, PWC forecasts that this trend will be reversed, especially when it comes to revenues from cinema tickets.