A rosy outlook all around for the entertainment & media (EM) industry – and a windfall for platform providers who accommodate the shift to convergence, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2007-2011, released today. Overall, the global EM industry will increase at a 6.4 percent CAGR to $2 trillion in 2011. Double-digit growth is expected for digital and mobile spending in each territory covered in the report, with total spending rising to $153 billion by 2011.

Within the next five years, nearly half of the total industry growth is expected to be generated through online and wireless technologies. Fortunately, the audience for entertainment and media will also grow. Broadband households will almost double from 300 million to 540 million subscribers by 2011 and mobile users will reach a whopping 3.4 billion.

The report is fact-packed (and mobile isn’t the primary focus), but here are some of the highlights to help you navigate it:

-- Asia Pacific spending on distribution of TV programming on mobile phones is expected to reach $6.5 billion in 2011 from just $26 million in 2006. Globally, the TV distribution market will increase from $161 billion in 2006 to $251 billion in 2011, a 9.3 percent CAGR.

-- Next-gen wireless devices will drive demand for wireless games. Globally, video game spending is expected to rise from $32 billion in 2006 to $49 billion in 2011, a 9.1 percent CAGR.

-- Competition in the TV distribution market is fuelling demand for TV rights fees, leading to record deals. Spending in the sports segment is expected to increase from $96 billion in 2006 to $124 billion in 2011, at a 5.2 percent CAGR.

-- Global advertising will increase at a 5.4 percent CAGR during the forecast period, rising to $531 billion in 2011 from $407 billion in 2006. Internet will remain the fastest-growing advertising medium, with a projected 18.3% compound annual increase to $73 billion in 2011. Other fast-growing segments are digital billboards and out-of-home schemes that deliver ads to consumers on the go.

“The migration to digital formats is having an adverse impact on competing revenue streams while consumer-generated media is accelerating content fragmentation,” the report concludes. The takeaway: Make more deals and make them fast. It’s all about creating new relationships to accommodate the shift towards media convergence and address increased fragmentation as well as the proliferation of intellectual property issues. (Release)