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Media & entertainment CEOs bullish about digital media as future revenue stream: E&Y
MUMBAI: Global media and entertainment chief executive officers are optimistic about the digital future and expect digital revenue will be a rapidly increasing percentage of overall revenue for companies, according to Ernst & Young’s latest CEO study Opportunity and optimism: How CEOs are embracing digital growth.
The report reveals that approximately half of all CEOs surveyed believe digital will increase their overall revenues and margins by at least 10 per cent within the next three years.
The report is the result of surveys conducted with 34 CEOs from global media and entertainment companies with combined annual revenues exceeding $300 billion. The companies have a broad geographic span and encompass a wide variety of media and entertainment subsectors, including filmed entertainment, television, music, electronic games, entertainment services, cable networks and channels, cable and satellite operators, internet and interactive media, advertising, publishing and conglomerates.
According to 79 per cent CEOs, the technology that is driving this double-digit growth in digital is Tablet.
Ernst & Young global media and entertainment leader John Nendick said, “CEOs are undeterred about the role digital will play in their futures. There is a heightened optimism from a few years ago when industry leaders were more tentative about the potential of digital. All of the CEOs we spoke with understand that digital is probably the single most important factor – impacting their ability to grow both revenues and margins.”
Mobile devices to be the biggest driver of growth in content consumption, the report said.
The report also addresses the impact of “digital ecosystems” through which consumers view and share content on a multitude of interconnected devices. Ecosystems are accelerating the ability for consumers to discover, choose and enjoy media, with media and entertainment companies bundling and marketing their products and services specifically for these individual digital ecosystems.
“The integration of media content, devices and networks creates self-sustaining digital ecosystems. The more users interact with content, the easier it is to learn about their habits and for content, advertising, and services within these ecosystems to evolve and grow,” Ernst & Young LLP senior partner global media and entertainment advisory services Howard Bass added.
All the CEOs believed that mobile devices (including tablets) are the key to spurring demand for content. They are especially bullish about emerging markets, where growing mobile device availability coupled with an improving wireless broadband infrastructure are creating significant opportunities for media companies to grow.
When queried about the greatest challenges facing the media and entertainment industry during the next three years, CEOs agreed that global economic uncertainty and an inability to persuade consumers to pay fair value for digital content were the top two concerns. Also on the CEOs’ list was the elimination of intermediaries between their companies and the end-user, resulting in increased direct business-to-consumer relationships; structural and regulatory ambiguity; and reduction and/or reallocation of marketing budgets.
The report also revealed that 84 per cent of CEOs believe the role of social networking for their company is to connect with customers; building audiences and brands are secondary. 76 per cent of CEOs said the objective of an “app” is to be part of a bundle of new or enhanced content and services. Also, the top priority for CEOs remains the evolution of digital and online distribution (56 per cent), followed by creatively differentiating content (44 per cent).
“Social and interactive media companies are best positioned among all media and entertainment companies to thrive in the future, according to 59 per cent of CEOs,” the report stated.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
