UK media and entertainment revenue up 11%, boosted by Brexit currency drop
Despite the rigmarole of the Brexit vote shaking up currencies and invoking a political situation that is far from strong and stable, the UK’s media and entertainment industries held steady, reaching almost £100bn in revenue.
BBC's Sherlock, a leading UK TV export
The Media Metrics 2017 report from Deloitte, from a sample of the top 100 companies across the sectors found that the TV production and distribution industry was by far the biggest earner; 19 firms attracted a combined £39.78bn. Sitting at almost half this figure was the advertising industry, 19 companies generated £20.06bn and information publishing and events took £17bn, Across these three sectors came 80% of the revenue.
News publishing took £5.98bn. film production and distribution £5.6bn, video gaming £3.7bn and magazine publishing secured £1.4bn.
This represents a year-on-year revenue growth of £10bn, up 11%. Notably nearly a fifth of companies within the UK top 100 were not profitable. Significantly, the ten largest media and entertainment companies in the UK account for 70% of revenues (£68bn).
Dan Ison, lead partner for media and entertainment at Deloitte, said: “Against a backdrop of uncertainty, both politically and economically, over the last 12 months, it is reassuring to see that the UK media sector has performed robustly. The fact that this exciting and creative sector is close to £100 billion in size is nothing short of impressive.
“The UK is a global player in the media sector, which is partly why currency movements, and in particular a weakened pound, played a significant role in boosting year-on-year revenues by £10 billion. Managing foreign exchange risk will be an ever more important management skill in the coming years.
“The UK’s creative economy continues to be a valued export market, and punches above its weight when it comes to sating the global appetite for media content. The future success stories in the world of film, TV, video gaming and music will be dependent on the continued preservation of the UK’s creativity.”
Profits were down by 52% across the board to £4.8bn despite revenues being at an all-time high, with currency fluctuations much to blame.
Top three were Liberty Global, WPP and Sky were the top three earners.