On the heels of reports relaying superb market growth, as well as a potential roadblock that might just be on the horizon, the UK has pledged £380 million in the form of a Creative Industries Sector Plan. The funding is to be targeted at supporting innovation, research and development, skill development, access to finance, and regional growth.
Further, the plan aims to encourage double the amount of business investment to over £30 billion by 2035. With this, some 2,000 new film and TV apprenticeships will be delivered, further propelling the UK creative industries into the future. The investment packages look to ride a wave of momentum that sees the UK closing in on Europe’s leading market.
Entertainment and Media Surging in the UK
Source: Pixabay
Even before this latest investment announcement from the UK government, key creative industries were rolling high. Data from the Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2024-2028 report by PwC indicates that, last year, UK revenue in the market eclipsed £100 billion. Over the next few years, revenue is expected to hit £121 billion, with cinema and streaming services earmarked as the key drivers of this growth.
By the end of this year, the report predicts the UK to have overtaken Germany as Europe’s largest entertainment and media market. The growth is also being reflected in an increase in consumer spending at home. The latest figures, reflecting spending last year, saw spending breach £5 billion for the first time to clock in at £5.1 billion. This plays into the importance of streaming, but also other forms of home entertainment.
Digital and physical sales of media, as well as rentals, also contributed. Then, there’s also the corner of iGaming entertainment and its place in the UK’s sector. A £2.6 billion increase from 2025 to 2029 is expected, buoyed by the competitive landscape that incentivises innovation. This is clear to see in the bingo offers that span multiple facets of the entertainment medium. Covering in-house bingo, online bingo, and free spins on slots, the £80 welcome bonus can be attained for £20. Clearly, competition is creating excellent conditions for players.
Storms Brewing Across the Atlantic
Source: Unsplash
Being such a colossal market, the United States is coveted as a landing spot for entertainment productions. If you can stick in the US, especially as a UK-based creation, you look set to potentially quintuple your audience. Further, the UK has benefited from being inviting to big-money productions based out of Hollywood, with incentives offered that certainly don’t overshadow the economic impact of a major production coming to these shores.
Now, there’s trouble on the horizon. As one of many areas hit by strays in the government’s scattershot approach to tearing down globalisation, the White House has mused a foreign film tariff. UK film unions have warned that a tariff in the region of 100 per cent, which has been touted by the US president, would be a “knockout blow” for the industry. The idea of the tariff is apparently targeting films “produced in foreign lands,” aiming to bring filming back to the US.
Entertainment, media, and the creative sector as a whole are riding high in the UK right now, and will receive further investment from the government. Unfortunately, decisions made overseas may have more of an impact than millions of pounds.
