Consumer spend on digital content will reach $180 billion next year, up by nearly 30% on last year's figure of just under $140 billion.
This is according to Juniper Research's recent report, which notes the revenue growth will primarily be driven by continued migration to streamed video services, with broadcasters and telecom operators increasingly deploying their own on-demand and Internet protocol television offerings to compete with over-the-top (OTT) players.
The study notes telecoms have recognised the pressing need to invest in attractive, original content to compete with the award-winning shows developed by Netflix and Amazon.
The challenge for the telecoms has been to attempt to build a user base by a combination of attracting those currently using competing services and those who had not yet subscribed to any pay TV offering, says Juniper.
Telecoms should partner with leading OTTs through the acquisition of a strategic stake in the content provider, as with TeliaSonera's investment in Spotify.
Strand Consult says 2016 will be the year when players and telecoms operators will realise it is time to stop fighting and work together.
Deloitte says the rise of digital media players such as Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV are challenging the traditionally maintained supremacy of the television as the main entertainment hub.
Deloitte believes the increase in consumer spend is due to the improvement in mobile devices technology and Internet connectivity, which has provided the viewers with the option of accessing digital media content on the go.
Audio and video have emerged as the leading online traffic generators and are expected to increase their share of the pie with increasing Internet penetration and service adoption, it adds.
SA in the past few years has seen the proliferation of video on demand platforms.
MTN unveiled VU (previously known as MTN FrontRow), the first content offering from a mobile operator. Orange introduced Dailymotion, a video-sharing Web site on which users can upload, watch and share videos. Last year, Naspers launched streaming service ShowMax.
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