A new report from Ampere Analysis predicts 2023 will see an investment slump this year, just a 2 percent year-on-year increase from last year. 2022 saw a global content spend growth of 6 percent, totaling $268 billion. One of the main driving factors of last year’s growth was due to subscription video-on-demand services, which collectively spent $26 billion on original content.
According to the Ampere Analysis report, “This year will see the slowest growth in content spend in a decade,” excluding 2020 due in large part to production shutting down over pandemic precautions.
“Economic headwinds across the globe will put pressure on household spending and advertising investment, leading to companies implementing cost-saving measures and reducing content expenditure.”
Overall, commercial broadcasters are looking at a 3 percent decline in content investments, hovering around pre-pandemic levels as more people bounce from cable. This is affecting television advertising revenue during a time of economic weakness. As more people cut the cord to cable in lieu of streaming services, cable companies are scaling back on original content spending to balance out operational costs paired with declining ad revenue numbers.
A number of content creators are scaling back on content investments, though not all companies will follow suit. Disney is expected to spend $10.5 billion in original content investments, followed by Warner Bros. Discovery with $9.5 billion, then Paramount, the Comcast.
“Subscription video-on-demand services will still see an increase in total content investment in 2023 but a lesser 8 percent year-on-year growth compared to 25 percent in 2022. Services will continue to focus on original content to compete in a crowded, cost-sensitive market, but we are already seeing a shift in content commissioning to incorporate a great volume of cheaper unscripted formats,” said Hannah Walsh, Research Manager at Ampere Analysis.
The analysis did not include the full content libraries of streaming services, so these numbers are only looking at original content from platforms like Max, Peacock, and Paramount+. Netflix is expected to “plateau” original content investments this year.