The Motion Picture Association (MPA) recently released their annual THEME report for 2021. The report tracks the theatrical and in-home entertainment industry domestically as well as globally and includes trending data from several video industries. For the report, the MPA relied on various data sources.

With studios and movie theaters reopening around the world, the global and U.S. entertainment market rebounded from 2020. With studios reopening in 2021, the number of movies in production grew substantially, although with the lingering impact from the pandemic, movie attendance remained at less than half of 2019. The number of television programs reached record highs as “peak TV” continues unabated and movie production rebounded. Digital continues to be the fastest growing segment and a significant revenue driver in the home entertainment market, as viewers and content continue to migrate to streaming platforms. Here are some of the highlights.

Total Entertainment U.S.: For 2021 the entertainment (home and mobile) market, consisting of digital and physical (discs) and theatrical, totaled $36.8 billion in the U.S., a year-over-year increase of 14% and a figure even surpassing the record $36.1 billion in 2019. At $29.5 billion, digital accounted for 80% of all dollars with a year-over-year increase of 19%. Digital has been the fastest growing sector, since 2014 revenue has nearly doubled twice (from $7.6 billion). Theatrical accounted for 12% and physical the remaining 8%.

When pay TV subscriptions are included the entertainment market jumped to $133.5 billion, a slight drop-off from in 2020 ($133.7 billion). In recent years total domestic entertainment dollars have been dropping caused by a decline in physical sales and pay TV subscription cancellations. Despite the fall-off, pay TV subscriptions accounted for 73% of home/mobile/theatrical dollars, followed by digital 22%.

Total Entertainment Globally: Globally, in 2021, the home, mobile and theatrical market totaled $99.7 billion, this was a 24% increase from the previous year and even surpassed the $98.1 billion of 2019. Year-over-year the theatrical market grew by 81%, increases were reported and there was +18% with digital home/mobile. For the year, digital garnered a 72% share of all entertainment revenue, a decline from 75% in 2020. Theatrical accounted for 21% share and physical 7%. When pay TV subscription is included, the entertainment market reached $328.2 billion, +6% from 2020 and matching the record high set in 2019.

Streaming: The MPA reports in 2021 there were 135 streaming video providers in the U.S. offering movies and television shows to viewers. TV shows continued to dominate accounting for 90% of all views/transactions for the year. For 2021, there were a reported 352.9 billion views/transactions, up 6% from 2020. With a number of prominent launches, the number of views/transactions has more than doubled since 2018 (164.4 billion). In 2021, streaming movies grew by 15% and TV shows were up 5%.

Subscription Video: With more content and streaming providers, the number of total video subscriptions grew by 14% in 2021 and now number 353.2 million. Also, there were also 14.5 million virtual pay TV subscriptions, a year-over-year increase of 18%. Revenue from pay TV subscriptions (excluding digital) fell below $100 billion ($96.7) for the first time in years.

In 2021, the pay TV subscription market, cable, generated $49.0 billion accounting for more than half of revenue despite a year-over-year decline of 3%. Online video subscriptions reached $40.2 billion (+24%) in 2021 surpassing satellite becoming the second highest pay TV subscription revenue source.

Programming: Netflix content continues to dominate the streaming video viewing of series. In 2021 nine of the ten most streamed original series (based on total minutes streamed) were streamed on Netflix. Led by Lucifer and followed by Squid Game. Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale ranked tenth. The ten most streamed acquired series were all on Netflix led by Criminal Minds and followed by CoComelon. In contrast, the list for the most streamed movies in 2021 was dominated by Disney+ led by Luca and Moana. Disney+ had eight of the most streamed films of the year, Red Notice from Netflix was the most streamed non-Disney film of 2021 ranking fifth.

With TV production studios opened up, in 2021 there were a record 559 original scripted television shows (across broadcast, pay TV and online) in the U.S., an increase from 493 titles in 2020 (+13%). When other genres (i.e., unscripted, children’s daytime drama, etc.) and dayparts are included, the number of original series totaled 1,826, +15% from 2020 and the most since at least 2013. The increase in total shows were driven by digital with 693 programs, a year-over-year increase of 54%. The MPA also reported in 2021, there were 179 original films exclusive to streaming providers, identical to 2020.

Time Spent: With quarantines lifted, in 2021, daily time spent viewing TV (live/recorded) among U.S. adults numbered 3 hours and 16 minutes, a decline of 17 minutes. As a result, TV viewing represented 57% share of total video watching for the year, a drop-off from 60% in 2020. Time spent viewing video on other devices, such as a smart TV app, averaged 1 hour and 11 minutes for 2021, a six-minute increase.

Other connected devices accounted for 21% of daily viewing (up from 18%) followed by mobile video (15%) and laptop/desktop video (7%). Furthermore, in 2021 subscription-based OTT totaled 79.8 minutes each day, more than double the total in 2017 36.7 minutes.

VOD: In 2021 viewing via online Electronic Sell-Through (EST) for a video-on-demand (VOD) provider declined slightly from 54% of U.S. adults in 2020 to 52% in 2021. In addition, the MPA report said in 2021, 60% of people that viewed movies on VOD had also rented movies not yet theatrically released or newly released movies via Premium VOD (PVOD), a viewing source which became available during the pandemic and lockdowns in place.

Mobile: Similar to 2020, in 2021 60% and 57% of the U.S. say they watch full length TV shows and movies on a mobile device respectively. On a daily basis 10% watch TV programs on a mobile device. Children age 2-17 are heavy users of watching video content on a mobile device. Over 85% watch full-length TV shows on movies, a figure similar to 2020. Also, 18% watch video content on a mobile device daily while 15% have never watched video content via mobile.

Cinema North America: With lockdowns lifted, the MPA report finds in 2021, an estimated 943 films were in production, more than double from 2020 (443 films). The number of theatrically released films in 2021 in North America numbered 387, an increase from 338 in 2020, but well below the 987 films released in 2019.

By mid-year 2021 many movie theaters starting to re-open although some had limited the number of attendees. As a result, the domestic box office totaled $4.5 billion in revenue, while more than double the box office receipts in 2020 ($2.2 billion), it was less than half of $11.4 billion garnered in 2019. For 2021, the amount of ticket sales totaled 470 million, nearly double from 240 million in 2020 but, again, less than half the number in 2019 of 1.24 billion.

There were 13 feature films that generated over $100 million in box office in calendar year 2021, led by Sony’s Spider-Man No Way Home at $573 million. Two other films generated over $200 million in box office: Disney’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($224.5 million) and Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($212.6 million). Based on attendance during the first two weeks, the top five feature films all generated more male moviegoers than female and came with a PG-13 rating. As with recent years, a majority of moviegoers were males.

According to the report, in 2021, 168 million persons age 2+ (47%) in the North American market went to the movie theater at least once in 2021 with an average tickets per moviegoer 2.8 times. While the percentage of moviegoers was comparable to 2020, with theater closures the average number of tickets per moviegoer was 1.5 times. In 2019, 76% of people went out at least once to the cinema. In 2021 3% were defined as frequent moviegoers (one or more times per month). The percentage was similar to 2020 but, once again, a sharp decline from 11% in 2019.

Cinema Globally: In 2021 the global box office (including U.S./Canada) followed the same pattern as North America. Collectively, all movies grossed $21.3 billion in box office, an 81% growth from 2020 ($11.8 billion), but half ($42.3 billion) from 2019. The North America market accounted for 21% share globally, compared to 19% in 2020 and 27% in 2019.

In global markets, China, which kept cinemas open throughout 2021, led in box office sales at $7.3 billion (including online ticketing costs). Although China’s total was lower than the $11+ billion the North American market had tallied in the years leading up to the pandemic. This marks the second consecutive year China was the largest moviegoing market, in 2020 they led with $3 billion. Ranking behind North America was Japan ($1.5 billion), followed by the United Kingdom and France ($800 million each).

The home entertainment industry is in a state of flux with traditional forms of entertainment such as pay TV and physical sales dropping and the uncertainty of whether movie attendance can fully return to pre-pandemic levels. With media companies focusing on streaming, digital media will continue to be the fastest growing segment on entertainment to compensate for revenue losses in other platforms. As markets continue to open up the entertainment industry will be looking for continued further growth in 2022.

The entire MPA THEME report can be accessed here.