Digital entertainment now dwarfs film and TV combined. Gaming, streaming, and real money online casino formats – where the money actually moved.
Gaming makes about $184 billion a year. That’s almost twice as much as film and music bring in together.
Think about that for a moment.
The old deal was simple: You sat and watched it play.
For about a hundred years, entertainment meant going to a show or event and receiving something. You bought a cinema ticket. You switched on the TV. The thing happened to you at a time that someone else chose, and you watched it happen.
That deal is still on. But the money stopped following it a while ago.
The global digital entertainment market was worth $482.3 billion in 2025. By 2035, it’s expected to hit $1,080.5 billion – growing at 8.4% a year, according to Market.us. The driver isn’t slicker films. The good news is that you can now stand up for yourself. You can do something, not just watch something.
Where are the hours actually going? People spend an average of 33 hours and 27 minutes a week on digital media. Smartphones made up 46% of that market in 2024. Mobile gaming alone made $92.6 billion. Years ago, the centre of gravity moved from the living-room TV to your pocket, and the shift was from watching to doing.
Streaming Got Big. Then People Got Tired
Streaming was the first real change from the old way of doing things. It killed the schedule – you pick what runs and when, not a broadcaster in an office somewhere.
That was really helpful. This was good enough for a while.
It isn’t anymore. PwC’s 2026 outlook is in line with what’s happening in developed markets like Australia and South Korea, where people are becoming less interested. 39% of users cancelled at least one paid service within six months. Almost half of people are paying for something they don’t even use. Streaming made it much more convenient. It never solved the boredom problem.
Interactive formats did. Gaming, esports, live platforms – they don’t just give you content. They reply to you. Every input makes a change. That’s what makes people want to watch it again, and it’s the one thing a film can’t do. A movie is always the same, whether it is the first one or the thousandth. A game isn’t. A static library is a collection of code that doesn’t change. A live platform moves.
So Where Does Betting Come In?
Right here, actually.
A real money online casino isn’t something you watch. It’s a live system where each round depends on what you decide, and then something happens straight away because of it. That’s the same pull that makes gaming so popular, just in a different format.
Websites like jabulabets.co.za are designed around this idea: they’re interactive, made for mobile, and provide quick feedback. GeoPoll’s 2025 data shows that 94% of African gamblers bet on their phones, and crash-style games like Aviator are now the main format for almost a quarter of players. That’s not a coincidence. This is true for every interactive segment: people want to be part of the experience, not just watch from the outside.
The bigger picture shows this. PwC says the entertainment and media industry was worth $3.5 trillion last year, which is 5.3% more than the year before. But the headline doesn’t tell the full story. The growth is digital. The digital version lets you do things interactively. Immersive formats pull in bigger crowds because they demand something from the audience – and the audience, it turns out, likes being demanded of.
Film and TV are still here to stay. They’re just one part of something much bigger – the part you visit, not the one you live in.
The money made a decision years ago and acted accordingly.
FAQ
Is gaming really more popular than film and music?
Yes. Gaming makes around $184 billion a year – almost double the money made by film and music combined – and it will soon make more than $300 billion.
Why is interactive entertainment doing better than streaming?
Streaming is easy, but you still have to do most of the work. Interactive formats – gaming, esports, real money online casino platforms – respond to what you do, which is what makes people want to come back again and again.
What does mobile have to do with it?
Everything. Smartphones made up 46% of the digital media market in 2024, mobile gaming alone brought in $92.6 billion, and 94% of African gamblers now bet by phone.
