MUMBAI: Digital media may take over traditional by 2021-22, when broadband and smartphone penetration increases in India, according to EY India. The second factor is when broadband is equal to one-third of the smart phone penetration, which in India's case will happen only by 2021-22, according to EY estimate. EY India media and entertainment advisory leader Ashish Pherwani said that the third factor was parity between cost of the two services.

Market research firm e-Marketer has estimated that Indians spend around two-and-a-half hours a day on traditional media -- radio, television, newspapers, and magazines, compared to an hour they spend on digital media on an average, PTI reported. Pherwani pointed out that the cost of a cable pack in the U.S. is US$ 80-90 a month and that of broadband is $25-30, while in India, it is the other way round, with cable costing Rs 250 and broadband at Rs 500-1000.

That equation would change by 2020-2021. Therefore, one would see a big uptick in digital and a downfall of traditional media. In traditional media, English (print) was likely to get affected first because that shift was already pretty strong, he said. With the hike in regional media print circulation, Pherwani said that it had scope to grow.

From Rs 8,490 crore at present, India's digital sector market is projected to cross Rs 20,000 crore in the next three years. The industry includes the four key areas of digital revenues -- OTT and digital advertising, music OTT subscription, video OTT subscription, and gaming (in app and paid).

EY estimated that the smart phone penetration was expected to be up to 59 per cent by 2020, from 31 per cent in 2015, and digital ad-spend is slated to be Rs 18,500 crore by 2020, constituting a larger pie of the overall media spend. The real uptick, where the Rs 20,000 crore becomes Rs 30,000 crore, might happen between 2020 and 2022, Pherwani added.