Media industry in India seen growing 12 percent in 2013: KPMG

Cinema goers watch Bollywood movie ''Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'' inside Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai July 11, 2010.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The media and entertainment industry in India is expected to grow 11.8 percent in 2013, driven by digitisation and growth in new media, consultancy KPMG said in a report.

The industry is expected to touch 917 billion rupees this year, up from 820 billion rupees in 2012 when it grew by 12.6 percent, KPMG said in a release on Thursday.

Digitisation, general elections due next year and accelerating growth in new media are factors propelling the industry forward, it said.

In spite of Bollywood being the world's largest film industry, television dominated the media and entertainment landscape in India, growing 12.5 percent in 2012 and accounting for 370 million rupees of total revenue.

Films were ranked third behind the print industry in terms of revenue, accounting for 112 billion rupees but up by 21 percent last year.

Digital advertising showed impressive growth of nearly 41 percent, with earnings surging from 15.5 billion rupees in 2011 to 21.7 billion rupees last year.

"The rapid increase in mobile and wireless connections continues to drive the growth of internet penetration in India," the release said.

"With better access, through cheaper and smarter devices, audiences (especially the youth) are consuming more content and are getting increasingly engaged," it said.

Advertising spends across media grew only 9 percent to 327.4 billion rupees last year, with the sector affected by the economic slowdown. It had grown by 12 percent in 2011 and 17 percent the previous year.

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Tony Tharakan)