VSS predicts b-to-b media to grow 4.6% this year

New York—The b-to-b media sector will grow 4.6% to $26.5 billion this year compared with last year, according to the “VSS Communications Industry Forecast” released by Veronis Suhler Stevenson. The increase in the sector is being fueled by double-digit growth in spending on digital and events.

VSS projected that the b-to-b media sector will post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% from 2010 to 2015. The sector will reach $33.29 billion by 2015 with growth pushed by digital spending. Between 2005 and 2010, CAGR for b-to-b media was essentially flat.

VSS said the Business & Professional Information & Services sector will post a 6.5% CAGR in the forecast period, reaching $244.04 billion in 2015. This increase will be driven by software analytics. “Business & Professional Information & Services continues to be a fast-growing sector, in part, because it has long embraced digital content and related software services and delivery,” said John Suhler, president-general partner of VSS, in a statement.

The report found that only two of the 20 segments covered will post declines in revenue between 2010 and 2015: newspaper publishing and local consumer directories.

Overall communications industry spending in the U.S. is expected to rise 4.1% this year to $1.1 trillion. This growth will continue in the 2010-to-2015 period, with a 5.5% CAGR anticipated for the communications industry.

Originally posted on: 9/28/11