• by Wayne Friedman , July 10, 2013

Media and telecom companies differ when it comes to future business growth -- especially concerning new technologies.

A survey from tax/audit advisory company KPMG says 50% of media executives are focused on emerging digital revenues as the biggest driver for increasing revenues, while 28% of the telecom executives pointed to bundled service offerings -- so-called triple- or quadruple-play packages.

"Digital content and mobile communications are clearly becoming the driving force for growth in the industry," stated Paul Wissmann, lead partner for KPMG's Media & Telecommunications practice in the U.S. "But while the media companies are focused on growth from new revenue streams, the telecom companies seem to be focusing their attention on their core offerings and cost containment."

Some of this comes from new competition. According to the KPMG report, 39% of those polled say the biggest threat to their business comes from losing share to lower-cost producers -- 33% are concerned about disruptive technologies and 27% are worried about regulatory uncertainty.

Adding to this, pricing pressures continue to mount as a concern -- now 43%, up from 35% a year ago. Another area of concern is staying on top of emerging technologies -- 42%, compared to 29% last year.

Looking ahead, the three top areas that both media and telecom executives expect to increase spending in over the next year include new products or services -- 47%, which is down from 56% a year ago -- geographic expansion (U.S and global) --  40%, up from 22% in 2012 -- and information technology -- 27%, down from 43% last year.

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