This detailed research report breaks out audio, video subscription and download media revenue by music, news, sports, entertainment and aggregation service for the period 2003 - 2008. Music and movies are further analyzed by subscription and download revenue for brands and sites. Revenue by content category is presented in historical, current day and forecast analysis through 2008. Delivery costs (CDN) for music, movies (VHS to HD) are also analyzed.

Top line report findings and analysis:

-The subscription and download media segment (including music, sports, entertainment, movies, TV and news) grew 40% in 2006 to $1.9 billion
-Following a $630 million annual revenue year in 2004, up 131.9% over 2003, the market grew by another triple-digit mark in 2005 to $1.4 billion
-The market is forecast to grow by 39% in 2007 to $2.6 billion
-The market is forecast to grow by 37.3% in 2008 to $3.7 billion
-Music (on the strength of vibrant audio download and streaming subscription growth) is forecast to capture close to 85% of total revenue
-Sports is forecast 5.4%
-Movies 2.2%
-News 1.2%
-Entertainment (including cross platform shows) is forecast at 3.4%
-Real Networks' SuperPass video service 4.1%
-An average music file is approximately 4 megabytes
-At $0.25 per gigabyte transferred, that's equal to 1/10th of $0.01
-The average size of a television show (VHS or DVD quality) is approximately 500 megabytes
-The average download cost per show is estimated at $0.13, or about 12.6% of net revenue (after licensing fees, and before operating expenses)
-The average cost to deliver a DVD quality movie is $0.75, or 37.6% of net revenue (after licensing fees, and before operating expenses). The high costs for HD movies suggest delivery alternatives (i.e. P2P) will gain traction

The report, Streaming Subscription and Download Media 2003 - 2008 provides historical and present day subscribers for Internet audio and video services. Streaming music, sports, news and entertainment, plus download, music movies and television content yield total market value.

Music is forecast to capture 85% of total revenue. Sports is estimated at 5.4%, movies 2.2%, news 1.2%, entertainment (including TV show downloads) 3.4% and Real Networks' SuperPass video service 4.1%.

Music download and subscription revenue is forecast to grow at approximately 48.5% in 2007 to $2.2 billion, a considerable leap from 2003, when $90.2 million was generated from online sales.

The music category is dominated by music purchases, with 82% of total revenue generated from downloads compared to subscriptions.

Download movies, forecast at $60 million in 2007, is up 133.4% over 2006, and on track to break the $100 million threshold in 2008.

Movie revenue growth has been hampered by limited availability of both front line titles and catalog depth.

In addition, the report's CDN analysis shows larger movie files (particularly HD) push up distribution costs considerably. By contrast, music downloads are much smaller and online libraries far larger creating better bottom line economics.

With CNN Pipeline now ad supported, the news segment is forecast to register a drop in 2007 subscription revenue.

NASCAR and PGATour moved video out from their subscription services in '07, and the NFL dropped its domestic subscription video in 2006, leaving MLB the dominant league online. With more sports content chasing ad dollars, the subscription area is forecast to grow at 2.2% in 2007 compared to 2006.

"Music has soared to early market dominance, similar to music share in the early days of Internet video. But, demand for premium content from studios and broadcast networks will boost revenue and share as offerings expand over a 3 - 7 year period," commented Paul A. Palumbo, research director at AccuStream.