The principal findings:
1. Institutional end-user media is going to be the fastest-growing sector, driven mainly by business services and for-profit higher education.
2. The communications industry will experience its first-ever decline in decades in 2009, down one per cent, but will grow at a rate faster than the Gross Domestic Product (3.6 per cent) in coming years.
3. Marketing services will also grow at a significant clip, about 3.4 per cent, and the growth will take place extensively in alternative marketing formats, such as brand advertising and word-of-mouth.
4. The overall growth will make the communications industry America's third-fastest growth sector, up from the fourth-largest currently.
The annual report, produced by the firm since 1986, interestingly points to a shift to media consumers buy --- as compared to those supported by advertising.
"No longer are newspaper and magazine subscription purchases and network prime-time viewing the norm. Instead, they are declining and consumers are spending more time with media which they support and pay for as opposed to ad-supported media," the report notes.
"As expected, the current challenges facing the industry are largely the result of the current cyclical economic downturn which is exacerbating the impact of structural and secular changes already underway. Over the five-year forecast period, 12 of the 20 major industry segments are expected to show positive growth, with the most challenged segments clustered in traditional advertising," the report says.