Streaming Surpasses Traditional Pay-TV in Asia-Pacific Content Investment: A Historic Shift
By Julia Evans, world-Today-News.com – November 21, 2024
Key Takeaway: For the first time ever, streaming platforms are projected to become the largest source of content investment in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in 2025, signaling a monumental shift in the video industry landscape.
A new report from Media Partners Asia (MPA) forecasts that streaming will reach $5 billion in content spend next year, eclipsing traditional pay-TV.This comes despite a projected 2% dip in overall content investment across the region, totaling $15.8 billion in 2024.
The ”Asia Video Content Dynamics 2025″ report, which analyzes content investment, consumption, and production across key markets – India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam - reveals a rapidly evolving media ecosystem. While television outlays are weakening due to advertising challenges, streaming is poised for continued growth.
Growth Fueled by Sports and Local Content, But Shifts are Underway
In 2024, total video content investment across the seven markets grew by 9% to $16.1 billion,largely driven by investments in sports rights and local programming. Korea remains the largest market wiht $7 billion in spend (a 7.1% increase), followed closely by India at $6.2 billion (a significant 19% jump). Though, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam all experienced contractions in investment.
Looking ahead to 2029, MPA projects a modest increase in overall content investment to $16.7 billion. India is expected to significantly close the gap with Korea as the largest market. The report anticipates a continued decline in TV’s share of spending – from 59% in 2025 to 51% in 2029 – while streaming’s share rises from 31% to 38%. Theatrical releases are also expected to see a slight increase,moving from 10% to 11%.
Industry Trends to Watch:
Several key trends are shaping the future of video content in APAC:
Advertising Decline: Traditional broadcasters are facing structural declines in advertising revenue.
Streaming Strategy Shift: Streaming platforms are scaling back on expensive, fully-owned original content and increasingly focusing on ad-supported tiers.
Local production Power: Local producers are leveraging their skills across television, film, and streaming platforms.
AI Integration: Artificial intelligence is becoming a crucial tool, streamlining production, informing content commissioning decisions, and enhancing ad monetization.Market-Specific Dynamics
The report highlights significant variations across different APAC markets. Traditional TV remains surprisingly resilient in Thailand and Vietnam,while India continues to dominate with its regional-language programming.Korea and the Philippines are experiencing audience erosion as viewers migrate to streaming services. Indonesia’s TV sector remains stable,bolstered by the strong performance of RCTI and SCTV. Though, TV advertising is in decline across the board.
Streaming Consumption Soars
Streaming consumption saw a significant surge in 2025. India led the way with 21.5 billion hours of premium VOD viewing in Q2, with JioHotstar commanding a dominant 56% market share and Amazon (Prime Video + MX Player) holding 25%. Korea and Indonesia each recorded 1.2 billion hours, followed by the Philippines (0.9 billion), Thailand (0.5 billion with 41 million monthly active users), and Malaysia (0.4 billion). Netflix remains a leading player in korea,Indonesia,Malaysia,and the Philippines,capturing between 50-80% of the market share. TrueID is a strong competitor in Thailand, while Vidio maintains a strong position in Indonesia. Viu continues to gain momentum across Southeast Asia with its offering of Korean and Chinese content.Source: Media Partners Asia, asia Video Content Dynamics 2025
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