The Asian video content market is experiencing a transitional phase, with total spend predicted to fall 2% to $15.8 billion in 2025, according to the latest Media Partners Asia (MPA) report. Despite the short-term dip, the study highlights a historic turning point: streaming investment will surpass pay-TV for the first time, with $5B allocated to streaming compared to $4.9B for pay-TV.
Key Findings: 2024 vs 2025
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In 2024, investment rose 9% to $16.1B, driven by sports rights and local content.
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India emerged as the fastest-growing market, up 19% to $6.2B.
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Korea remained the largest spender, contributing $7B (up 7.1%), despite tighter streaming budgets.
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Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam posted declines of 3–4%, though traditional TV remains strong in these territories.
Long-Term Outlook
While 2025 shows a dip, the report predicts content spend will reach $16.7B by 2029. The growth will be fueled by streaming platforms and films, while free-to-air broadcasters and pay-TV decline due to collapsing ad revenues. MPA described TV advertising as being in “free fall” across all measured markets.
Streamers are also shifting strategies: cutting back on expensive originals while expanding ad-supported tiers to prioritize profitability over growth.
Streaming Consumption Trends
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India dominates with 21.5B hours of premium VOD viewing in Q2 2024, led by JioHotstar (56% share). Amazon’s Prime Video and MX Player followed with 25% combined.
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Korea and Indonesia each recorded 1.2B hours of consumption, while the Philippines neared 1B hours, Thailand reached 500M, and Malaysia hit 400M.
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Netflix remains the market leader across most regions, capturing 50–80% of viewing in Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In Thailand, however, it faces strong competition from TrueID.
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Viu is strategically positioned in Southeast Asia, leveraging popular K-dramas, variety formats, and Chinese content.
Theatrical Market
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India’s box office rose to $1.4B, driven by South Indian cinema.
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Korea’s theatrical revenues dropped 17% to $808M, reflecting ongoing market pressures.
Industry Challenges & Opportunities
According to MPA VP Stephen Laslocky, the future of Asia’s video ecosystem lies in balancing growth and profitability:
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Sports rights in India and Korea will drive short-term expansion.
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Premium drama and local storytelling remain vital for long-term audience engagement.
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AI and new technologies will be crucial to reduce costs and improve content creation and distribution.
As streaming cements its dominance, the winners will be those platforms and producers that can scale effectively while staying close to consumer demand.
