Streaming platforms will overtake traditional pay-TV as the largest source of content investment in Asia-Pacific in 2025, marking a historic first for the region’s video industry, according to Media Partners Asia’s newly released Asia Video Content Dynamics 2025 report.
The study, which tracks content investment, consumption and production across India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, forecasts that total content spend will slip 2% this year to $15.8 billion. While TV outlays weaken amid advertising softness, streaming will emerge as the single largest vertical with a projected $5 billion in spend, overtaking pay-TV for the first time.
In 2024, video content investment across the seven markets grew 9% to $16.1 billion, powered by sports rights and local programming. Korea remained the largest market at $7 billion (+7.1%), followed by India at $6.2 billion (+19%). Indonesia contracted 7% to $855 million, while Malaysia and the Philippines fell 3–4%. Thailand and Vietnam also recorded declines.
Looking ahead, MPA projects content investment will inch up to $16.7 billion by 2029, with India nearly closing the gap with Korea. TV’s share of spend will fall from 59% in 2025 to 51% in 2029, while streaming rises from 31% to 38% and theatrical edges up from 10% to 11%.
Key industry trends flagged in the report include structural ad declines for broadcasters, streaming platforms scaling back costly originals while pushing into ad-supported tiers, and local producers leveraging skills across TV, film and streaming. Artificial intelligence is also emerging as a driver, streamlining production workflows, enabling data-driven commissioning, and supporting dynamic ad monetization.
The report highlights varying dynamics across platforms and markets. Traditional TV remains resilient in Thailand and Vietnam, while India continues to wield mass-market impact through regional-language programming. Korea and the Philippines face rating erosion as audiences shift to streaming, while Indonesia’s TV sector remains stable thanks to strong performance from RCTI and SCTV. TV advertising, however, has been in steep decline across all markets.
Streaming consumption surged in 2025. India logged 21.5 billion hours of premium VOD viewing in Q2, with JioHotstar commanding a 56% 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 across 41 million MAUs) and Malaysia (0.4 billion). Netflix led viewing in Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, capturing 50–80% share, while TrueID competed in Thailand and Vidio held strong in Indonesia. Viu maintained momentum across Southeast Asia with a slate of Korean, Chinese and local content. Korean dramas and Hollywood titles accounted for more than half of premium VOD viewing, while variety formats gained traction in Korea and India. Sports, led by cricket, continued to anchor engagement in India.
On the theatrical side, India’s box office rose to $1.4 billion in 2024, powered by South Indian films. Korea fell 17% to $808 million, though local films took 61% of the market. Indonesia grew modestly to $294 million, while the Philippines and Vietnam staged strong rebounds, with local titles capturing 41% and nearly 50% of box office, respectively.
“Content investment across Asia Pacific remains resilient, even as platforms and broadcasters confront rising costs and softer advertising,” said Stephen Laslocky, VP at MPA. “Sports rights in India and Korea are powering much of the near-term growth, while selective bets on premium drama and local storytelling continue to drive engagement in India, Korea, Indonesia and Thailand. At the same time, viewership dynamics are shifting. TV still anchors mass audiences in markets like Thailand and Vietnam, but streaming now dominates younger demographics. The challenge for the industry is to balance growth and profitability: to invest smartly in the stories that resonate, adapt to the ad-supported future, and embrace innovations like AI to make content creation and distribution more efficient. The winners will be those able to scale while staying close to the consumer.”
Media Partners Asia is an independent research firm focused on entertainment, connectivity and technology across the region.
