Even after the slowdown, Southeast Asia’s premium video-on-demand market saw revenue growth of 11% in the first half of this year, and paid video-on-demand subscribers grew by 1 million to 49 million, according to a new report.
The quarterly report, published by digital measurement platform AMPD and its parent company Media Partners Asia, covers Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.
APMD measures over 230 billion minutes of viewing in H1 2024, up 4% year-on-year, driven particularly by growth in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Premium video revenue, including subscription fees and ad sales, rose 11% to $895 million. Indonesia continues to hold the top spot in revenue. The Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia led customer growth.
Both Netflix and Viu reported double-digit revenue growth in the first half of 2024, with Netflix accounting for 50% of the category’s viewership. Netflix was dominant in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore but faced strong local competition and more complex category dynamics in Indonesia and Thailand.
Netflix’s category revenue share, including ads, was 40% during the period. Viu accounted for 10% of the viewership and category revenue share. Despite subscriber losses, Disney+ revenue continues to grow as the service focuses on funneling higher ARPU customers, the report said. China-owned WeTV maintained a strong share in the SEA category at 8% in the half.
Among local players, Vidio leads Indonesia with a revenue share of around 20% in the first half of the year. Its 7% viewership share is driven by local dramas and sports. True ID leads Thailand with a 27% share of premium VOD viewers, though it remains second to Netflix in revenue share.
“While price increases have slowed customer growth, increased growth outside major urban centres in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand remains a significant opportunity as premium sports, local, Asian and US content moves online. Korean, US, Chinese and Japanese content accounted for 80% of premium video on demand views in Southeast Asia in the first half of 2024,” said MPA CEO Vivek Kuto.
“While Korean content remains the main driver, Chinese dramas account for 40% of free-to-air viewing. US content remains the leading acquisition channel across global services. Local content maintains strong penetration, with [subscriber] “The effect of acquisition.”
