By 2029, revenues from the streaming market in Asia are expected to reach a staggering US$89 billion (RM400 billion) from US$64 billion last year, according to a new study by Media Partners Asia (MPA).
This spectacular growth, estimated at 40%, reflects the accelerating transition from the traditional small screen to online video platforms.
While the world of video on demand (VOD) is booming, traditional TV is seeing its downfall. Over the same period, the report estimates that traditional TV will lose US$8 billion in revenue.
The region’s streaming market is expected to officially overtake the TV market by 2027. This trend is particularly marked in China and India, where the share of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) revenue in the Asia-Pacific is set to rise from 44% last year to over 54%.
“The shift to online has become even more accelerated,” said MPA executive director Vivek Couto. “We’re seeing deepening pools of subscriber growth on SVOD, and a much stronger local advertising ecosystem develop.”
The Asian streaming market is steadily closing the gap with the US, which remains far ahead. By 2029, streaming revenue there is expected to reach US$140 billion, compared with US$89 billion in the Asia-Pacific region.
Last year, revenue from the main US platforms in the Asia-Pacific were split between YouTube (25%), Netflix (12%), Prime Video (10%) and Disney (10%).
The number of subscriptions on streaming platforms is also predicted to pass the 800 million mark, rising from 644 million in 2024 to 870 million in 2029.
While the big six global platforms (YouTube, Netflix, Meta, Disney, Amazon Prime Video and TikTok) accounted for 67% of online-video market revenue in the Asia-Pacific last year, excluding China, this share is set to fall to 62% by 2029, the report predicts.
According to MPA, local players will gain in strength in India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. In fact, six key markets will account for around 90% of Asia-Pacific video revenue growth over the next five years: India (26%), China (23%), Japan (15%), Australia (11%), South Korea (9%) and Indonesia (5%).
The business models expected to see the strongest growth in new revenue are user-generated content platforms and social video series, with an increase of $10.7 billion.
Next comes SVOD, with US$8.4 billion, and premium ad-supported video-on-demand platforms (AVOD) with US$5 billion.
Advertising will also gain ground, rising from 52% of total video revenue in the Asia-Pacific last year to 54% by 2029, thanks to continued expansion of ad-supported platforms.