Korean dramas drive Asian SVOD content consumption

Korean dramas were the largest consumed online video content category in Southeast Asia (SEA) in 2021, followed by local content (particularly Thai and Indonesian) with US content in third place, according to the latest analysis published by Media Partners Asia (MPA). The MPA report, titled Southeast Asia Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics, leverages MPA’s AMPD Research Platform to measure VOD in five SEA markets with quarterly updates. SEA added 16.2 million net new subscribers through 2021 with the total aggregate customer base reaching 36.6 million at end-2021.

Indonesia and Thailand, SEA’s two largest SVOD markets, contributed 75% to growth. Disney, Viu and Netflix remain SEA’s largest SVOD platforms with customer bases of 7.2 million, 6.5 million and 6.4 Million, respectively.

2021 SOUTHEAST ASIA PREMIUM VIDEO CONSUMPTION

Key content drivers include:

§ Premium day-and-date Korean dramas, driven largely by Netflix and Viu across all markets. Disney introduced Korean originals in Nov. 2021, with decent early demand in SEA; the slate has grown significantly in 2022 and is expected to drive demand across SEA.

§ Local content in Indonesia, which consistently played an outsized role in influencing subscriber

Acquisition across SVOD platforms in 2021. Both Vidio and WeTV’s local series have helped grow

The subscriber acquisition funnel while premium sports enabled new customer demand at Vidio.

Disney’s acquired Indonesian movies had consistent appeal through 2021. Much the same is occurring for Disney’s local series through Q1 2022.

§ Local content consumption continues to grow in Thailand with some travelability across SEA. Key drivers include Netflix’s original series and acquired movies as well as FTA dramas on iQIYI and Viu. Netflix’s Thai titles also travelled well in 2021, particularly in the Philippines and Indonesia.

WeTV’s Chinese dramas helped drive its Thai customer growth in 2021.