A new report says investment in content for the Indian and East Asian theatrical film, TV and streaming markets is set to reach $15.5 billion in 2023. However, spending growth will slow to just 4%, a significant slowdown compared to the 2021-22 investment peak due to COVID.
Media Partners Asia's (MPA) 2024 Asia Video Content Dynamics report, which covers India, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, describes the slowdown as a “normalization of budgets and rationalization of local content investments towards streaming VOD.”
India was the fastest growing market with a strong 12% increase, mainly driven by sports content, followed by Indonesia with an increase of 5%. South Korea, Philippines and Thailand saw smaller increases. Malaysia and Vietnam experienced contractions due to tough advertising markets.
Among the countries surveyed, South Korea and India will continue to dominate the market, accounting for 80% of total content investment in 2023.
“South Korea, a mature market, is expected to see overall growth flat as the expansion of streaming and cinema is offset by a secular decline in TV. In contrast, India, which has a relatively low TV household penetration rate of 52%, has strong growth potential across all sectors through to 2028,” the MPA said, predicting that India will overtake South Korea in total content investment by 2026.
Looking ahead, MPA forecasts total content investment across the seven markets to grow at an average compound rate of 2.7%, reaching $17.2 billion by 2028. This growth will be primarily driven by India, with Indonesia and the Philippines also expected to see modest growth. South Korea and Thailand are expected to see limited growth, with Vietnam facing the greatest challenges due to weak TV advertising and widespread piracy.
The group predicts that free and pay TV currently accounts for 64% of total investment, but that this will fall to 50% by 2028. Streaming is similarly predicted to grow from 26% to 33%. Movies are forecast to grow slightly, to 11%.
“Korean content continues to lead the way with world-class production values and compelling storytelling, while the cost of original content online has ballooned to up to $7 million per episode. Its extraordinary appeal is clear, accounting for more than 30 percent of content demand in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. The rise of streaming has led to a significant improvement in storytelling and production quality, particularly in Thailand and Indonesia where competition is fierce. Content from these countries, particularly Thai titles, is gaining popularity across Asia,” said MPA Vice President Stephen Lasrocki.
“It has become clear that many traditional TV drama studios are struggling to compete with higher-end streaming video content. In contrast, quality film studios have embraced the flexibility of streaming and adapted more readily. Over the past year, we have seen margins on TV production shrink in most markets as some advertising revenues have permanently shifted to digital and streaming behavior has become entrenched. When it comes to online originals, streamers have become much more disciplined in their approach to budgeting and content strategy.”
