Southeast Asia's premium video-on-demand (VOD) market grew revenue by 11% in the first half of the year after slowing, while paid SVOD 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 predicts that viewing minutes will exceed 230 billion minutes in the first half of 2024, up 4% year-on-year, driven by growth in the Philippines and Indonesia in particular.
Premium video revenue, which includes subscription fees and advertising sales, increased 11% to $895 million. Indonesia continued to lead the way in terms of revenue, with the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia leading customer growth.
Both Netflix and Viu grew revenue at strong double-digit rates in the first half of 2024, with Netflix's category audience share reaching 50%. Netflix held an advantage in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, but faced stiff local competition and more complex category dynamics in Indonesia and Thailand.
Netflix's category revenue share, including advertising, reached 40% during the period. Viu had viewership and category revenue share of 10%. Despite declining subscriber numbers, Disney+ continued to grow revenue as the service focuses on higher ARPU customer funnels, the report said. Chinese-owned WeTV maintained a solid category engagement share of 8% in Southeast Asia during the half.
Among domestic players, Vidio leads Indonesia in category revenue share with about 20% in the first half of the year. Its 7% viewership share is driven by local drama and sports in the heartland. Thailand's True ID leads Thailand in premium VOD category viewership share with 27%, but remains second to Netflix in revenue share.
“While customer growth has slowed due to rising prices, expanding penetration outside major cities in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand remains a big opportunity as premium sports, local, Asian and US content moves online. Content from Korea, the US, China and Japan captured 80% of Southeast Asia's premium VOD viewership in the first half of 2024,” said Vivek Kouto, executive director of MPA.
“While Korean content remains a big driver, Chinese dramas make up 40% of freemium viewers. US content remains the primary acquisition channel for global services, and local content maintains a strong reach, influencing acquisition.”
