AsiaPac to Drive Growth in Online Video Sector

Online video revenues across the Asia Pacific will hit $73 billion by 2027, rising from $49.2 billion this year, according to a new study from Media Partners Asia (MPA).

This year, MPA sees SVOD revenues rising to $24.6 billion, a 19 percent gain, with China contributing just over 50 percent. Excluding China, AsiaPac SVOD revenues will be up 25 percent this year to $12 billion, rising to $19.1 billion in 2027. Including China, AsiaPac SVOD revenues will hit $36.5 billion in 2027.

AVOD is expected to be up 13 percent this year to $24.6 billion, with revenues excluding China rising 24 percent to $13.4 billion. Outside of China, YouTube leads the sector, taking a 42 percent share. From 2022 to 2027, MPA projects an 8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to $37.6 billion, with a 12 percent CAGR excluding China to hit $23.7 billion.

Of the total online video base of $49.2 billion this year, SVOD has a 50 percent share, with user-generated content (UGC) AVOD at 37 percent and premium AVOD at 13 percent. Excluding China, SVOD will contribute 47 percent, UGC AVOD 43 percent and premium AVOD 10 percent.

Vivek Couto, executive director of MPA, commented: “Investors are increasingly focused on enhanced scale, improved monetization and real profitability across global, local and regional online video platforms. In this context, the role of Asia Pacific continues to have a critical role in the future of the global online video industry. The region remains the largest growth contributor to global online video customers and users today and is emerging as a significant contributor to revenue growth. With the U.S. and Europe fast maturing and China inaccessible, APAC’s large markets—India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Thailand—will be increasingly important to global platforms. Each of these markets require local content and distribution strategies with long-term investment.”

China remains AsiaPac’s biggest video market, generated $11.2 billion in revenues this year for a 48 percent share of overall revenues. The market is led by long-form platforms Tencent Video and iQiyi and short-form services ByteDance and Kuaishou; they will take 70 percent of China’s online video revenues this year. MPA projects a 5 percent CAGR through 2027 for revenues to top $30 billion in 2027, 42 percent of the overall pie.

SVOD has reached maturity in Australia with a whopping 85 percent household penetration, higher than the U.S. Japan and Korea still have major growth opportunities, with SVOD penetration at 49 percent and 42 percent, respectively. Japan is the biggest AsiaPac revenue market outside of China: $9.7 billion in 2022. Both Japan and Korea have content that travels well globally, allowing local content investment to be monetized internationally. Indian revenues will hit $3 billion this year and more than double to $7 billion in 2027. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia remains the dominant market, with revenues inching towards $1 billion this year. AVOD is out front with a 62 percent share of revenues. Netflix, Vidio, Disney+ Hotstar, MNC Digital and Viu will account for 75 percent of premium video revenue in 2022. Thailand is not too far behind with revenues of $809 million this year.

The report, Asia Pacific Online Video & Broadband Distribution 2022, indicates that 20 platforms have a 67 percent share of online revenues this year. Outside of China, the major pan-regional players are YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+/Disney+ Hotstar. YouTube has a 42 percent share of revenues outside of China, with Meta Video also taking a significant share, but TikTok owner ByteDance is providing to be significant competition. In SVOD, meanwhile, Netflix, Disney and Amazon lead, taking a 56 percent share of ex-China revenues this year. Netflix is out front at 33 percent, with Prime Video at 12 percent and Disney+/Disney+ Hotstar at 11 percent. Local players are emerging in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and Korea, MPA reports, among them Vidio in Indonesia, Stan in Australia, Tving and Waave in Korea and Hulu Japan and UNext in Japan.