Content investment across seven major Asian markets will reach $15.1B in 2026, up from $14.8B in 2025, and is projected to rise to $15.4B by 2031, according to Media Partners Asia’s Asia Video Content Dynamics 2026 report. The growth is not spread evenly: television still accounts for roughly 60% of current spend, but MPA says virtually all of the incremental investment is coming from streaming and local film as television budgets decline.
The study covers India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The shift is already visible in India
India is the sharpest example of the reallocation. Online video accounted for 46% of the country’s content investment in 2025, compared with 42% for television. Indian audiences streamed 420 billion hours last year, with JioHotstar taking 58% of premium VOD viewing. Sports was a major demand driver, and JioHotstar’s reach rose during the IPL cricket season.
Korea and Indonesia show the same logic in different forms. Netflix led the Korean streaming market, with domestic platform TVING a clear second; TVING’s baseball rights helped grow its subscriber base from 5.3 million to 6.5 million. In Indonesia, Vidio led with 6 million paying subscribers and has been profitable since the fourth quarter of last year.
Local film is the other growth engine
MPA sees local film as the clearest growth opportunity in the region. Vietnam’s box office rose 20% to $213M in 2025, with local titles taking 69%. India posted a record $1.41B box office total, and local titles were credited with a substantial theatrical recovery in Korea. Indonesia showed similar local-title strength.
Television advertising, by contrast, fell. MPA’s assessment is blunt: several TV industries are carrying more legacy capacity than their advertising economics can support.
What the numbers mean for the business
The report argues that large audiences and strong brands in Asia are not always “converting into attractive financial returns.” Many established media companies are trading well below equity book value. MPA expects a widening gap between companies that rationalise legacy costs and protect genuine content advantages, and those that do not.
MPA Vice President Stephen Laslocky put the strategic challenge this way: Asia’s video industries are “short of structures that convert both into sustainable returns.” He said management quality will become decisive as the margin for error narrows, with winners restructuring, adopting AI where it reduces cost, collaborating where independent investment no longer makes sense, and protecting content that keeps viewers engaged.
Analyst Myat Pan Phyu framed it as “reallocation rather than retreat,” as capital moves toward streaming and local film, where audiences and returns are growing.
For media planners and platform teams, the practical signals are clear:
- Watch India’s OTT share: streaming has already crossed television in content investment; ad plans should track where viewing is compounding.
- Follow sports and local IP: TVING’s baseball-driven subscriber growth and local film’s box office gains show what is converting attention into paying demand.
- Don’t wait for TV budgets to recover: the report points to legacy cost rationalisation, not an advertising rebound.
Source: Deadline
