The APAC streaming market is growing fast, but the story beneath the headline numbers is more nuanced. Here is what the data tells us ahead of Broadcast Asia 2026.
APAC is currently the fastest growing region when it comes to streaming revenue. It resists simple headlines, however, because its growth story is one of not only extraordinary scale, but also of structural complexity that sets it apart from every other region.
According to industry body Avia, Asia-Pacific screen industry revenues are projected to expand at a 2.8% CAGR between 2025 and 2030 to top $196 billion, with all net growth generated by online video, which will increase at a 7% CAGR over the forecast period.
However, while there is definite headroom to add more subscribers, what we are seeing under the headline numbers is more caution. Operators are focused more on consolidation than expansion. Sustaining existing customers and finding ways to generate revenue from the base they already have is the priority rather than simply chasing subscriber acquisition.
Market Leaders and Growth Drivers
More than any other region in the world, APAC accommodates huge differences between its individual countries. The streaming markets in India, China, and Japan are all projected to grow strongly over the next few years, with figures of 26%, 23%, and 15% growth respectively by 2029.
Fom our own conversations with customers, we have seen that Thailand is performing solidly, Malaysia is in good shape and benefiting from a positive economic environment, and there is increasing activity in The Philippines. Indonesia is relatively slow compared to other countries in the region, but even that is posting a 5% projection.
The drivers are mainly advertising-led. The transition from subscription-first to hybrid monetization is the defining commercial story in APAC right now, and it is happening faster, and at larger scale, than in Western markets. Ad-supported tiers have gone mainstream across the region's major telcos and broadcasters, driven primarily by the need to reduce the entry barrier for cost-sensitive consumers.
Advertising-funded video is now the single biggest accelerator of digital revenue in APAC, with AVOD forecast to grow 69% over the next five years and FAST revenues more than doubling, together generating over $25 billion by 2030. Ad-supported revenues are set to grow from 23% to 30% of total streaming revenue as a proportion over the same period.
As elsewhere in the world, we are seeing a shift in how these tiers are perceived by consumers. Ad-supported is no longer the budget option sitting below a premium ad-free tier. It is now the default entry point, with the ad-free experience being perceived (and being repositioned by savvy operators) as the premium upgrade.
Recommendation, Retention, and Churn
Another worldwide trend that also has a significant impact in APAC is the constant challenge of customer retention. If anything the dynamics are even sharper given the price sensitivity of key markets and the density of competing services.
The result is that advanced recommendation systems and localized content optimization are central operator priorities. This is less about discovery and more about stickiness; not just surfacing content users haven't seen, but keeping subscribers engaged and active for long enough that cancellation stops feeling like a viable option.
Analytics and the ability to understand customer behaviour at all points in the media consumption journey, is important here. A fundamental aspect of success in the current market is that operators require visibility into engagement patterns to know whether their retention strategies are currently working or need further refinement. All this is dynamic too, and needs constant monitoring and adjustment as consumer behaviour evolves rapidly from month to month.
One further aspect of this is the UX. We are seeing operators increasingly understanding that providing a good user experience is one of the prime methods of maintaining high retention levels.Tools such as our Design as a Service (DaaS) enable sophisticated in-house development to keep up with the rapid shifts in market sentiment, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Sports Rights and Piracy
Live sports remains the most valuable content category, but also the most vulnerable to illegal redistribution in APAC. The tension between the two is illustrated clearly by the 2026 World Cup cycle: rights costs for packages remain high but, talking to industry insiders, enthusiasm for them is weaker than in previous years partly because of the inevitability of pirate services diverting viewers and revenue to their own illegal services.
This holds true even when, as in most cases, the games are on free-to-air channels. Consumers have become used to finding sports, and soccer in particular, on pirate services to such an extent that even when they have access to it via legitimate means, ingrained behaviour sees them select the illegal service.
There are knock-on effects on streaming infrastructure too. Unauthorized redistribution and illicit stream embedding generate substantial volumes of unplanned traffic that compete directly with legitimate viewers for network resources. During major events, this can result in unpredictable traffic spikes and increased delivery costs, degrading the experience for paying audiences. The key takeaway: anti-piracy remains a critical investment.
AI Pragmatism
Across the region, AI is a consistent topic on the show floor and in operator conversations. Avia reports that “AI-enabled tools are being deployed across content development, localization, post-production and marketing, reducing unit costs and accelerating production timelines.”
Adoption at the production and delivery level remains largely practical rather than generative. The growth of multilingual markets, for instance, is driving demand for AI-driven language and creative adaptation at scale. This is particularly true when it comes to advertising. As digital ad spend in the region hits $311.4 billion this year, so AI-led campaign orchestration is expected to become standard for performance marketing. Creative iteration and audience segmentation are increasingly handled by automated systems.
These are well understood and pragmatic uses of the technology. While interest surrounding the use of AI is obviously very high, the specific question being asked by operators is less about “How will AI transform my business?” and far more focused on “What can AI actually do for my operation today?”
Looking Ahead to the Rest of the Year
The mood among Southeast Asian operators heading into the second half of the year is one of consolidation rather than expansion. Caution at the operator level is not the same as stagnation, however, and the areas where activity is concentrated point clearly to where the opportunity lies.
Operators are investing in the capabilities that protect and grow revenue they already have: advertisement, recommendation, and analytics. The underlying structural conditions remain favorable. CTV adoption is expanding, smart TV penetration is rising across Southeast Asia's key markets, and consumer receptivity to ad-supported viewing is higher here than almost anywhere else in the world.
Operators who invest now in recommendation, analytics, and targeted advertising infrastructure will be better positioned than those who don’t when the growth cycle turns.
