While there are challenges everywhere in the industry, the picture across APAC remains a positive one for streaming services.
All the numbers regarding streaming in APAC are still heading in the right direction. It is estimated that Asia Pacific OTT TV episodes and movie revenues will reach $52 billion in 2028; up by 56% from the $33 billion recorded in 2022. Interestingly, it is forecast that SVOD services will continue to expand in the region despite reaching close to saturation elsewhere in the world, with revenues rising to $25.6bn. The biggest growth of all though will be in AVOD from next year on, with revenues in this sector set to double to $20.6bn from the 2022 figure.
Competition is fierce. Disney+ has recently entered the market and is forecast to be the third biggest player in the region by 2027, only headed by Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, while strategies from other local streamers are starting to coalesce around sports rights and premium events.
Aggregation and bundle agreements are very much the order of the day, with the combination of large, high-profile content libraries and local penetration being a win-win for both the global streamers and the local operators. The region is also seeing consolidation ramp up amongst local operators, who are using it as a surefire way to expand their reach and compete with the global giants.
There is, in other words, a lot going on. Ahead of BroadcastAsia taking place in Singapore from June 7, we asked Dokyung ‘DK’ Lee, our VP Sales (APAC), for his perspectives on the region.
Q: What are the main issues, themes and trends in the region?
A: Most of the issues in APAC are the same as they are on the rest of the world and, also much like the rest of the world, operators here are looking keenly at monetization strategies. We have a lot of interest in targeted advertising as a result, with Tier One operators looking to have a future-proof platform that will support such technologies. Security is also an ongoing issue and dynamic watermarking is gaining an increasing amount of attention as operators look to protect their investment in content, especially live sports. And in the live streaming arena latency is, of course, as much as an issue here as it is everywhere, and we were recently involved in a big demo of a low-latency solution to a Tier One customer that was looking to solve the problem.
That said, there are differences here in APAC. We are probably at an earlier stage than other regions when it comes to FAST, for example, with many operators still thinking about deployments rather than actively rolling them out. It’s the same with hybrid price models and tiered services; the interest is growing but they’re not on the market yet.
We are also not seeing quite the movement towards app-based ecosystems and connected TV that other markets have witnessed. Operators here still value the control that they are given via a set-top box and are looking to augment that with mobile and app-based services rather than replace it.
Q: What are their pain points? What issues are they looking at companies such as VO to solve for them?
A: The big one is to maximise revenue; to use targeted advertising to be able to maximise their inventory with the best outcomes, which is not always easy as there are many regulations surrounding advertising in the region. Not all solutions on the market have got it right.
Incumbents are looking at end-to-end monitoring and making sure the Quality of Experience remains high for their customers. And everyone is looking at how they can best use their customer data to better understand the customer journey; what customers want, how they want to consume it, how to minimise churn and more.
And, depending on their size and the ambition of their new services, operators want to deal with a company that understands how to build an end-to-end solution but doesn’t necessarily impose it. Tier Two and lower companies value the complete, holistic solution; Tier One companies have often spent substantial sums on developing their in-house solutions and benefit from a more modular approach. Flexibility is the key.
Q: Where are the current hot spots?
Pretty much all across Asia, but Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia in particular are booming and looking for many, many new solutions, especially where third parties such as us can introduce a killer app or bring our expertise to bear on a particular area such as targeted advertising or security.
Q: You’ve mentioned piracy and security a couple of times. Is it still an issue across APAC?
Yes without doubt it remains a serious problem. And the picture is mixed. For some operators it is a burning issue and they are active in industry organisations and consortia to combat it. Others seem to be more content to leave it to these organisations to sort out and aren’t keen to invest in this side of the business. But the twin approach of watermarking combined with legal action to take illegal devices and websites offline is an increasingly attractive proposition even for them as the ROI is obvious.
Q: Finally, how is the business landscape looking across APAC?
It’s looking really positive. There are some big RFPs from major multimillion dollar companies already in progress and there are rumours that more are on the way as some of the largest players in the region look to futureproof their platform and their delivery. Everyone wants value and the competitive landscape is fierce, but the opportunities are there; both for companies such as us dealing with our customers, and with broadcasters and operators in turn and a still-expanding customer base that is looking to consume high quality content.
