Asian content consumption on streaming platforms in Asia has risen dramatically, pushing Hollywood content from 80% of viewing to about 50%. The remaining half is split between Korean (30%) and a mix of other content from across Asia (20%), according to research from Media Partners Asia (MPA).
The swing towards Asian content differs across markets. Among the sharpest shift is in Indonesia, where 70% of the content streamed today is from Hollywood. This is forecast to drop to 40%. Viewer migration is less dramatic in Thailand and the Philippines, where Asian content consumption is expected to rise from today’s 30% to 40% in future, with Hollywood still commanding more than half of the hours streamed.
How are rights holders dealing with this shift in fortunes?
With a sense of inevitability, a positive spin, a focus on (and, for some, a pivot towards) local production and experimentation, and by pointing out that a smaller share of a larger pie still makes for a very significant business. There is almost universal recognition that platforms and programmers are on the hunt for unique selling points and they see Asian content as a significant differentiator.
If U.S. distributors are concerned, they’re not talking about it in public –at least not to us. “U.S. content may be representing a smaller percentage of the overall content mix, but in absolute volume terms is still very significant,” says Brendan Zauner, 20th Century Fox Television Distribution’s senior vice president, Asia Pacific.
Ken Lo, Sony Pictures Television’s Hong Kong-based senior vice president, international distribution for Asia Pacific, says Hollywood movies, particularly action, thrillers, suspense and animation, continue to do well in Asia.
The sentiment is echoed up and down the corridors of Hollywood blockbuster power in Asia.
“Great stories and characters will always find their way into the hearts and homes of consumers everywhere,” says Mark Chan, The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia’s head of Disney Media Distribution.
20th Century Fox’s Zauner adds that recognisable brands remain “the key to the subscriber door” for many OTT services... and will continue to do so. “Good operators realise that recognisable brands brin...
Asian content consumption on streaming platforms in Asia has risen dramatically, pushing Hollywood content from 80% of viewing to about 50%. The remaining half is split between Korean (30%) and a mix of other content from across Asia (20%), according to research from Media Partners Asia (MPA).
The swing towards Asian content differs across markets. Among the sharpest shift is in Indonesia, where 70% of the content streamed today is from Hollywood. This is forecast to drop to 40%. Viewer migration is less dramatic in Thailand and the Philippines, where Asian content consumption is expected to rise from today’s 30% to 40% in future, with Hollywood still commanding more than half of the hours streamed.
How are rights holders dealing with this shift in fortunes?
With a sense of inevitability, a positive spin, a focus on (and, for some, a pivot towards) local production and experimentation, and by pointing out that a smaller share of a larger pie still makes for a very significant business. There is almost universal recognition that platforms and programmers are on the hunt for unique selling points and they see Asian content as a significant differentiator.
If U.S. distributors are concerned, they’re not talking about it in public –at least not to us. “U.S. content may be representing a smaller percentage of the overall content mix, but in absolute volume terms is still very significant,” says Brendan Zauner, 20th Century Fox Television Distribution’s senior vice president, Asia Pacific.
Ken Lo, Sony Pictures Television’s Hong Kong-based senior vice president, international distribution for Asia Pacific, says Hollywood movies, particularly action, thrillers, suspense and animation, continue to do well in Asia.
The sentiment is echoed up and down the corridors of Hollywood blockbuster power in Asia.
“Great stories and characters will always find their way into the hearts and homes of consumers everywhere,” says Mark Chan, The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia’s head of Disney Media Distribution.
20th Century Fox’s Zauner adds that recognisable brands remain “the key to the subscriber door” for many OTT services... and will continue to do so. “Good operators realise that recognisable brands bring people in,” Zauner says.
Disney’s Chan says the studio’s movies and series “still occupy the high- est share of viewing on streaming and continue to be a great opportunity for us in this region”. Meanwhile, the love for Asian content comes in different shapes andsizes, and is newer for some than others. Lo points out that Sony Pictures has, since the 1990s, acquired rights toAsian content, including Stephen Chow’s Mermaid in 2016 and Journey to the West 2 this year. The studio has also begun production on a three- part, big-budget action-series, based on U.S. action series Chosen, with mainland Chinese streaming platform, iQiyi, and is “in active discussions in other parts of Asia on acquiring and producing both local features and series”. No further details have been released.
Zauner points to 20th Century Fox’s scripted format strategy to address market changes. The poster-production is last year’s Hindi version of U.S. crime thriller, 24, on Viacom’s joint-venture Hindi general entertainment channel Colors. “A good story travels across borders and attracts people to the platforms that acquire or produce them,” he says.
India is a co-production/development hotspot. U.S.-based indie entertainment studio, Sonar Entertainment, is already some way down the local co-production path here in a creative partnership with film andtelevision producer Deepak Nayer and the Reliance Group. So far, the alliance has yielded three drama projects based on local IP with Indian creative talent attached and aimed at domestic OTT and premium players.
“We want to broaden our scripted portfolio and creative relationships to take advantage of regional growth in local production,” says David Ellender, Sonar Entertainment’s president, global distribution and co-production.
Disney is also working with partners across Asia to create more local content and experiences for consumers, Chan says. This includes a broad parternship with Globe Telecom in the Philippines for, among other initiatives, two-minute tearjerker I Dare to Dream, around Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Disney’s original content strategy in Asia is perhaps most advanced in India, where the experimentation involves creating series – such as The Trip and Girl in the City – that permiere on Facebook, then YouTube, with a third window on traditional television. Walt Disney International chairman, Andy Bird, says 12 projects are currently in development. Speaking during the Asia Pacific Video Operators Summit (APOS) in Bali at endApril, Bird said the goal was to “create a digital ecosystem where our brands are front and foremost”.
Turner, which has for years operated low-key Asian properties like Japan’s Mondo TV, is taking a diverse approach to evolving its content business in Asia. Initiatives include acquiring distribution rights to high-profile Korean properties, experimenting with developing its wholly owned property, Tuzki, in China, and adding locally produced content to general entertainment channel Warner TV in partnership with Malaysian platform Astro. Most recently, a newly minted partnership with Singapore-listed production house, mm2 Entertainment, involves Turner Asia Pacific in five theatrical movie projects over the next three years.
While they’re loving the attention, Asian producers and content rights holders are pushing an expansion agenda that includes a higher profile on the international stage and more international co-operation, particularly with the U.S. And the U.S. is clearly, for better or worse, loving them right back with co-production/co-development ambitions that runs from drama co-creation to scripted formats adaptations.
“Considering the popularity of Korean content in the region, we see this as a natural shift,” says Don Kang, CJ E&M Korea’s head of international sales.
At the same time, he points out, the balance between local and foreign content on streaming platforms is neither static nor guaranteed. “As the streaming/on-demand platforms accumulate more data, we believe the balance between Hollywood and Korean content will continuously change back and forth,” Kang says.
Expectations are that increased activity in the production space will change the landscape for everyone. Kang says CJ E&M’s bid for a bigger viewing share will drive genre diversity and creative experimentation.
Bomanbridge Media’s founder and chief executive, Sonia Fleck, also expects a creative evolution driven by international exchanges of talent and scriptwriting. “Asia will bring a lot of new storytelling trends to the drama landscape... Hollywood studios will of course take part in this evolution and I expect to see some very interesting collaborations,” she says.
Asian rights holders appreciate the boom as consumers embrace home-grown content on-demand. But they’re also aware of the pitfalls.
Fuji Television Network’s director, worldwide production and sales, international department, Taka Hayakawa, points to the “paradox of choice” that has given rise to audience frustration. “Too much choice and too many options cause confusion and create anxiety to the individual,” hesays. “Once the choice is made, there is often a feeling of a sense of loss, the individual feels that they have given up something of equal value. This ultimately leads to dissatisfaction with the final choice the individual makes,” he adds.
A few Asian markets – particularly those with drama production capabilities and libraries – are reaping better rewards than others.
“More and more buyers who were not previously sourcing at our content are inquiring about titles for their programming needs,” says Manuel Paolo J. Laurena, GMA Worldwide’s senior sales manager.
Given its audience and provided there’s sufficient language customisation, global kids properties look like they are reaping the biggest benefits of exploding distribution options.
Nuno I, Hasbro Studios’ sales director, Asia Pacific, says franchises such as Transformers and My Little Pony are by now proven subscription drivers. Like 20th Century Fox’s Zauner, I says platforms recognise that the brand association can help attract subscribers to their services.
The kids space is also fertile co-production ground. Canadian production house DHX Media’s Thom Chapman, territory manager for Canada, Asia Pacific and Ireland, lists Chinese, Australian, Malaysian and South Korean partners on shows such as Kuu Kuu Harajuku with Australia’s Moody Street Kids and Malaysia’s Vision Animation, and Rainbow Ruby with Korea’s CJ E&M.
Customisation isn’t the sole preserve of co-production partners. MBC Korea’s deputy director for global business, Haewon Chin, says MBC has always customised its sales approach for each Asian market. Streaming opportunities haven’t changed any of this. “Even with the growth of platforms in Asia, we still focus on the differences in each country, including the different speed of development of the platform,” she says.
The bid to tap regional demand for local fare is, in some quarters, being shaped by legacy businesses, years of experience and expertise.
Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia and Japan’s Nippon TV combined forces on joint venture channelGEM. Nippon TV’s Sue Fujimoto, executive vice president, international business development, says GEM was a response to viewing shifts in Asia. The channel is currently available in six countriesand regions in Asia.
India’s Zee TV, meanwhile, is driving a dual distribution strategy, running an aggressive international expansion campaign alongside a commitment to deepening reach across India across multiple platforms,including OTT service dittoTV.
“Between 2015 to 2020, viewership of Hindi and other regional language content is predicted to grow five times more than viewership of content in English,” says Archana Anand, head of digital India, Z5 Business, Zee Digital, quoting anIAMAI India Internet report.
India has an estimated 250 million ruralinternet users. Currently, 43% of internet users access content in languagesapart from English.
dittoTV is already experiencing higher demand for regional languages, she says, adding that “as people from Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns and rural areas enter the digital age, the demand for entertainment in vernacular languages will increase further”.
Regional viewers also tend to be returning viewers and spend a higher amount of time on dittoTV as against the platformaverage, she adds.
The distribution/conversation is shapedas much by shifting video consumption as it is by the ability to understand viewers and their habits with unprecedented accuracy.
Sony Pictures Television’s Lo highlightsstreaming platforms’ ability to enhance value and take-up. “Streaming platforms” he says, “have an amazing ability to determine the value, through detailed analytics historically not available to platforms, of various types of content”.
And, although some rail against content-by-algorithm, therein lies an inescapable power to give viewers more of what they are most likely tolove, wherever it comes from.