Drama is by far Asia’s favourite genre online, Game of Thrones generates the most digital activity of all TV titles in the region, and U.S. networks ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and The CW show up as the top five suppliers of content most in demand among connected audiences across the region.

Meanwhile, Netflix originals drive online activity, making the streaming platform the only SVOD service to show up on the region’s top 25 channels and platforms in 2016 by total demand, according to Parrot Analytics, which measures total audience demand being expressed for video titles. Across the region, the only Asian channels that show up are TV Tokyo, Tokyo MX and MBS. This is driven by animated titles.

HBO’s Game of Thrones dominated digital activity across Asia in 2016, with 72% more demand than the second most-popular title, The Walking Dead. Third is South Korean variety show, Running Man, which is the only Asian title to make it over the 10 million average demand expressions line. Running Man raced ahead of the most popular superhero title on the list – The Flash – as well as HBO’s newer show, Westworld. In 10th place – giving Asian content two of the top 10 in-demand titles making the most online noise in Asia – is long-running iconic Japanese anime series, One Piece.

Seven U.S. studios and the BBC account for 15.5% of all demand online in Asia in 2016.

Warner Bros has the largest individual share of demand. ABC Studios and 20th Century Fox are the only other studios to command more than 2% of demand in the region. Though HBO has produced the least number of titles out of the eight studios on the list, it ranks fourth with 1.7% of demand in Asia, “a testament to the popularity of its titles around the world,” says Parrot Analytics’ industry data scientist and report author, Kayla Hegedus.

Published on ContentAsia's Issue One 2017