It’s not exactly rocket science to pick out the major trends in Asia’s video entertainment as 2022 dawns – streaming, more streaming, other streaming, new streamers coming, others going away to regroup or die. In the midst of all that, Asia’s programmers are finding a new voice. And we’re loving it and looking forward to more. Here’s what else we’re watching out for in the New Year. 

When, a few days ago, Line announced its video streaming exit from Thailand at the end of this year, the reality of streaming’s challenges in Asia – and Southeast Asia especially – rose up even more starkly. In the absence of public explanation from the horse’s mouth, a few theories have taken the lead.

The first is that Line looked at Thailand, at the rising video competition from relative newcomers iQiyi and WeTV, along with Viu, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and, eventually, HBO Max, combined with its advertising-supported model in a YouTube universe, not to mention domestic players with free-TV businesses, and the whole business just became a headache and a distraction. 

Insiders say no one should be surprised, given Line TV’s spending pullback since early in 2021 – a sure sign (especially in hindsight) of trouble. Talk is that Line had been looking for a buyer for its video business in Thailand for months, failing which a shut-down was inevitable. 

The second theory is that far from giving up on video, Line’s Japanese and Korean owners are regrouping with new video initiatives under the TVing brand, owned by Naver, CJ E&M and JTBC. 

And why not? TVing is a rising star and the signs are all good, although sceptics say Thailand – or any other Southeast Asian market – is unlikely to be on the company’s priority lists for now. The platform has already announced plans to roll out in Japan and Taiwan in 2022, followed by the U.S. in 2023.  

The expansion happens as Korean content enjoys unprecedented global attention. Korean media companies have their highest international profile ever, taking their places around the tables of global entertainment brands with, for instance, CJ ENM’s US$775 million acquisition of 80% of Endeavor Content’s scripted business as part of its vision to become a “global total entertainment company”. 

At home, the revamped TVing, with all-new partners, launched in October 2020. In June this year, Korean conglomerate Naver added KRW40 billion/US$34 million to the streamer’s coffers, giving it a 15% stake. Four months later, in October, TVing unveiled its Japan/Taiwan expansion and talked about global plans. TVing’s co-CEO, Yang Ji-eul, took to the stage with a strong story built on the back of an 86% leap in subs at home in the first half of 2021 and a 27.6% year on year increase in domestic Korean TV advertising. TV ad growth was attributed to shows such as Wise Doctor’s Life season 2 and You Quiz on the Block. 

So, TVing’s rise is one of the things at the top of our 2022 watch list, along with, of course, the inevitable ups-and-downs of on-demand video in every market in Asia. 

What else will we be looking out for in the new year?

Netflix’s weekly top 10 lists (with the hope of similar transparency from other streamers). Although Netflix’s per-country TV watch hours are not disclosed, the Top 10 enables useful insights and deeper understanding of what’s being watched. Or not. And, for the most part, we all have access to the top titles, so we can watch them ourselves, and think about why. Of course there are a million ways from Sunday we’re being told to be careful with conclusions. Okay, sure. We will be. Bye. What we would love is for other streaming platforms follow. Unlikely, in 2022 and maybe ever. But one can always hope.

Also on our 2022 watch list is Taiwan’s Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), which has taken a leaf from Korea’s playbook and has set its sights on a bigger, bolder international presence for Taiwanese creators and content. It took Korea 20+ years, and Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is still at it. TAICCA has been going for a year or so, so there’s a way to go, but early signs are good. TAICCA has a solid story built on the back of real creativity in a democratic market where, among other things, gender parity is valued and freedom of speech is prized. Can Taiwan’s creative industry step out of its prevailing art-house brand? Is there a Hellbound somewhere in there? Sure, why not... And now is definitely a good time, with demand so high from so many quarters and so much support. Plus, Taiwan can ride (and is already) restrictions imposed in mainland China that can scare off co-production partners from elsewhere in the world.   

Which brings us to China and what we’re watching out for. Like everyone, we are keeping a close eye on the ideological tightening that has swept the mainland. This is the other C-wave – a dial-back to traditional Communist ideals and a fierce effort to protect the country’s cultural heart. The incoming tide is levelling celebrities, waging war on what Party bosses view as damaging hedonistic excesses, and, among other restrictions, squeezing men into a stereotypical macho male box, forcing them to lose the make-up, the hair and anything else associated with “sissy boys”. What comes next is anyone’s guess, but best bets are that the this environment is here to stay for a while.

At the other end of the spectrum, India is talking about a light regulatory touch and content creativity is on fire, although we’re constantly being told how difficult it is to do business in such a low ARPU market.  Media Partners Asia (MPA) says India’s SVOD market could swell to more than 300 million users by 2026. India currently has 100 million paying subscribers. Meanwhile, shows like Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, Out of Love, Hostages, Aarya, Unheard and Call My Agent: Bollywood mark the country’s migration into premium drama and its fledgling efforts to tell more thoughtful stories. 2022 will bring more of that. If that’s not something to look forward to, then what is?

Apart from streaming developments in every single market in Asia (including moves like Netflix introducing a free tier in Vietnam and the impact of Viu’s content direction after the split of original production and content acquisition under Felix To and Marianne Lee), here’s what else we will be watching across the region in 2022...  

Japan’s progress with international expansion, particularly co-developments like Fuji TV’s drama series, The Window and Tokyo Broadcasting System Television’s (TBS) crime procedural, Deep Crime Unit, which is premiering in Jan 2022; the continued growth of Indonesia’s storytelling community into a premium space, whether platforms like Emtek’s Vidio will ramp up big and fast enough to leverage its domestic advantages, and who else might want to be playing in that combo free-TV/streaming space; the ongoing impact of China’s tough attitudes towards Hong Kong; what emerges from Singapore’s Mediacorp with new content head, Virginia Lim, in the hot seat; whether or not Thailand’s lakorn can continue its run in the region and move into markets further afield; and Malaysia’s new direction, with pay-TV leader Astro promising to dump its legacy tech stack in favour of an all-new entertainment experiece that includes super-aggregation of streaming services and an even closer focus on developing local premium content, and free-TV broadcaster Media Prima’s new found licensing prosperity driven by giant acquisition deals by regional and global streamers. What happens now that the library has been sold? We’ll know soon enough.  

Published in ContentAsia December 2021 magazine