U.S. Content Second Most Streamed in East Asia, Tops in Australia

U.S. film and television content captures 30% of viewing time in key Asia-Pacific territories, according to a new research report by consultancy Media Partners Asia. Korean product takes 40%.

The study “U.S. Content in the Asia Pacific” tracked the video consumption behavior between January and March this year of some 40,000 consumers in ten Asia-Pacific markets: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Australia, a $2.2 billion SVOD market, exhibits the highest reliance on US entertainment with 72% of measured SVOD viewership, followed by Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines where U.S. content accounts for 40-50% of viewership on average, with Indonesia close behind at 35%.

In two of Asia’s major SVOD markets – Japan and Korea, worth an aggregate $5.5 billion – U.S. content has limited impact in generating streaming subscriptions. SVOD growth in these markets is anchored to local productions, particularly Korean dramas and variety and Japanese anime and live-action.

The report emphasizes the robust subscriber appeal of U.S. content and growing fandoms in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, despite competition from emergent local content demand (Indonesia and Thailand), and the popularity of K-dramas.

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“U.S. originals on Netflix are increasingly launched with Japanese, Indonesian, Thai and Tagalog dubs, expanding their reach and accessibility in Asia. Strong fandoms have developed around many of Netflix’s top originals, building on multi-season momentum like “Stranger Things S4,” “You S4,” and “Bridgerton S2,” while Disney taps into Marvel, Star Wars and family franchise fan bases,” said MPA head of content insights Dhivya T.

“Sci-fi and fantasy emerged as the most popular U.S. content genre in Asia over the past year, while comedy rules in Australia. It is notable that unscripted U.S. content has had little impact in APAC ex-Australia, especially in Japan and Korea where audiences are well-served by distinct local variety and reality formats.”

The report also found that third-party studios drive significant US demand on across platforms, with the exception of Disney+ where most content supplied is owned by Disney’s various general entertainment, franchise and family properties.

Licensed titles from Warner Bros. Discovery (“Friends”); NBCU (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”); Sony (“Venom,” “Spider-Man”); Paramount (“SpongeBob,” “Big Bang Theory”) contributed material viewership on Netflix. Warner Bros. Discovery titles, particularly HBO dramas (“House of the Dragon,” “The Last of Us”), capture significant viewership on Foxtel-owned Binge in Australia, while Paramount drives much of Tving’s limited U.S. content demand in Korea.