Report says investment in film and television content in seven Asian countries will reach US$15.1 billion in 2026

The report - Asia Video Content Dynamics 2026 - released by Media Partners Asia predicts that investment in video content in seven major Asian markets will rise to US$15.1 billion this year.The seven markets mentioned in the report are India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The report puts total content investment in the seven countries at $14.8 billion in 2025 and predicts it will reach $15.4 billion by 2031.The new funding is mainly going to streaming media and local movies, while traditional TV budgets are shrinking.

Judging from the current composition, TV still accounts for about 60“ of content investment in the seven countries, online video accounts for 30”, and movies account for about 10“.South Korea's investment in 2025 is approximately US$6.9 billion, and India's investment is approximately US$5 billion. The two places together account for nearly 80” of the total investment in the seven countries.

The report cites viewing data that suggests premium video-on-demand usage is still growing in India, South Korea and Southeast Asia.India's content investment structure changed last year, with online video accounting for 46“ and TV accounting for 42”. Online video exceeded TV for the first time.Indian viewers watched 420 billion hours of online video throughout the year.

India's JioHotstar accounts for 58“ of local paid video on demand viewing, with more than 180 million paid subscribers.In the Korean market, TVING ranks second after Netflix.The Indonesian platform Vidio has more than 6 million paying users and will achieve positive EBITDA from the fourth quarter of 2025.

Sports rights are a component of streaming competition that the report mentions repeatedly.During the 2026 Indian Premier League, cricket matches will drive a 26” increase in JioHotstar’s connected TV coverage.The exclusive broadcast of Korean professional baseball increased TVING’s subscribers from 5.3 million to 6.5 million.The World Cup in Vietnam increased local paid video on demand viewing by 22“.

Local films were also cited as a growth focus in the report.Vietnam's box office will grow by 20” in 2025, reaching US$213 million, with local films accounting for 69“ of box office revenue.Indonesian box office grew by 10.5” to US$325 million, 60“ of which were local films.India's full-year box office hit a new record of US$1.41 billion, and the strengthening of South Korea's local film lineup will also bring about a rebound in theaters in 2026.

The report also documents the pressure on the production side.Platforms and TV stations are becoming more cautious when ordering projects, and companies that rely on production fees are affected.South Korean production costs are among the highest in Asia, and TV drama profit margins have been compressed to 5” to 10%.The report believes that production companies with content copyrights, stable purchasers or multiple sources of income are more likely to obtain financial support.

India and South Korea were ranked as the fastest-consolidating markets among the seven countries.The report mentioned that Reliance's Viacom18 and Disney's Star India will complete the merger in 2024 to form JioStar.South Korea is eyeing TVING’s proposed integration with Wavve.The report believes that the overall integration process in Southeast Asia is relatively slow, and there is still room for cooperation and integration in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.