Forecast: Video content investment in Asia to reach $15bn in 2026
September 24, 2026



Media Partners Asia (MPA) has released Asia Video Content Dynamics 2026, its annual assessment of television and online video consumption, theatrical performance, production economics and content investment across seven major Asian markets: India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Content investment across these markets is forecast to reach approximately $15.1 billion (€13.2bn) in 2026. The report finds that Asia’s video industries continue to command large audiences, valuable brands and deep creative capability, but that these strengths are not consistently converting into attractive financial returns.


With many established media companies trading well below equity book value, MPA argues that capital allocation, cost rationalisation and protection of genuine content advantages will increasingly separate companies that create value from those that let it dissipate.

Key findings

• Regional content investment of about $15 billion is being reallocated, not cut. MPA estimates total video content investment across the seven markets at $14.8 billion in 2025, rising to $15.4 billion by 2031. Television still accounts for around 60 per cent of spend, online video 30 per cent and film 10 per cent, but virtually all incremental growth comes from streaming and film as television budgets decline. Korea ($6.9 billion) and India ($5 billion) represented roughly 80 per cent of the total in 2025.

• Streaming has overtaken TV in India and is scaling across the region. Online video took 46 per cent of India’s content investment in 2025 versus 42 per cent for TV, the first time it has led. Indian users streamed 420 bil. hours of online video in 2025. JioHotstar leads India’s premium VoD category with a 58 per cent viewing share and over 180 mil. paying subscribers. TVING is Korea’s clear domestic #2 behind Netflix, and Indonesia’s Vidio has been EBITDA-profitable since Q4 2025 and leads the Indonesia market with more than 6 million paying subscribers.

• Sports is the key differentiator in streaming. JioHotstar’s cricket-led model lifted connected-TV reach 26 per cent during IPL 2026; TVING’s exclusive KBO baseball rights grew subscribers from 5.3 million to 6.5 million; Coupang Play has assembled Korea’s broadest premium sports line-up; Vidio tiers Indonesian football, the Champions League and the Premier League across price points; and the FIFA World Cup helped lift Vietnam’s premium VoD viewing by 22 per cent in 2026.

• Local film is the region’s clearest growth opportunity. Vietnam’s box office rose 20 per cent to $213 million in 2025 with local titles taking 69 per cent of revenue; Indonesia’s grew 10.5 per cent to $325 million with a 60 per cent local share; India posted a record $1.41 billion box office; and a stronger local slate is driving a substantial theatrical recovery in Korea in 2026.

• Television needs deeper rationalisation. Viewing remains substantial but monetisation continues to weaken. Thailand’s TV advertising fell 18 per cent to $422 million in 2025 and MPA concludes that several television industries still carry more legacy capacity than their advertising economics can support.

• Production is shifting from volume to sustainable economics. More selective TV and streaming commissioning is squeezing production-fee models, while value is concentrating among integrated studios and producers with recurring demand, IP ownership or diversified revenue. Korea combines Asia’s highest production costs with compressed 5–10 per cent drama production margins; Southeast Asia operates at lower costs but faces the same pressure as commissioning tightens.

• Collaboration and restructuring can unlock significant value. Of the seven markets, India and Korea are moving most towards consolidation. India has led the way through a definitive transaction, with the potential for further M&A ahead, while Korea looks to unlock value through the proposed TVING-Wavve combination. Southeast Asia has been slower to follow, but there are clear opportunities for collaboration and consolidation in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. MPA also estimates that restructuring CJ ENM into four coherent businesses could support a far larger equity valuation relative to its current market value.

Stephen Laslocky, Vice President, MPA, commented: “Asia’s video industries are not short of audiences or creative capability. They are short of structures that convert both into sustainable returns. As the margin for error narrows, management quality will become decisive. Companies that rationalise legacy costs through restructuring and the adoption of new technologies such as AI, collaborate where independent investment no longer makes sense and protect the content that gives viewers a reason to stay will increasingly outperform, and the valuation gap between winners and losers will widen.”

Myat Pan Phyu (May), Analyst, MPA, added: “The viewership data shows demand is intact. Premium VoD engagement continues to grow across India, Korea and Southeast Asia, streaming now leads content investment in India, and local stories are winning at the box office from Hanoi to Jakarta and Mumbai. This is a story of reallocation rather than retreat as capital moves toward streaming and local film, where both audiences and returns are growing.”