What you can expect from Southeast Asia’s video-on-demand market

INDUSTRY predictions highlight the promise of over-the-top (OTT) media services and video-on-demand (VOD), with a surge in consumption and revenue anticipated in the next few years.

By 2021, the Asia Pacific region will have added 107 million new VOD subscribers (SVODs) compared to 2015, with a 220 percent surge in revenue through SVOD expected – from USD5.74 billion to USD18.4 billion.

The role of mobile internet usage in the region is also key, as Southeast Asians (SEA) spend an average of 3.6 hours on mobile internet every day, up to several times more than the United States (2 hours), the United Kingdom (1.8 hours) and Japan (1 hour).

The bulk of mobile data traffic will consist of video content, with 78 percent of the world’s mobile data traffic projected to comprise video by 2021 – a 9-fold increase between 2016 and 2021. Consumer VOD traffic is predicted to nearly double in that time.

Further, VOD traffic in 2021 is expected to equal 7.2 billion DVDs per month.

However, there is stiff competition for VOD providers. And although iflix, Hooq, Viu, Netflix, Viki, Catchplay and other players seem to be crowding the VOD and SVOD marketplace, there is plenty of appetite in Asia and room for everyone.

In fact, there’s even scope for new players who’re ambitious enough to seek a piece of the pie in the growing pie in Asia. Muvi, Uscreen, and Vixy provide white-labelled, DIY solutions that can make the space accessible to aspiring entrepreneurs.

However, for streaming service Viu, the explosion in VOD viewership seems to have been exceedingly rewarding. The company said its monthly active users for our premium VOD services nearly tripled in six months in 2017.

According to Vuclip Malaysia General Manager Kingsley Warner, one of the main reasons Viu has been successful in the market is because it uses a freemium model.

This model helps us acquire users, it offers our telco partners high data consumption, and it provides our brands with a wealth of opportunities to deliver contextual adds and offers consumers a legitimate source of videos outside of piracy, said Warner.

As Viu continues to grow in SEA, Warner provides some things that VOD providers will need to keep in mind in order to succeed in the coming year:

• Seamless onboarding of consumers to experience and enjoy the service, including a freemium model
• A compelling content strategy including Best of Asian that is aimed at local markets and drives viewership over the long-term and retains customers
• Long-term investment in content, technology, and marketing based on deep consumer insights
• Real technology expertise rooted in delivering a superior consumer experience
• An entrepreneurial culture that emphasizes entertaining consumers and not company valuations

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