Content spending across seven major Asian markets is projected to climb above $15 billion in 2026, with streaming platforms and locally produced films driving nearly all of the new investment.
Media Partners Asia estimates that spending will increase from $14.8 billion in 2025 to $15.1 billion this year. The research firm expects the total to reach $15.4 billion by 2031 across India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The figures, published in MPA’s “Asia Video Content Dynamics 2026” report, point to a significant shift in where the region’s content money is going. Television still represents 60% of spending, compared with 30% for online video and 10% for film, but MPA said “virtually all incremental growth comes from streaming and film as television budgets decline.”
India and Korea Dominate Investment
Korea and India together accounted for approximately 80% of the $14.8 billion invested during 2025. Korea led with $6.9 billion, while India generated $5 billion in content spending.
India has already reached a major turning point, with online video overtaking television as the country’s largest content-investment category. Streaming represented 46% of Indian investment in 2025, while television accounted for 42%.
Indian viewers streamed 420 billion hours during the year. JioHotstar commanded 58% of premium video-on-demand viewing, with its reach receiving an additional lift during the IPL cricket season as sports continued to fuel audience demand.
Streaming competition is also reshaping other markets covered by the study. Netflix leads in Korea, followed by domestic service TVING. MPA said TVING’s extensive baseball rights helped the platform expand its subscriber base from 5.3 million to 6.5 million.
In Indonesia, Vidio leads the market with six million paying subscribers. The service has been profitable since the fourth quarter of 2025.
Local Movies Deliver Box Office Growth
MPA identified local film as “the region’s clearest growth opportunity,” citing strong theatrical results across several countries.
Vietnam’s box office increased 20% to $213 million in 2025, with local releases generating 69% of that total. The study pointed to a similar pattern in Indonesia, while India achieved a record box office of $1.41 billion.
In Korea, MPA credited local titles with a “substantial theatrical recovery” in 2026. The results add to the report’s broader conclusion that investment is moving toward the areas where regional audiences are demonstrating sustained demand.
Myat Pan Phyu, an analyst at MPA, said premium VOD engagement continues to rise across India, Korea and Southeast Asia, while locally made stories are connecting with moviegoers from Hanoi and Jakarta to 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,” she said.
Traditional Television Faces Pressure
The outlook is more challenging for conventional television. Advertising declined, and MPA concluded that several TV industries continue to maintain more legacy capacity than their advertising businesses can financially support.
The study found that Asia’s video businesses have large audiences and valuable brands, but those strengths do not always translate into attractive financial returns. It also noted that many established media companies are trading well below their equity book value.
Stephen Laslocky, MPA’s vice president, said the region is not lacking audiences or creative talent. Instead, he argued that companies need structures capable of turning both into sustainable returns as the room for strategic mistakes becomes smaller.
“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,” Laslocky said. He added that the valuation gap between the industry’s winners and losers will widen.
What Happens Next?
With overall investment forecast to rise more gradually to $15.4 billion by 2031, MPA expects management decisions to become increasingly decisive. The firm predicts that companies able to control costs, invest selectively and preserve genuine content advantages will pull further ahead of businesses that fail to adjust.
The report’s central message is that audience demand remains intact. The next phase of growth, however, is expected to favor streaming services and local films rather than traditional television budgets.