APOS: Global Media Execs Descend on Bali to Discuss Trends Shaping Asian Entertainment Markets

Bali was awash with business attire Wednesday as global media and tech execs descended on the tropical resort island for day one of APOS, the annual media, telecoms and entertainment industry conference. With the film and television industry facing some economic headwinds in the more mature markets of Europe and North America, executives gathered in Indonesia to network and discuss the trends shaping Asia's diverse but collectively enormous entertainment landscape.

From its humble origins in 2010 as a convention catering to the cable and satellite TV industries, APOS has grown into a must-attend moment on the fall calendar for figures from global giants like Netflix, Disney, Amazon, YouTube, Meta and TikTok, as well as major regional players such as India's Reliance Jio, Japan's U-Next, Korea's CJ ENM and Indonesia's SCMA. For that, the event's organizers, regional consultancy Media Partners Asia (MPA), can thank both the relentless growth of online video, and a canny choice of location — on the sprawling grounds of the five-star Ayana Resort Bali overlooking the Indian Ocean.

James Gibbons, Warner Bros. Discovery's president of APAC, made news early in the day with the announcement of Max's long-awaited launch dates in key markets including Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. But before the event really got underway, as is APOS custom, Vivek Couto, managing partner of MPA, set the agenda for the two-day gathering with an opening address that picked out key themes in region's ongoing evolution.

The scene inside APOS 2024 in Bali, Indonesia. APOS

Couto largely had a tale of two constituencies to tell. In the developed-but-aged North Asian and Pacific markets — Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand — he noted that global video platforms are mostly mimicking their strategies in the West, leveraging already substantial subscriber bases by introducing price increases and ad tiers for greater return on investment and deeper penetration. Conversely, in the region's developing markets, where per capita GDP is low, but populations are youthful, and growth potential remains significant — particularly India and Southeast Asian dynamos Vietnam and Indonesia — platforms continue to focus on steadily expanding the total addressable pie for premium video, mostly through new subscriptions.  

Couto pointed out that local content remains king throughout Asia, with Korean drama and reality, Japanese anime, and, increasingly, Chinese drama, driving engagement across many of the region's key markets. In India, meanwhile, sports rights, particularly JioCinema's live Indian Premier League cricket coverage, but also the Olympics and the English Premier League, play an outsized role. Asia's many local video platforms thus enjoy significant market share thanks to their robust content pipelines and local market fit. 

But the global players over-index when it comes to monetization, Couto said. According to the MPA's forecasts, the four leading U.S. online video platforms — Amazon, Meta, Netflix and YouTube — will earn an estimated $21.6 billion in video-related revenues in Asia Pacific this year, more than double the $9.6 billion brought in by the top eight regional platforms, Disney/Viacom18, CJ ENM, U-Next, PCCW, Foxtel, NC, Asto and Indonesia's SCMA. On a globalized basis, the local operators' firepower disadvantage is more dire and hints at long-term challenges: When comparing consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) at the group level, the global top four exceed $204 billion, compared to just over $1.2 billion for the regional eight. 

In other takeaways, Couto said he believes the major streaming platforms are pushing to move users toward churn-resistant annual subscription plans — a desire that's one of the factors behind the recent price increases for premium monthly subscriptions and the growing advertising loads on ad-supported tiers. 

From left: Vivek Couto, managing partner Media Partners Asia; Doug Lowther, CEO of Irdeto; Rohan Tiwary, head of emerging & enterprise businesses APAC, platforms & devices at Google; Winradit Kolasastraseni, president digital media, True Digital Group; Alistair Hill, co-founder & CEO On Device Research. APOS

"Platforms are building business strategies differently" around the various key partners of each market, Couto added. "Netflix, which began with a relentless direct-to-consumer focus, is now leaning more on partners for the next phase of growth," while Disney is "going in the opposite direction with an increasing focus on D2C product."

"Warner with Max will try to find balance in different markets," Couto said, noting the company's ongoing launch in Japan via a tie-up with local streamer U-Next. 

MPA also forecasts TV's fading centrality to the advertising business in Asia over the coming half decade. Between 2020 and 2024, the APAC video industry added $15 billion in incremental ad dollars, according to data presented by Couto, with $12.5 billion in growth coming from user-generated video content over social platforms, and $1 million from premium AVOD services and $1 billion from TV.

"Over the next five years, we project the industry will add an incremental $9.6 billion in ad dollars," Couto added, "but TV will decline by $5 billion, UGC social will gain $10.7 billion and premium AVOD will add $4 billion."

APOS continues through Sept. 26.