The Southeast Asia streaming market is entering a new golden era — one defined by rapid subscriber growth, rising connected TV adoption, and a surge in the popularity of local original content. In 2025, audiences across the region didn’t just watch more; they watched smarter, on bigger screens, and with a new appetite for homegrown stories.
A new report from Media Partners Asia (MPA) and its analytics arm AMPD revealed that paid streaming accounts across Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore jumped 19% year-over-year to surpass 61 million in total. The findings highlight how the region’s premium video-on-demand (VOD) sector is maturing — with Indonesia leading the charge in new account signups, overall watch time, and locally produced programming.
2025 marked a milestone for the Southeast Asia OTT market: Indonesian productions matched Korean dramas in viewership share for the first time, at roughly 30% each. The achievement signals not just a rise in quality but also a shift in audience confidence toward regional storytelling.
“Korean content continued to anchor reach across Southeast Asia in 2025, but local originals are now playing a far more central role in driving both acquisition and engagement,” said Dhivya T, head of insights at MPA and AMPD.
“Indonesia stood out this year, with local titles competing directly with Korean dramas at the top of the premium VOD rankings. This is a meaningful shift that reflects improving content quality, stronger distribution and rising audience confidence in local storytelling. Thai content also demonstrated strong cross-border travelability, while Chinese dramas remained a key engagement driver on freemium and hybrid platforms across multiple markets.”
Other regional players also found momentum. Thai series, particularly Netflix-licensed horror dramas, gained strong cross-border audiences, while Chinese dramas remained a staple of freemium and hybrid platforms such as iQIYI and Viu.
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Netflix Southeast Asia maintained its leadership position in 2025, topping subscription, monthly active user, and total watch time metrics. Its strength came from balancing international hits with local partnerships — blending blockbuster franchises with Thai thrillers and Indonesian acquisitions.
Viu, meanwhile, secured second place regionally for both subscribers and engagement, leveraging its well-established mix of Korean and Chinese drama alongside tailored local shows. In Indonesia, Vidio stood out as the leading local streaming platform, surpassing rivals in both paid accounts and active users. It ranked second only to Netflix in total watch hours, helped by an expanding library of Indonesian originals and sports programming.
iQIYI regained momentum in the latter half of 2025, particularly in Indonesia and Thailand, driven by a wave of Chinese dramas, live-action productions, and Thai series that appealed to cross-market tastes.
While mobile viewing still accounts for the majority of consumption, the rise of connected TV in Southeast Asia is redefining how audiences watch. AMPD’s tracking expansion in mid-2025 showed rising hours spent streaming on large screens, especially in Indonesia and the Philippines. Longer viewing sessions and family co-viewing habits suggest a shift toward living-room streaming — positioning connected TV as the next growth frontier for regional OTT platforms.
This evolution also underscores a practical challenge for operators in saturated markets like Malaysia and Singapore, where the battle has moved beyond subscriber acquisition to deepening user engagement and driving average revenue per user (ARPU).
The Southeast Asia streaming industry is also becoming more consolidated. Three to four leading platforms now control around 70% of total subscriptions and watch time across the region. Yet the increasing strength of local originals — from Indonesia’s breakout dramas to Thailand’s cross-border horror hits — shows that this concentration doesn’t mean creative stagnation. Instead, it highlights the competition to blend global-scale technology with local storytelling relevance.
From Jakarta to Manila, audiences are tuning into series and films that reflect their own voices and cultures — and they’re doing it on platforms that are becoming more diverse, accessible, and immersive. As connected TVs light up Southeast Asian homes, the region’s next big content revolution won’t be imported — it will be streamed, shared, and celebrated right here.
