Asia Pacific’s premium OTT market will undergo rapid growth by 2019 despite challenges, according to Vindicia and Ooyala.
A study conducted by MTM — covering 80 participants in Australia, Indonesia and Thailand — reveal significant challenges to expansion due to broadband infrastructure and content localization, revenues are expected to grow strongly between now and 2019.
Figures go from around $85 million in 2015 to $230 million in Australia; from $7 million to $40 million in Indonesia; and from $8 million to $45 million in Thailand.
Local service providers will own a significant portion of the market and will dominate in Indonesia and Thailand, while Netflix will be the dominant player in Australia.
The study highlights three main challenges to premium OTT market expansion. First, industry executives believe broadband infrastructure challenges and limited access to affordable fixed-line services are significant barriers to growth.
Second, despite the appeal of international content, respondents believe local-language programming is essential to the proliferation of premium OTT services in Indonesia and Thailand.
And third, while the presence of Netflix will drive OTT market expansion in general, consumers will struggle with Netflix’s one-size-fits-all offering.
“There’s no doubt that Asia Pacific is a hotbed of premium OTT service expansion that will evolve based on regional nuances, tastes and economics,” said Bryta Schulz, Vindicia SVP of marketing.
“The next 12 to 24 months will function less as a test of whether or not premium OTT will take off, but more as a measure of how it will penetrate popular appetites,” said Schulz.