Video market in India ranks 3rd largest in Apac, growing fastest to reach $17 bn by 2028

India is among the sox biggest and fastest growing video markets in Asia Pacific.

Soaring demand has pushed the video market in India to a valuation of $13 billion, making it the third-largest in the Asia Pacific (Apac) region, behind China and Japan, shows an analysis by Media Partners Asia Research (MPA), a consulting firm focusing on media and telecoms.

The MPA report measures users, subscribers, consumers and advertising expenditures across free TV, pay TV, subscription video on-demand (SVOD), premium advertising video on-demand (AVOD) and social video.

China, which remains the largest and most regulated video market, generated $64 billion in revenue last year, followed by Japan at $32 billion. Korea comes at the fourth spot with $12-billion valuation, followed by Australia at $9.5 billion. The other large video markets in Apac include Taiwan and Indonesia, both at $3 billion.

The total Apac  video industry revenue is poised to average a growth rate of 2.6 percent between 2023 and 2028 to reach $165 billion or at a CAGR of 3.3 percent, excluding China, to $95 billion.

India, which is among the fastest-growing video markets, will grow at 5.6 percent between 2023 and 2028 and reach revenue of $17 billion by 2028, estimated the study.

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Indonesia is estimated to grow at 7.3 percent, Philippines at 6.2 percent, Vietnam at 4.6 percent and Thailand at 4.2 percent. China will be a mature market and grow at 1.7 percent to reach $70 billion by 2028, followed by Japan at $35 billion, Korea at $14 billion, Australia at $11 billion and Indonesia will come close to $4 billion.

The six largest revenue-generating video industry markets by 2028 will  contribute an aggregate of more than 90 percent to the Asia Pacific total video market.

In 2023, the APAC video industry grew 5.5 percent and its total revenue reached $145 billion, driven by a 13 percent growth in online video sector sales at $57 billion. TV revenue, on the other hand, grew less than 1 percent at $88 billion.

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Excluding China, the Apac video industry grew by 3.2 percent in 2023 with the revenue reaching $81 billion, driven by a 13 percent increase in online video sales to $30 billion, while TV declined by 2 percent to $51 billion.

The online SVOD segment grew 15 percent in 2023 to reach $28 billion, while the AVOD pie grew 11 percent to $29 billion. Social video dominated the AVOD category with 80 percent share while premium AVOD had 20 percent share in 2023.

Pay-TV subscription fees showed marginally below flat growth in Apac, excluding China, with revenue declining in markets like India and Japan, while it contracted in almost every market in Southeast Asia. Pay-TV advertising grew in India but was down 2 percent across Apac, excluding China, with significant declines in Australia, Indonesia and Korea last year.

“The Asia Pacific video industry continues to see a shift from TV to online in terms of engagement and monetisation. Improved connectivity, rising connected TV (CTV) penetration, combined with the growth of local creator economies, investment in premium local content as well as the wide availability of premium sports streaming, will continue to drive dollars and eyeballs online," said Vivek Couto, Managing and Executive Director, MPA.

The APAC online video sector is estimated to record a 6.7 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $78.5 billion by 2028.

However, TV industry revenues, including advertising and subscription, will contract marginally at 0.4 percent CAGR between 2023 and 2028 to reach $86.5 billion. TV markets that are expected to still grow but at a much smaller pace include India, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. There remains significant downside risks on TV advertising in Indonesia, India and Korea.

"Amid the shift to online and growth of CTV, traditional linear TV is under pressure with a number of territories not expected to see a meaningful return of TV ad dollars. Local broadcasters are capitalising through premium AVOD and in certain cases, SVOD, most notably in Australia, India, Indonesia and Japan. Pay-TV subscription revenue has yet to be significantly disrupted by the growth of SVOD outside of markets such as Australia. However, historically strong markets such as India and Korea are under pressure,” Couto said.