Entrepreneur India – July 2019

CHINA AUSTRALIA REST OF APAC JULY 2019 l ENTREPRENEUR l 57

3,025

3,025

2,552

726 629

12,222

Projected Ott Revenue By 2021 (In $ Millions)

Current OTT revenue (In $ Millions)

cent share of the world’s OTT
revenue, respectively. With
around 1.8 billion unique
subscribers and 3.8 billion
connections, the Asia Pacific
region promises a steep
growth for the next five years.
Researchers have estimated
the OTT services market in
Asia Pacific to experience a
quick upsurge by the end of
next year. It is expected that
APAC OTT video revenue
will be worth $24 billion by

2021. In terms of growth,
      APAC is projected to add 600
      million new subscribers, and
      1.6 billion new smartphone
      connections by 2020.
      The report adds China
      alone will have 139 million

lagging behind, the findings

showed. The VOD category

of OTT in the APAC region is

so competitive that even the

smaller players are witnessing

a sharp increase in revenue.

Some of the prominent

players in the APAC region

include Netflix, Youku Tudou,

iQiyi, Viu, Tencent Video,

LeTV, Hooq, Amazon Prime

Video, iFlix, YuppTV, Hotstar,

“We’ve been making

investments, hiring new

people, and creating new

partnerships in India,

Indonesia, the Philippines,

and Korea, as these are all

important countries for

our business.”

Allen Lau, Founder and CEO, Wattpad

NexGTV, Spuul, Eros Now,

BoxTV, Catchplay, Hulu, dTV,

Pooq, Tving, Watcha Play and

Wattpad.

While talking about why

Asia is a growing market for

OTT, Wattpad’s founder and

CEO Allen Lau says, “We’ve

been making investments,

hiring new people, and

creating new partnerships

in India, Indonesia, the

Philippines and Korea, as

these are all important

countries for our business.”

Recently, Wattpad expanded

in Asia through a partnership

with Times Bridge.

The storytelling platforms

work through its large

community of writers,

readers and partners,

who strategically position

its content in the global

entertainment industry.

“People consume media in

many different ways. But the

one connecting feature of all

new forms of media is the

story, which is the atomic unit

of everything people consume

across all platforms,” he says.

FUTURE OF TV

While the traditional players

are marking their entry into

the OTT market, the general

consensus among experts

about the market is that

cable TV and OTT will grow

together as the market is

huge and there are different

segments to cater to. But

how will it happen? Will the

traditional market reinvent

itself in order to compete with

OTT? An interesting fight and

disruption is yet to be seen in

the newly created industry of

OTT market.

Source: Digital TV Research

Asia Pacific OTT video

revenue will be worth

$24 billion

by 2021

By 2021, Indian video on

demand (VoD) subscribers

will reach

14.6 million,

and will be followed by

Indonesia at

9.96 million

and Japan at

8.1 million.

subscription video on

demand (SVoD) subscribers,

accounting for 59 per cent

of the region’s total, thus

contributing half of the

revenues for the 22 OTT

countries, by 2022. China and

Japan together will account

for 66 per cent of the region’s

total revenue. By 2021, Indian

video on demand (VoD)

subscribers will reach 14.6

million, and will be followed

by Indonesia at 9.96 million

and Japan at 8.1 million.

OTT OUTPACES TV

The craze of OTT has scaled

to a height that now the

streaming video-on-demand

services have beaten TV in

customer satisfaction when

it comes to pay for content,

says a Germany-based data

research firm Statista, in its

Digital Economy Outlook.

The willingness to pay

for content is highest in

China, Brazil and India

(52 per cent), with

Germany and UK