American movies and TV shows have long enraptured audiences the world over, including those in the Asia-Pacific region. According to a recent study published by Media Partners Asia (MPA), content from the US was watched by 60% of streaming users from nine countries – Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and, of course, Malaysia – in the first quarter of 2024, ahead of Korean (56%) and Japanese (48%) content.
This dominance of US content is due in part to the popularity of well-established franchises and cinematic universes, such as Marvel or “Star Wars”, which have earned the loyalty of large audiences worldwide.
Nostalgia continues to play a key role in driving the success of US content in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the study. Sitcoms and procedural shows, such as “Friends” and “The Office”, continue to captivate viewers, accounting for 68% of the top 500 most popular American titles in the region.
In addition, the analysis reveals that US content is particularly popular in Australia and Southeast Asia, where it accounts for 69% and 32% of subscription video on demand (SVOD) viewership, respectively.
Delivering on dubbing
Of all the SVOD players, Netflix remains the undisputed leader in the distribution of American content in the Asia-Pacific, capturing 50% to 75% of US streaming hours over the past year.
Indeed, the streaming giant offers shows dubbed into a variety of Asian languages and with local-language subtitles, notably in Thai, Filipino, Indonesian and Japanese, the report points out. Thanks to this, programmes such as “One Piece”, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “Extraction 2” have topped the ratings in the region.
Competitor Prime Video has been very successful in Japan, where it accounts for 23% of streaming hours of US content. Disney+, meanwhile, accounts for 15-20% of viewership for similar content in Australia, Japan and Korea.
The power of local content
Yet this dominance of American content should not overshadow the rise of local productions in the Asia-Pacific region: streaming platforms have clearly understood the importance of offering content adapted to the cultural and linguistic specificities of each market. Netflix, for example, has invested heavily in the production of original Asian-language content, such as the South Korean show “Squid Game”.
Moreover, the dominance of US content seems to have slowed over the last two years, with reach falling from 70% to 60%. However, US content “retains an important role in subscriber acquisition”, says MPA senior analyst Dhivya T, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Even in highly local markets such as Korea, Japan and Indonesia, US content drove 15-30% of SVOD customer acquisition. Long-tail appeal and a variety of scripted genres across series and movies, topped by science-fiction and fantasy, power US content popularity in the Asia-Pacific region,” the expert outlined.