Korean Dramas Drive Southeast Asia Streaming Boom as Netflix Holds Lead With 12.8 Million Subscribers, Report Finds

Southeast Asia’s premium video-on-demand landscape is heating up, with the region adding more than 1.5 million net new subscribers in Q2 2025 — nearly doubling Q1 growth — according to new data from ampd, the measurement platform operated by Media Partners Asia (MPA).

Korean dramas dominated viewing habits across the region, capturing 35% of total viewing hours during the quarter. The surge comes as connected TV viewing takes hold across the region’s five key markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Total viewership across all screen sizes exceeded 3.1 billion hours during the quarter, with six platforms commanding more than 85% of viewership share: Netflix, Viu, Vidio, iQIYI and WeTV.

“Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines led regional subscriber growth,” said Vivek Couto, executive director of MPA. “More connected TV viewership and growing engagement with local and Asian content, particularly Korean, Thai and Indonesian, continues to power both engagement and subscriber momentum.”

Netflix maintained its regional dominance with 12.8 million subscribers and deep reach across all six Southeast Asian markets. But homegrown players are making moves: Viu, with 9.9 million subscribers, expanded rapidly in Indonesia and Thailand, backed by Malaysian and Indonesian originals. iQIYI recorded strong momentum, growing significantly in Thailand and Indonesia.

The trio of Viu, Netflix and iQIYI drove more than 60% of total net new subscriber growth in Q2.

Disney+ scored a win in the Philippines through targeted promotions and strong franchise engagement, while stabilizing elsewhere in the region. Meanwhile, Vidio remains Indonesia’s category leader with 5 million paid subscribers, leveraging sports, local originals and acquisitions to maintain over 20% share of total premium VOD engagement.

While Korean dramas continue their regional dominance, local storytelling is carving out significant territory, particularly in Indonesia and Thailand, where 44-46% of users engage with local content.

“Thai series are increasingly resonating across borders, while Vidio’s youth and action originals are deepening engagement in Indonesia,” said Dhivya T, lead analyst and head of insights at MPA and ampd.

Thai content demonstrated increasing cross-border appeal, with Netflix and iQIYI both contributing to its travelability. The quarter also saw significant cross-border travelability between Malaysia and Indonesia, particularly in horror and religious dramas. Chinese dramas continued to drive engagement on freemium services such as WeTV, iQIYI and Viu.

In Thailand, True ID retained the largest subscriber base but growth has slowed. Netflix led Thailand in premium VOD engagement with a 43% share, followed by Viu and iQIYI, while HBO Max gained via telco bundling, in its biggest SEA market.

The data comes from ampd’s expanded measurement capabilities, which began including CTV coverage in Q2 2025. The platform provides a holistic view of premium VOD viewership across all major devices, including mobile phones, connected TVs, laptops, and tablets, enabling national-level representation of actual streaming behavior across VOD users in Southeast Asia, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Media Partners Asia, established in 2001, operates as a leading independent provider of advisory, consulting and research services focusing on media and telecoms in Asia Pacific. The company launched ampd in 2019 and measures digital activity in 10 markets using proprietary software.