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In battle for eyeballs, Netflix boosts Southeast Asian content in bid to fend off local rivals
- Local content such as Indonesian series Nightmares and Daydreams has earned praise from viewers, as Netflix seeks new Asian growth markets
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An increase in local content has helped Netflix strengthen its market share in Southeast Asia, but experts say the world’s largest streaming TV service still faces fierce competition from local rivals focused on Korean and Chinese dramas.
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“Local content plays an important role in subscriber acquisition in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia and Thailand, two of Netflix’s focus markets for local content production, alongside the Philippines,” said Dhivya T, lead analyst at Media Partners Asia (MPA), which provides insights and advice to media companies in the Asia-Pacific.
According to ampd research, MPA’s research arm, 11 per cent and 21 per cent of Netflix viewers became subscribers in Indonesia and Thailand, respectively, between January 2023 to March this year through first watching their local content offerings.
Netflix has also benefited from its US streaming rivals back-pedalling from Southeast Asia. Disney+, which raised subscription prices in the region last year, is no longer focused on original content creation. Neither is Amazon’s Prime Video due to shareholders’ demand of profitability over subscriber growth.
At an event in Jakarta earlier this month, Netflix highlighted its new and coming series and feature films from regional creators, which include acclaimed Indonesian director Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams, the country’s first sci-fi series.
“We want to make sure that we bring locally authentic stories to our members in each of these countries. That’s why we have our teams on the ground, communicating with local creators on a day-to-day basis,” Minyoung Kim, vice-president of content at Netflix in Asia-Pacific except India, said at the June 13 event.
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