The premium video-on-demand (VOD) market in Southeast Asia has seen a bumper quarter, adding more than 1.5 million net new subscribers in Q2 2025.
This is nearly double the first quarter’s growth, according to a report published by ampd, Media Partners Asia‘s research arm.
Netflix, Viu and iQiyi drove more than 60% of Q2’s total net new subscriber growth.
Netflix is still the region’s leader for subscriber numbers, with 12.8 million subscribers and deep reach across all five key SEA markets — Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Viu, with 9.9 million subscribers, expanded rapidly in Indonesia and Thailand, backed by Malaysian and Indonesian originals, according to ampd’s report.
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iQIYI recorded strong momentum, growing significantly in Thailand and Indonesia.
In Indonesia, Vidio remains the country’s category leader with 5 million paid subscribers, leveraging sports, local originals and acquisitions to maintain over 20% share of total premium VOD engagement.
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.
Including connected TV coverage from Q2 2025, total viewership across small and large screens exceeded 3.1 billion hours across the five key markets Southeast Asian markets.
Five VOD platforms also accounted for more than 85% 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.”
In the Philippines, Disney+ has grown in popularity through targeted promotions and strong franchise engagement and stabilized elsewhere on its customer base.
Dhivya T, Lead Analyst and Head of Insights at MPA and ampd, said: “Korean dramas dominated again, capturing 35% of total viewing hours. But local storytelling continues to matter, especially 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.”
Thai content also continues to demonstrate increasing cross-border appeal, with Netflix and iQIYI both contributing to its travelability. Q2 also saw significant cross-border travelability between Malaysia and Indonesia, particularly in horror and religious dramas.
On freemium services such as WeTV, iQIYI and Viu, Chinese dramas continued to drive engagement.