APOS Boss Vivek Couto on AI, Microdramas and the Redefinition of the Region’s Media Business: ‘You Can’t Dabble in Asia’
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- Vivek Couto, CEO of Media Partners Asia, frames the current shift as 'redefinition' rather than 'reset,' arguing that AI, profitable streaming, sports, and microdramas are simultaneously restructuring cost structures, revenue streams and content economics across Asia-Pacific media.
- APOS 2026 runs June 16–18 in Bali and has assembled executives from JioStar, Warner Bros. Discovery, Crunchyroll, iQIYI, Viu, TVING, Prime Video, Netflix, Disney, and YouTube to interrogate what the regional media business is becoming.
- ReelShort and DramaBox generate combined annualized revenue of roughly $1.5 billion, with ReelShort expanding into Thailand via a partnership with AIS and now eyeing Japan and Korea, according to Couto.
- India has become the next microdrama frontier, unlocking roughly $300 million in transactions over the past six months with a projected $800–900 million annualized run rate, per Couto.
- Sports demand geography is shifting in cricket: for the first time in the most recent ICC cycle, Japan ranked as a top-three market, Indonesia came in fourth, and Thailand fifth — a signal Couto says is forcing rights holders to build diversified fandom economics rather than depend on broadcast deals alone.
- ABS-CBN International used AI as a technology and infrastructure lever to cut operational costs 50 to 60 percent and redirected the savings into content investment, a model Couto says the rest of the region should follow.
- Asian streaming platforms are licensing content from the American operations of Chinese microdrama companies rather than their Chinese-origin catalogues — a quality differential Couto says matters to regional audiences and shapes what gets bought next.
Why it matters: ABS-CBN cut opex 50–60% using AI as infrastructure and redirected the savings into content, a model Couto wants the rest of Asia's media industry to copy. Meanwhile, microdramas — a $1.5B annualized category with an $800–900M India run rate — are pulling in TikTok and Meta into a space where 'dabbling' is no longer an option, per Couto.
