APAC Screen Economy to Reach $200B by 2031
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- Media Partners Asia projects the APAC screen economy at $179B in 2026 and $200B by 2031, framed by executive director Vivek Couto at APOS 2026 as structural reallocation rather than headline growth, with a per-capita gap of $46 in APAC vs. $890 in the U.S. he called "the single largest pool of latent value anywhere in global media."
- India is the engine of SVOD growth, adding 366 million subscriptions across the decade — more than the rest of APAC ex-China combined — with the JioHotstar bundle driving a 2025 step-change; JioHotstar surpassed $1 billion in revenue last year and is on track to surpass YouTube in total revenue by year-end.
- APAC advertising is on track for just 5.2% year-on-year growth in 2026, the slowest since the pandemic, with TV advertising falling for the eighth consecutive year; digital now accounts for three-quarters of APAC ad spend at 7.8% growth, but gains are concentrating on platforms with targeting power — "reach without addressability no longer commands the budget," Couto said.
- Connected TV homes ex-China are projected to more than triple from under 80 million to 255 million by 2031, but ad dollars have not followed the audience because of fragmented measurement standards; Couto said "the prize on this screen is large, and it is still unclaimed, and it will go to whoever builds the measurement layer first."
- Retail media is the fastest-growing advertising line and leads the digital ad increment in every major market from China to Australia; in Southeast Asia, creator-driven commerce sits at roughly $50 billion — more than 20 times the $2 billion influencer advertising layer.
- Microdramas are at roughly $3 billion ex-China today, on track to triple by 2031, while in China the format has already scaled to $11.5–16.8 billion; AI-generated content accounts for close to 40% of the top-100 microdrama chart on Chinese platforms, with ReelShort and DramaBox identified as the two operators most effectively converting scale into margin.
- AI could deliver between $9 billion and $15 billion annually in P&L improvement across APAC ex-China by 2031, per MPA estimates, with production efficiency worth $4.6–7.7 billion the largest component; Couto called it "the first technology cycle that works on both sides of the income statement at once" — lowering cost and lifting revenue simultaneously.
Why it matters: Content costs in APAC premium video will rise by more than $3 billion over five years while the sector adds just $2 billion in net revenue, meaning the top line will not save margins. Whoever industrializes AI — worth $9–15 billion in potential P&L improvement — without eroding audience trust captures the per-capita gap, currently $46 in APAC vs. $890 in the U.S.
