Executive Summary: State of APAC Broadcasting in Q3 2025

The third quarter of 2025 for the APAC broadcasting market looks to be shaped by the convergence of global economic turbulence, an accelerated pace of technology adoption, and widespread digital transformation.

With digital platforms increasingly dominating audience attention and revenue streams, traditional broadcasting continues to develop against a backdrop of competitive innovation and shifting regulatory conditions. These changes reflect broader patterns observed in the Asian media technology forecast.

Key APAC broadcasting market trends 2025:

• Media revenue forecasts for Asia — specifically online video revenues — are forecasted to climb from US$64 billion in 2024 to US$89 billion by 2029, while traditional TV revenue contracts are expected to decline by US$8 billion over the same period.

• Digital ad spend constitutes 70% of total media spend, reflecting wider broadcasting technology adoption rates across both urban and emerging markets. Connected TV (CTV) is also expanding at a 13% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) — on track to reach 360 million homes by 2030.

• OTT vs traditional broadcasting in APAC tips in favour of digital-first models. Regions like Southeast Asia and India are outperforming their peers, especially in retail media and mobile streaming. Slowing growth is observed in larger, mature markets like China and Japan.

Looking ahead to Q4 2025 and early 2026, steady growth in streaming services and mobile-first solutions is expected. The industry’s focus will move toward better personalisation, interactive viewing experiences, and monetisation strategies targeting fragmented audiences. To see how ATxEnterprise brings these conversations to life, download our Post-Show Report 2025.

Regional Highlights

Market Leaders and Growth Hotspots

The regional broadcasting market comparison reveals a widening gap between high-growth and saturated territories. While digital expansion is a unifying theme, market-specific conditions mould the rate and nature of growth across APAC.

• China: Leads APAC in video and OTT monetisation, fuelled by short-form content and video-on-demand (VoD) services. Regulatory shifts in 2024–2025 have reduced friction for multinationals, though content controls remain tight.

• India: A central player in broadcasting industry growth in APAC, the country’s ad boom persists. The Reliance–Disney joint venture created a national heavyweight spanning TV, sports rights and streaming (Hotstar/JioCinema), changing the bargaining power with advertisers and leagues.

• Southeast Asia: This region exemplifies many of the forward-looking themes in the Asian media technology forecast, including mobile-led viewing, freemium models, and retail-linked ad experiences. Streaming subscriptions are rising with Netflix leading SEA with 12.8 million subscribers. Viu and iQIYI are close behind, pushing hard with original productions in the pipeline.

• Japan: Expected to grow with a CAGR of 6.5% from 2024 to 2030, driven by cable TV dominance, IPTV growth, and consumer demand for premium video streaming services. While more conservative than other markets, its deep content culture and established platforms give it continued weight in media revenue forecasts across Asia.

These regional developments echo many of the themes showcased at ATxEnterprise 2025. For a recap of key moments and on-the-ground insights, visit our Event Highlights page.

Market Challenges and Contractions

Not every APAC market is on an upward trajectory. In fact, part of what defines the APAC broadcasting market trends in 2025 is the growing divergence between early-stage adopters and digitally mature, saturated economies.

• Singapore and Australia: Growth is modest, with ad spend projected to rise by just 3.8–5.6% in 2025. Both markers are digitally mature, leaving little room for explosive gains. Regulatory tightening around data privacy and content moderation adds further complexity.

• Thailand and South Korea: Face slower expansion due to audience fragmentation, mounting competition, and challenging economic conditions that weigh on both advertising and subscriptions.

Common headwinds across the region include:

• Regulatory hurdles, such as stricter privacy laws (notably in China and Indonesia) that affect targeting and measurement.

• Economic pressure and soft consumer demand in advanced economies like Australia, Japan).

• Fragmented audiences and intensifying competition among local and global players.

Despite these hurdles, investment in technology remains a unifying driver. Many broadcasters are doubling down on broadcasting technology adoption rates, funnelling capital into AI-powered content production, adaptive streaming solutions, and lower-cost infrastructure. These strategic moves signal that APAC’s broadcasting investment outlook remains cautiously optimistic even in its more pressured markets.

Technology Adoption and Investment Trends

Digital Infrastructure Development

A central theme in the APAC broadcasting investment outlook is the progress from infrastructure buildout to ROI optimisation. In other words, investment momentum has shifted from building 5G around coverage to squeezing value from it, especially in media delivery.

Since 2019, APAC telcos poured roughly US$220  billion into network infrastructure which significantly ramped up coverage by mid‑2025. CapEx intensity peaked in 2023 and has since stabilised as the focus moves toward monetising infrastructure through better broadcast and streaming capabilities. This reflects momentum seen in the Asian media technology forecast, where telecommunications, cloud services, and streaming ecosystems are becoming increasingly interconnected.

Meanwhile, cellular broadcast technology (LTE/5G Broadcast, including feMBMS) is gaining traction as a scalable, spectrum‑efficient alternative, particularly for broadcasting live events and emergency updates. The LTE/5G broadcast market in APAC is projected to grow from US$1.04  billion in 2025 to US$1.78  billion by 2030, at an 11.2% CAGR, reflecting strong regional broadcasting technology adoption rates in multicast video and hybrid workflows.

Content Production Technology Landscape

On the production side, the cloud and edge ecosystems have redesigned how content is created, packaged, and distributed. Cloud‑native contribution, playout systems, and private CDNs are now common in live event syndication and cross‑border programming — evident in vendor strategies showcased at BroadcastAsia 2025. These shifts support long-term broadcasting industry growth in APAC and position the region as a testbed for scalable media operations.

Generative AI is steadily entering the media workflows. Globally, the media and entertainment generative AI market is predicted to grow from US$1.97  billion in 2024 to US$6.48  billion by 2029, and eventually to US$20.7  billion by 2034, with APAC among the fastest adopters. While this evolution is still early-stage, automation is already delivering measurable gains and strengthening the region’s role in the general Asian media technology forecast.

Content Consumption Patterns and Audience Behaviour

Platform Preferences and Viewing Habits

This section of the media market analysis for Q3 2025 focuses on how audiences engage with content across Asia-Pacific — a region marked by diversity in income, infrastructure, and device access. As digital acceleration continues, so too does the sophistication of media consumption patterns in Asia.

• OTT vs Traditional Broadcasting in APAC: OTT platforms dominate, with user penetration forecasted to reach 62.5% by 2029 across Asia.

• Mobile-First Viewing: APAC remains mobile-first for streaming, while connected-TV use is climbing quickly; industry forecasts also project 15% growth in total time spent with TV and video from 2023 to 2025.

• Social Media and Live Broadcasting Integration: Social platforms and livestream shopping are central to APAC’s media diet - particularly in China, India, and Southeast Asia - blurring lines between social interaction and commerce.

These preferences reflect region-wide changes in media consumption patterns across Asia, where content is increasingly accessed in non-linear, interactive, and socialised formats.

Demographic Analysis and Market Segmentation

• Youth-Driven Demand: Gen Z and Millennials drive interactive, short-form, and social-enabled content. Regional OTT platforms and pan-Asian productions (Korean, Thai, Chinese) resonate strongly with young demographics.
• Urban vs Rural Consumption: Broadband rollout accelerates in urban centres while rural penetration lags; local content and pricing strategies remain essential to capture rural audiences.

These shifts further support the overarching APAC broadcasting market trends in 2025, where platform reach is defined less by legacy distribution and more by adaptive content strategies.

Revenue Models and Monetisation Strategies

Advertising Market Dynamics

The bulk of revenue growth in 2025 is being driven by performance media and dynamic ad insertion formats, reflecting changes in broadcasting industry growth across APAC. These trends are a critical part of the wide-ranging media market analysis for Q3 2025:

• APAC ad spend is expected to grow around 5.8% in 2025. Programmatic ads are doing the heavy lifting, expanding by over 24% in 2025 — outpacing search or paid social growth. This aligns with media revenue forecasts in Asia, which project sustained growth in programmatic and CTV-based ad delivery.