Streaming TV’s New Era in SEA: Top Five Takeaways for Brands

Streaming TV continues to surge in Southeast Asia, with ad-supported viewing powering growth, showing no signs of slowing. Magnite’s new research, “Streaming TV’s New Era,” reveals that 71% of TV viewers in Southeast Asia now watch ad-supported services, and streaming audiences are now on par with traditional TV viewers. This denotes an inflection point for the SEA region, where the scale has tipped towards streaming— presenting a golden opportunity for brands to reach audiences in a highly engaged environment at scale.

Here are five key takeaways from the report to help brands and advertisers optimize their media campaigns to seize SEA’s streaming opportunity. 

1. Ad-supported services deliver quality scale 

A majority of TV viewers in Southeast Asia are watching streaming services with ads, closing the gap with traditional television viewers. Notably, SEA viewers preferences lean toward AVOD, with 79% of TV viewers preferring to watch free or reduced-cost content with ads versus 21% preferring an ad-free experience.

Viewers’ intentions to stream more content in the next 12 months indicate that audiences will continue to grow along with the opportunity for brands to reach them.

2. Viewers watch ad-supported content across multiple screens and platforms

Despite SEA’s legacy as a mobile-first region, smart TV penetration is growing, along with big-screen viewing habits. 67% of SEA ad-supported streamers responded that they are watching content always/most of the time on a smart TV.

Even more importantly, smart TV viewership has given rise to co-viewing, with 82% of viewers watching content on a smart TV with other people in an average week. Notably, viewers also watch a wide variety of content across multiple services, with 92% of viewers using multiple services with ads to watch programs. 

This presents a prime opportunity for brands to reach addressable TV audiences at a household level across multiple services.

3. Streaming audiences are highly engaged with ad-supported content

Ad-supported streamers are immersed in streaming content for longer periods than social media users due to the short-form nature of social media, which lends itself to scrolling and short viewing sessions.

96% of ad-supported viewers watch streaming content for a long period of 30 minutes or more, and 96% report that their viewing is intentional, meaning that they make a point of watching content they like.

By comparison, 88% of social media users launch apps multiple times throughout the day, and each session is brief: 92% of users scroll quickly through social feeds until they see a post that interests them.

What does this mean for brands? Sustained viewer attention should be a key consideration when investing in the best-performing channels for marketing messages.

4. Ad-supported streaming services deliver the relevant ad experience that viewers want

Personalization is a key factor in helping streaming services enhance the ad experience for their viewers.

SEA viewers clearly value a more personalized viewing experience. 83% of ad-supported streamers are comfortable providing information about their interests if it results in more targeted advertising.

With the ability to take advantage of both contextual and data-driven audience targeting within streaming environments, brands can deliver highly relevant messages to their audiences for greater impact.

5. Ad-supported streaming services are impactful at every stage of the consumer journey

Magnite research shows that streaming is impactful from awareness to purchase. Streaming positively influences the purchase journey, with 68% of ad-supported streaming viewers taking action after seeing an ad on streaming platforms.

Meanwhile, exposure to brand messaging across screens further strengthens the relationship between consumers and brands: 94% of ad-supported streamers in Southeast Asia said they are more likely to purchase a brand they engaged with across multiple devices (TV, mobile, desktop, etc.) This underscores the importance of a cross-screen strategy to enhance the impact of marketing messages.

Ad-supported streaming provides scale, quality, and impact for brands.

Ultimately, ad-supported streaming has reached critical mass in Southeast Asia, attracting a highly engaged audience that watches for extended periods of time. Cross-device streaming TV viewing habits foster robust connections with brands, presenting the opportunity to amplify advertising impact across multiple screens. Streaming is not only a channel where ad-supported viewers discover new brands; it’s also influential in leading them to make a purchase.

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