iWorld
Online video thrives: Local content vital for subscriber growth
Mumbai: The Asia Video Industry Association held its annual OTT Summit in Singapore on 5 December, where over 90 per cent of the speakers were senior female executives from across the video industry in Asia Pacific. This year’s summit was designed to try and redress the gender imbalance seen in many industry conferences.
The Summit opened with Media Partners Asia lead analyst, head of content & platform insights Dhivya T presenting an overview of the state of streaming in Asia, a market where competition was very much driven by a battle for share of time, with premium video on demand (VOD) fighting with social media and user-generated content (UGC).
Competition was also giving rise to new business models and strategies beyond the traditional AVOD and SVOD models, including mobile gaming, e-commerce and bundle subscriptions becoming more common. And with a higher focus on increasing ARPUs, price increases have also become prevalent.
Ex-China, online video revenues in Asia Pacific were expected to hit US$46 billion in 2028, up from US$29 billion this year. While SVOD was expected to have a CAGR of 6.4 per cent, premium AVOD will see a growth rate of almost 18 per cent, led by Japan, India, and Korea. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia was emerging as the leading market for AVOD, with Thailand for SVOD.
In terms of content trends and investment, although pay TV remained the largest vertical, online video was the growth engine of video content investment, with local and Asian content leading premium VOD viewership with the highest reach. Hence local content remained key to acquiring subscribers in the region, and constantly over-indexing with new users.
In the world of streaming, Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) was also much talked about at the summit as the new kid on the block, as it mimicked the experience of linear TV, delivering scheduled content, with advertising included. Driving the growth of FAST in Asia was the penetration of Smart TVs in the region, with 80 per cent of OTT viewers in APAC using Connected TV (CTV), and with one-third of OTT viewing on CTV, shared Samsung Ads APAC Head of Product Marketing Samantha Cooke, But FAST channels were not always about making money, as FAST was also used for marketing, outreach and brand building, added Brightcove senior product marketing manager Roberta Cambio.
Senior marketers from the major platforms too chimed in on the importance of brand building, as the mantra was no longer acquiring subscribers at all costs but focusing on keeping the ones you have. For Shemaroo Entertainment chief marketing officer Anuja Trivedi, marketing was now more aligned with the business, as consumers who saw campaigns engaged better as well. And partnerships which build more value can only build more excitement for the product and engagement for the platform, said Trivedi Akamai Technologies Senior Solutions Engineer Sarah Lim also added that people, platform and technology were what will help drive your strategy forward for the future. “Marketing is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Lim.
With 71 per cent of viewers in APAC watching advertising-supported streaming on top of linear TV viewing, Chair for Media & Measurement, AAMS & CEO, OMG Singapore Chloe Neo was also seeing growth from regional clients with a greater inclination to look at branding, with the reallocation of budgets into OTT tending to be from the big brands, due to their expectations on quality content. While 20/F Leighton Centre, 77 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong | 5008 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, #04-09 Techplace II Singapore 569874 avia.org investment was coming from the linear TV side, more clients were now embracing CTV and addressability for strategic benefit, and not just for incremental reach, added GroupM CIO Southeast & North Asia, Chair, APAC Investment Committee Anita Munro.
A strong focus on content closed off the Summit, with panellists agreeing that Asian content could not be lumped together. There was a huge variety within what is labelled Chinese or Indian content. ZEE5 chief content officer Hindi originals Nimisha Pandey emphasised that storytelling trumped investment. “Audiences don’t care how much money has gone into content, if it connects, it connects,” she said.
Viu chief of content acquisition and development Marianne Lee noted, “Each local market has their own strategy which complements the regional strategy. While it is important for the content to travel outside, the content must also do well locally,” said Lee. In agreement, ASTRO director of content Agnes Rozario added, “There will always be certain types of content that travel better than others. But it has to work in the home market first.”
One market which saw things a little differently was Thailand where True Corporation deputy director of planning & business development strategic content group Kirana Cheewachuen saw huge potential in the overseas growth and popularity of Thai content, and international success was her primary goal.
Sharing her strategy for the Pacific Rim in the closing session, Paramount ANZ, EVP chief content officer head of paramount + Beverly McGarvey said that Australia was a mature market at a pivotal point now as audiences were adjusting between more traditional legacy media and streaming. Hence accelerating growth in streaming while maintaining linear businesses and making content that can work across platforms was what was needed to remain viable.
The OTT Summit is proudly sponsored by Gold Sponsors Brightcove, INVIDI, Nagra, Warner Bros Discovery; Silver Sponsors Akamai, Broadpeak, CDNetworks, Irdeto, Moloco, Publica, PubMatic, Shemaroo; Bronze Sponsor Dolby.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
