iQIYI celebrates a strong close to the year with three profitable quarters in 2022 and reveals an uptrend in paying willingness and content demands in language variety among the region’s streaming audiences, identified via a survey and its on-service statistics.
The streaming business is set to scale to greater heights with rising purchase intent among viewers. In the recent iQIYI survey, 85.50% of respondents are paying for TV or movies via an OTT service in Malaysia, with 63.16% of Malaysians owning at least two subscriptions, slightly higher than the regional average of 57.83%. This indicates a healthy growing willingness for consumers to pay for premium streaming entertainment, contributing to iQIYI recording a 2X revenue growth in Malaysia in 2022. Subsequently, iQIYI also saw a 157% growth in TikTok, positioning itself as Malaysia’s largest TikTok account run by a streaming service.
The survey also recorded a high interest and appetite for local Malay content among international audiences. The streamer’s first two local original productions, ‘Rampas Cintaku’ and ‘Sorry Naik Lori’, were voted as the top 3 most wanted to watch Malay dramas by respondents from South Korea, Japan and the United States. Additionally, ‘Rampas Cintaku’ garnered over 100M digital views at the end of its first season run, making it the top local title Malaysians are willing to pay for and reaching audiences beyond the country’s borders.
Across the 6 markets surveyed, respondents cited “content variety”, “affordability” and “exclusivity” as the top reasons that result in their buying decision with an OTT service. Among Malaysian audiences, “language variety” came out on top as the essential determinant in their buying decision with an OTT service at 57%. This is reflective of the multicultural background of Malaysia in its daily consumption of entertainment.
The lookout for better variety in their streaming choices and the appetite for cross-language content has also seen an increase as audiences become more language agnostic. The same survey observed a growing interest for other Asian language content beyond their local dramas and the popular K-drama genre.
In Malaysia, while 50% of respondents actively search for Malay content to watch, almost half (47.5%) are actively on the lookout for the latest and best Chinese dramas to indulge in. A standout observation is a growth in Malaysian audiences viewing Chinese content. The platform recorded 123% of growth in the use of Malay subtitles to watch C-content across markets. Chinese period dramas (44%) and Chinese romance series (36%) stood out as popular genres among Malaysian audiences.
“iQIYI’s approach to serving our viewers has been hyper-focused on celebrating Asian content in an innovative way through a lens and voice that is authentic, real and differentiated. From the survey, it is evident that this has resonated with Malaysians as well as the global audience. We will continue to fulfill our viewers’ demands of unique storylines led by premium Chinese dramas and local originals. This is strongly in-line with our commitment to be the home of beloved Asian entertainment,” said Dinesh Ratnam, Country Manager of iQIYI Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
In the same survey, iQIYI was elected by international respondents as the top Asian OTT service destination to watch Chinese, Thai and Malay dramas, as the platform continues to elevate awareness for Asian content at the global forefront.
2022 Top Chinese Dramas on iQIYI in Malaysia (By average viewing per episode)
- Love Between Fairy and Devil
- Love Like the Galaxy
- Time to Fall in Love
- Nothing But You
- Oh My Lord
- My Sassy Princess
- Mr. Bad
- Fake Princess
- Decreed by Fate
- Thousand Years for You
iQIYI First Local Malay Originals Voted as Most Wanted to Try in These Countries
Rampas Cintaku
- USA (#3)
- South Korea (#3)
- Japan (#2)
- Taiwan (#2)
- Singapore (#2)
Sorry Naik Lori
- South Korea (#2)
- Japan (#3)
- Thailand (#2)
- USA (#2)
- Taiwan (#2)
- Singapore (#2)