Nielsen has recently published a survey which confirms that OTT platforms reached 95% of Chinese entertainment (C-entertainment) audiences in Malaysia, higher than the 80% reached across traditional TV channels. The survey, commissioned by leading Asian streaming platform iQIYI on ‘Chinese Entertainment Viewers in Malaysia’, found that OTT streaming of C-entertainment content was more prevalent than catching Chinese shows live on traditional TV channels.
While the majority (76%) of respondents watched C-entertainment on both OTT and traditional TV, one in five respondents were watching C-entertainment content exclusively through OTT platforms. With the convenience of watching content anytime and anywhere, half of the respondents watched C-entertainment content through mobile devices minimally several times a week, with 28% of respondents watching on mobile daily.
iQIYI believes that there is also a growing positive sentiment towards C-entertainment from non-Chinese viewers. The survey reflected that while 49% of C-entertainment content viewers in Malaysia were Chinese, an equally sizeable 49% were Malay or bumiputera while other ethnicities made up the remaining audience.
Among the C-entertainment genres available, C-movies and C-dramas were the most popular among Malaysian audiences with 79% of respondents watching C-movies and 71% watching C-dramas. Although less popular, C-animation attracted higher viewership amongst younger males and dads.
“We’ve noticed an increase in the consumption of C-content among viewers, particularly among non-Chinese speaking audiences. Audiences have become more language agnostic in their consumption of entertainment and OTT has enabled them to be able to enjoy these stories through the use of subtitles. We believe it is evident that C-entertainment is here to stay and will continue to garner interest in the near future. iQIYI’s approach has always been hyper focused on celebrating Asian content that is authentic and differentiated. We will continue our effort in delivering premium Asian entertainment to our viewers, in line with our commitment to being the home of beloved Asian entertainment,” said Dinesh Ratnam, Country Manager of iQIYI Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
In the same study, 95% of the Malaysian audience for C-entertainment content reportedly see themselves spending more time in the coming year streaming C-entertainment than they do now. This indicates continued interest for such content amongst the Malaysian audience. Factors that will fuel the foreseeable rise in OTT C-entertainment viewership are a wide title variety, social connectivity, value-for-money improvement, and ad relevance.
About the study
Nielsen Media Analytics: Chinese Entertainment Viewers in Malaysia, November 2022, People 18+ who watched any Chinese entertainment content in the past 1 month
This study was conducted with a sample size of 400 respondents in Malaysia, aged 18 and above, who in the past 1 month watched any of these genres: Chinese dramas, Chinese movies, Chinese variety shows, Chinese animation.