The most recent iteration of the APOS convention includes a who’s-who of top-level movie, TV and media gamers altering the course of the enterprise in Asia.
Right here’s only a small pattern: DAZN co-founder James Rushton, Candle Media CEO Kevin Mayer, Foxtel boss Patrick Delany, Google APAC President Sanjay Gupta, iQiyi’s Yang Xianghua and Kaichen Li, Netflix Korean content material chief Don Kang, 9 Leisure’s Amanda Laing, Owl & Co. CEO founder Hernan Lopez and Jiyeon Tune from Korean micro-drama platform TopReels.
Add to that bosses from JioStar, Prime Video, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros Discovery, Sony Footage Leisure, Disney, Paramount, TikTok, TBS, BBC Studios and Banijay and it’s clear why APOS has develop into a key fixture on the calendar.
They’ve received a lot to debate this 12 months. APOS Govt Director and co-founder Vivek Couto is gearing up for his C-suite get-together in Bali with a worldwide market going through a fast-changing outlook. Tech giants in Asia comparable to Google, Meta, Netflix and Amazon have been benefitting from development in cell display screen, good TV and stuck broadband utilization throughout the continent, whereas conventional gamers have been rolling out new companies and making an attempt to maintain their linear companies alive.
“At APOS 2025, we’re centered on serving to the trade navigate by disruption and alternative,” says Couto, the veteran analyst who led the creation and can be Managing Director of Media Companions Asia. “The following wave of monetization is right here, and it’s not nearly extra eyeballs, however higher economics. We’ve designed a program that addresses the large shifts: the monetization of sport and leisure, the function of AI throughout the stack, and the way platforms are scaling within the huge native markets that matter.”
So what are the urgent dwell points? Couto says one is that each the worldwide giants and scaled native companies want to seek out “extra sturdy” methods of earning profits and investing on content material to seal their spots within the new digital ecosystem. “Our focus is how that transition and monetization retains tempo, and who has the methods to drive it,” he provides.
APOS begins on June 24 with an invite-only CEO Discussion board, adopted by a welcome reception on the Ayana Resort. Day 1 of the convention (June 25) is an enormous one for movie and TV. An early spotlight shall be Google’s Gupta discussing the ability of storytelling in his discuss on Asia’s digital future. “Google clearly has a view on the affect of AI on content material creation and the expansion of creators, who’re monetizing by social platforms,” says Couto. “It is also a really huge alternative for long-form creators. Everyone seems to be experimenting with AI.”
We hear that on the identical morning, Netflix’s Kang, who’s VP of Content material, Korea, will talk about the efficiency of Squid Sport Season 2, simply days forward of Season 3’s launch. “Netflix has a view on the way it did, and Kang additionally needs to handle [emerging perceptions] of a lull within the Korean artistic economic system. Korea is crucial for Netflix, as they’ll be investing round $700M there in subsequent 3-4 years.”
Ex-Disney boss Mayer will even deal with tips on how to scale storytelling, whereas former Fox Networks boss Lopez will talk about the economics of streaming from the attitude of his consultancy Owl & Co. Prime Video India execs will discuss monetizing the explosion in streaming in India, whereas JioStar execs seem a number of instances as their JioHotstar platform continues with its mission to be a service for a “billion screens” throughout India. Couto says the shift in direction of short-form content material, which has blown up in China and Korea by micro-drama platforms comparable to TopReels, is dictating how a number of firms are approaching content material investments in 2025.
Different factors of dialogue would be the sturdy theatrical development in Indonesia, HBO Max’s debut in Australia, the increasing addressable TV adverts market in India and sports activities IP. Couto expects a lot discuss to middle on how firms ought to exploit the altering nature of leisure consumption, giving the instance of Disney, whose client merchandise, parks and experiences enterprise now generates over 50% of its working revenue on a worldwide foundation. That is one place the place the normal gamers might need the higher hand over the likes of Netflix and YouTube.
“The distinction for gamers like Disney and Warner, particularly, is that they’ve received loads of revenues popping out of client merchandise,” he says. “It emphasizes the necessity to think about all income streams past display screen leisure.” In an identical vein, Couto notes that Google will deal with why YouTube is wanting into subscription fashions, “pushed by the necessity to maintain development past advert revenues.”
Day 2 morning shall be centered on AI – no surprises there, because the dialog strikes in direction of digital firms comparable to Sandbox, StoryFit and TikTok. After lunch, there shall be a session on U.S. content material’s affect in APAC, with Chris Taylor, MD APAC, Tv Distribution, Networks & DTC at NBCUniversal; Amanda Laing, MD Streaming & Broadcast, 9 Leisure; Adam Herr, SVP of Distribution, APAC at Sony Footage Leisure and Toshi Honda, COO at U-Subsequent showing collectively on a panel. Nicholas Simon, founder and CEO of The White Lotus Season 3 co-producer Indochina Productions will seem in a chat about Asia’s artistic economic system going world, alongside Banijay Asia CEO Deepak Dhar and Disalada Disayanon from Kantana Group. Storytelling within the fast-growing theatrical market of Indonesia, the micro-drama increase, sports activities streaming and media investments will even be on the menu.
The important thing focuses at APOS this 12 months when it comes to markets are India, the place addressable TV advert development is supercharging streaming revenues; Japan, which Couto says has “actually come of age as a $5.5B premium VOD market, led by SVOD and premium AVOD”; Indonesia, the place the theatrical market has exploded; and Australia, which he predicts will see extra big-scale M&A following DAZN’s deal for paycaster Foxtel.
Ulitmately, the whole occasion shall be geared in direction of what comes subsequent. “As we go into this 12 months’s APOS, Netflix, Disney, Amazon and YouTube and scaled native platforms comparable to JioStar, U-Subsequent and Foxtel are all producing revenue and increasingly money,” says Couto. “The important thing query is now about sustaining the steadiness between rising margins and investing to drive new development.”
