Northeast Asia Video Summit 2025: The pay TV- streaming shift in Japan, Korea

Held in Tokyo on Oct. 28, the 2025 Northeast Asia Video Summit, organized by the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), explored how Japan and South Korea are shaping the future of media and entertainment. Key topics included contrasting pay TV trends, streaming growth, cross-border anime and gaming partnerships, changing viewing habits, broadband expansion, connected TV advertising and digital piracy. The event showed how both markets are blending traditional TV strengths with digital innovation to create a more integrated, hybrid content ecosystem.

The Take

• Japan’s pay TV market is shrinking, while South Korea’s continues to grow, led by IPTV, though expansion is expected to slow as saturation increases.
• Operators in both markets are blending pay TV with streaming, premium content, and connected TV advertising to stay relevant.
• Fixed broadband growth, changing viewing habits, and digital piracy are reshaping content strategies and monetization models.

Japan's pay TV market is shrinking overall as consumers migrate toward free-to-air broadcasting and a rapidly expanding array of online video services. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan, subscriptions fell a 3.2% year-over-year contraction across cable TV, direct-to-home, reflecting a seven-year compound annual growth rate of negative 0.9%. 

Clients can access analysis for Japan telecom summary, 2024

Despite the pay TV headwinds, Japan's video market shows resilience, anchored by a loyal and aging audience, with viewers 40 and up for sports and 60 and up for drama. Executives from A+E Global Media, SKY Perfect JSAT Corp., and Warner Bros. (Japan) Inc. emphasized strategies to revitalize the pay TV sector, including hybrid deals, bundled digital content, branded blocks on FTA satellite, and ad agency models in Southeast Asia. Partnerships with JCOM Co. Ltd. allow providers to reach viewers while sustaining investment, and the company's Shin Standard model, which integrates linear TV with platforms such as Netflix Inc., helps reduce churn and strengthen platform stickiness.

Japan's evolving content ecosystem plays a critical supporting role. At the event, TBS HoldingsInc.'s Executive Officer Katsuaki Setoguchi noted that "Japan's global expansion is fueled by culture, not just commerce," pointing to titles like "Alice in Borderland" as examples of how strong intellectual property (IP), cultural narratives, and cross-border collaborations with platforms such as Netflix, Amazon.com Inc. and U-NEXT Co. Ltd. enhance international presence. These initiatives, combined with curated content and culturally resonant programming, help sustain premium content pipelines that benefit both streaming platforms and pay TV operators, appealing to viewers across generations.

Broadband expansion is shaping viewing habits, with S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan estimating that Japan’s fixed broadband subscriptions grew 1.6% year over year. Stronger connectivity is driving greater streaming adoption and prompting pay TV operators to upgrade interfaces, integrate services, and advance their advertising capabilities.

South Korea stands at the opposite end of the pay TV spectrum, with subscriptions up 1.4% year over year and multi subscription homes driving penetration above 100%, though growth is likely to slow due to saturation. Operators balance creativity with commercial discipline, and international partnerships with Japan and other Asian markets help secure premium IP for both domestic pay TV and global streamers, supporting Korea’s push to become a global content powerhouse.

Clients can access analysis for South Korea telecom summary, 2024.

Across both markets, connected TV and addressable advertising are reshaping pay TV monetization models. In Japan, slow advertiser adoption, limited programmatic capabilities, and fragmented measurement remain challenges, yet targeted advertising delivers strong results, with INVIDI reporting a 13.5x return on ad spend and 900% revenue growth. South Korea's advanced connected TV ecosystem demonstrates the potential of data-driven advertising to enhance monetization within a broader, integrated viewing environment.

Streaming platforms continue to grow while increasingly intersecting with pay TV rather than replacing it. AbemaTV Inc. has expanded into more than 20 markets, driven by sports and animation content, while Dazn Japan aims to triple its subscriber base and promote Japanese sports abroad through partnerships with Docomo and Meta. In South Korea, TVING leverages impression-guaranteed advertising, contextual ad formats and interactive features such as Watch Together. As Chief Business Officer Joshua Sunghyun Cho said, "Streaming has moved beyond premium branding; it is now performance driven."

Together, Japan and South Korea reveal two distinct but converging trajectories for pay TV. Japan faces a gradual decline but retains a durable audience reliant on linear viewing for drama, sports and legacy content. South Korea, powered by IPTV, remains one of the world's most penetrated pay TV markets despite rising digital alternatives. In both countries, the future of pay TV depends on blending traditional strengths with digital innovation, leveraging premium content, advanced advertising, hybrid models and strategic partnerships to remain relevant in an increasingly hybrid media ecosystem.

Global Broadband & Pay TV is a regular feature from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan.