NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.—Horowitz’s new "FOCUS Asian: State of Consumer Engagement 2022" study finds that only 34% of Asian consumers feel that they are seeing more brands going out of their way to market and advertise to their community. They are much less likely than their Black (45%) and Latinx (44%) counterparts to feel this way, the study found.

This represents a missed opportunity for brands, given that the study also finds that when it comes to advertising, more than half (56%) of Asian consumers are drawn to ads centered around Asian people and culture, and about half (47%) say that it would impact their decision to buy from a company if it spent a substantial portion of their advertising dollars supporting Asian media, the researchers reported. 

Among the Asian consumers surveyed, nearly two-thirds (65%) consume at least some of their media – including TV, radio, internet, and social media – in their Asian language.

Yet, Asian consumers are seeing improvements in terms of representation when it comes to TV content, the Horowitz study finds. 

Four in ten (40%) Asian consumers say they are seeing more Asian actors as lead characters, and nearly four in ten (39%) are seeing more nuanced portrayals of Asian characters and communities in the scripted shows they are watching. Younger (18-34 years old) Asian audiences are the most likely to be seeing these improvements in representation.

Original content from streaming services (45%), original content from premium services (43%), and dramas (41%) are perceived as having the best representation of Asian people and communities, while dating reality shows, unscripted TV shows, and lifestyle reality shows are more likely to be perceived as having poor representation.

“In the past few years, there’s been an important shift in focus on behalf of media companies and advertisers to do better when it comes to representation and inclusion in ads and content, which is being noticed,” noted Adriana Waterston, chief revenue officer and insights & strategy lead for Horowitz Research. “However, we are just at the beginning of the conversation about how to do diversity ‘right’. There is still a tremendous opportunity to be inclusive not just of Black and Latinx Americans who comprise the majority of multicultural America, but to reflect a broader multicultural sensibility that is inclusive of other cultural and ethnic communities — such as the very diverse Asian population in the U.S. — that do not get to see themselves portrayed on screen as often as some others do.”

The full FOCUS Asian: State of Consumer Engagement 2022 report provides analysis of adults 18+. The survey was conducted in July 2022 in English among 1,800 adults, with 309 online surveys among Asian adults. Data have been weighted to ensure results are representative of the overall TV universe. 

More information on the report is available here. 

MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd., (MEASAT), in partnership with Globecast, has announced today that BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, has renewed its agreement to distribute its BBC channels across Asia via the MEASAT-3 satellite.

“We are delighted to continue the partnership with Globecast, supporting BBC Studio’s channel distribution across Asia,” said Yau Chyong Lim, Chief Operating Officer, MEASAT. “This service extension with MEASAT and Globecast shows the strength of our 91.5°E video neighbourhood for broadcasters.”  

The channels include BBC Earth HD, which inspires audiences by sharing the incredible wonders of the universe; CBeebies HD, which provides pre-school age programming to encourage learning through play; and BBC Lifestyle Asia, which provides a wealth of inspiration for home, family and life.  

Globecast provides MEASAT satellite capacity, ground and uplink services to BBC Studios, carrying these channels to viewers across the Asian market. 

Shakunt Malhotra, Managing Director, Globecast, said, “We have a longstanding, productive partnership with MEASAT in Asia, delivering channels across the region and we are pleased that BBC Studios has chosen to renew their services with us.” 

“With MEASAT and Globecast, we have found strong and reliable partners for the distribution of BBC channels into Asia,” said Shad Hashmi, SVP, BBC Studios. “MEASAT and Globecast have addressed our business needs and we look forward to continue partnering with them in the years to come.”  

MEASAT-3 is collocated with the MEASAT-3a and MEASAT-3b satellites at Asia’s prime video hot slot of 91.5°E. The three satellites form the region’s strongest video neighbourhood, providing UHD, HD and SD channels across Asia, Australia, East Africa and Eastern Europe. The MEASAT fleet will be further strengthened with the addition of MEASAT-3d in 2021.

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.—Nearly eight in 10 Asian viewers of TV content stream shows via the internet, far higher than the 65% of viewers overall who stream, according to a new report from Horowitz Research.

The report, “Focus Asian: The Media Landscape 2019,” also reveals that 52% of Asians spend more than half of their viewing time streaming, and 25% stream all of their content.

Of Asian-language viewers, 59% stream Asian-language content compared to 31% who consume such content via traditional over-the-air, cable or satellite TV, the report finds. According to the research firm, the desire of Asian TV viewers to access content that culturally resonates with them and originates in their home countries is driving this streaming activity.

“Even back in the 1990s, when internet meant dial-up and streaming videos was not even in our consideration sets, we found that many tech-forward Asian households had found ways to access and download content from their countries of origin to their computer—a painstakingly slow process that would take all night—so that they could watch their episode the next day,” said Adriana Waterston, SVP of Insights at Horowitz Research.

Several factors have combined to create a “perfect storm,” in the words of the research group, that have led to Asians becoming leading-edge streamers. Those include tech savviness, demand for international content not generally available or expensive to subscribe to in the United States and the challenges pay-TV industry operators face serving culturally and linguistically diverse consumers.

According to Horowitz Research, Asians under-index for pay TV: 71% for traditional MVPD service versus 82% overall. Among those who do subscribe to pay TV, 38% also buy an in-language or international package. The percentage was highest among Indians at 38%, followed by Filipinos at 36% and Chinese at 19%.

The Horowitz report finds that having access to channels aimed at Asian audiences as well as those with international content are important factors for more than 40% of Asians in making TV subscription decisions.

Netflix is one of the main providers of Asian content, says Horowitz. Thirty-nine percent of in-language viewers say they access Asian-language content via the service. Sling TV and DirecTV Now are also targeting Asian audiences with in-language content packages.

The Asian market has been challenging for traditional pay-TV providers because of this audience’s numerous countries of origin, notes Waterston. With so many languages and cultural nuances, scalability has been a problem.

“The efficiency and personalization of streaming solves many of the inherent challenges of serving this audience. Now the question will be which players will rise to the occasion," she said.

More information about the report is available online.