How Indonesia's premium streaming video service Vidio is outperforming Netflix and Disney+ in terms of consumption in the world's fourth most populous country
Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg : Tweets: @lucas_shaw and @lucas_shaw Tweets: Lucas Shaw / @lucas_shaw : Netflix, Amazon and Disney dominate online video in almost every major market. But in Indonesia, they are looking up at Vidio. I wrote about the unlikely success of a local streaming player for this week's newsletter. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Lucas Shaw / @lucas_shaw : YouTube and TikTok account for more than 90% of online video usage in Southeast Asia, per MPA. https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Indonesia is the standing exception to the rule that American streamers win everywhere: Bloomberg reports Vidio out-consumes Netflix and Disney+ there even as those two dominate most major markets. The result fits a regional pattern already visible elsewhere in Southeast Asia, where iQiyi and Tencent have been gaining on Netflix through original productions, free ad-supported tiers, and low-fee subscriptions.
The competitive frame is also shaped by what sits above premium streaming: MPA data cited by Lucas Shaw puts YouTube and TikTok at more than 90% of online video usage in Southeast Asia, meaning Vidio is winning a fight for the small remainder while global platforms fight over scraps. The same dynamic played out in India, where cheap mobile data built a huge viewing base that local-priced services contested — see the earlier coverage of India's Jio-fueled streaming boom.
First-order effects
- Netflix and Disney+ are consuming less than a local player in the world's fourth most populous country, forcing both to treat Indonesia as a bespoke market rather than part of a global rollout.
- Vidio's consumption lead gives it the stronger position for Indonesian advertising and local-content deals, since it owns the audience the global platforms lack.
Second-order effects
- The iQiyi/Tencent playbook — free tiers with ads and low-fee plans — is now validated twice in Southeast Asia, pressuring Netflix and Disney+ to localize pricing rather than defend premium-only positioning.
- Advertisers seeking Indonesian video reach concentrate spend on Vidio plus YouTube and TikTok, leaving Western subscription services competing for a thin paid slice of attention.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds across emerging markets, global streaming leadership becomes market-by-market rather than universal: whoever wins the US — where Nielsen puts Netflix at 7–8% of TV viewing — does not automatically win Indonesia or India.
- Local champions paired with free, ad-supported models may become the default structure of Asian streaming markets, with US platforms reduced to niche premium positions unless they acquire or partner locally.
The trend: Streaming is fragmenting into regional markets where local players and Chinese platforms using free, ad-supported, low-price models beat the global US services that dominate the West.