Streaming sites known as subscription video on demand (SVOD) providers that include Netflix and Amazon Prime stand to lose $120 million in revenues this year from the Philippines due to the prevalent piracy in the country, ranking third in Southeast Asia.
Neil Gane, general manager of Asia Video Industry Association’s (AVIA) Coalition Against Piracy, in a statement cited a report of Media Partners Asia which showed that while SVOD is projected to become a $250-million industry in the Philippines this year, the industry would lose half of its potential.
Gane said while SVOD has been growing in the country, led by current players such as Netflix, Viu, HBO Go and Prime Video, about 49 percent of respondents in a YouGov Consumer Research said they accessed piracy streaming sites in September 2020, behind 53 percent in Thailand and 50 percent in Vietnam. The Philippines ranked third among the 8 countries covered by the research in terms of the percentage of consumers who admit having accessed piracy streaming sites.
Gane said piracy restrains the growth of the creative industry and deprives the government of tax revenues.
Gane said that in the same survey, 47 percent of consumers in the Philippines who accessed piracy sites admitted having cancelled their subscriptions to both local and international content services.
He said most respondents believe that online piracy have negative consequences for the Philippines.
About 50 percent of respondents in the YouGov study believe that online piracy results in people who work in the creative industry losing their jobs and 55 percent say that online piracy results in people making profits from content that is not theirs.
About 49 percent of the respondents believe that online piracy increases the risk of malware infections on people’s computers and devices and 44 percent say online pirates do not pay taxes and therefore all of society is being defrauded.
About 29 percent of the respondents say online piracy has negative consequences for the Philippines in other ways, while only 9 percent believe that online piracy does not have negative consequences for the Philippines.
AVIA is an industry association composed of multichannel TV broadcast, digital multichannel television, content, platforms, advertising and video delivery service providers across Asia.
