Guang Jin Yeo from Singapore, gave an overview of what works and what doesn’t across different podcast markets in Japan, Korea and South East Asia, also focusing on Asian podcast listening habits.
Speaking at RadioDays Asia’s podcast day, Yeo based his analysis on recent GWI data sets. He believes that, “the time to enter the podcast market is now. The data shows that within 3+/- points (with the exception of Japan), podcasts have equal or more listenership than radio.”
Drilling down on the data further he focused on Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam to explain the differences within the Asian market. Japan has the lowest podcast listenership, Indonesia has the highest podcast listenership and Vietnam has twice the audiobook habit of the US.
One factor that has made a difference to growth is the regulatory environments in each country.
“Japanese legislation makes it difficult to grow the podcast market,“ Yeo said. “Copyright infringement involves 10 years in prison, where as in other Asian regions it’s 5 years.”
Indonesia is experiencing its ‘Serial moment of podcast awareness and rapid growth according to Yeo. “Indonesians keep coming back to listen to the chat style format, popularised by Deddy Corbuzier, who is seen as the ‘Joe Rogan’ of Indonesia.”
‘Rintek Sedu’ is another podcast listeners have embraced as it connects with their emotional needs. One listener commented: “Life is complex so they laugh … and cry with Rintek Sedu”
The Indonesian market also has less access to books, which is also a factor in podcast growth.
A knowledge of cultural expectations also increases market understanding. “Vietnamese enjoy audiobooks because radio in Vietnam has always been scripted, which makes that style of audio compatible with listening habits. This contrasts with Indonesia’s off the cuff style of audio content, and Indonesia also has a strong culture of learning.”
“The audiobook ecosystem in Vietnam shows that listeners who want to listen enough are willing to pay, that there is room for start ups that facilitate audio books, and that there are writers keen to develop audio books,” he said.
In Vietnam, the culture of learning also extends into podcasts. The top 5 Vietnamese podcast categories are: Education, Arts, Society and Culture, Business, Music.
Other interesting podcasts in Singapore and Malaysia include:
“The final take away is to unlock the next billion creators in the region by going deeper, wider and harder,” said Yeo.
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