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Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter

Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter

An analysis conducted by Twitter and Circus Social on a sample of 500,000 Tweets around entertainment in Thailand reveals some interesting insights into the profile of the Twitter Entertainment audience in Thailand, and shows that Thai Twitter users talk much more about locally produced TV series and movies than international titles.

It was also found that in general, Thais Tweet more about TV series (77 per cent) than movies (23 per cent), bucking the regional trend where 64 per cent of the conversation is about movies and just 36 per cent about TV series.

Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter
1. Leaned In vs Leaned Back
Based on a qualitative analysis of the Tweets around entertainment in Thailand, the audience on Twitter can be divided into two main profiles - Leaned in vs Leaned back. 
Leaned in audiences look for shows that reflect their interests and seek to feel part of a bigger community with similar interests. Three main interests stand out in this group - local (Thai) entertainment fans, Netflix fans, and Korean entertainment fans. 
Leaned back audiences, on the other hand, approach entertainment as a way to fill time when they’re not at work or school, or during holidays. 
2. TV holds strong as a platform due to content 
Amid the rise of OTT and streaming platforms, TV still commands high demand as compared to paid or illegal streaming platforms. 
Comparing the Tweet and Google search volumes, it is noted that search interest in paid and illegal streaming platforms are comparable, but both are lower than TV. 
Content is a top factor affecting Thai users’ choice of viewing platform - a number of users have switched to online streaming platforms due to their interest in Korean programmes, as well as a greater variety of niche genres such as horror and/or fantasy. 
3. Local titles trump global titles
Across both movies and TV series, Thai Twitter users are more inclined to Tweet about locally produced titles than international ones. This is despite the fact that the number of local film launches is considerably lower than international films - the difference is that local films generate significantly more conversation volume. 
Amongst the top most-talked about local films in 2018 were “BNK48 Girls Don’t Cry” and “Brother of the Year”, both of which generated even more conversations than Hollywood blockbusters “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther”. Local films also tend to be talked about more positively than international films. 

Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter

Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter
Dramas are a highly popular genre for TV series and in Thailand, local drama dominates the TV series conversations with “Buppesannivas” and “Love Destiny” taking the top spots of most talked-about TV series in 2018. Similar to movies, local TV series also enjoy higher positive sentiment than international TV series. 

Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter

Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter
While Thailand has the highest rate of conversation around local TV, this preference for locally produced TV content is reflected across Southeast Asia with 77 per cent of conversations around TV revolving around local TV series, compared to 23 per cent around international TV series. 
“Our recent research gives valuable insight into the way Twitter is used in Thailand. Thai users are very passionate about TV series and movies, more so about locally produced content than international, and enjoy debating storylines and plot with fellow fans on Twitter. The engagement and community interaction is very high, providing brands valuable opportunities to connect with a very leaned in audience on Twitter,” said Martyn U’ren, head of Research Asia Pacific, Middle East & North Africa.
4. Tweets about TV series and movies vary in style
When Thais tweet about TV series and movies, they do so in different ways. Passionate and engaged, fans discuss in length TV series’ plots and storylines, and in the case of historical TV dramas discuss historical accuracy.
While the TV conversation is detailed and takes place over a longer period of time, the movie conversation is much shorter with users more commonly sharing links to reviews they agree with or Tweeting their own brief review to avoid spoiling the movie for others. 

Thais favour Thai TV and Thai movies over international says Twitter
The movie conversation also focuses around upcoming titles and users’ excitement prior to the launch, while the conversation around TV series is often real-time, rapid, detailed and ongoing.

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