Viu, a leading pan-regional OTT video service by PCCW Media, hits 6 million monthly active users (MAU) across its markets in March this year, representing a 50% growth from 4 million since November 2016. Since launch in October 2015, Viu has been made available in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt and Bahrain.
Ms. Janice Lee, Managing Director, PCCW Media Group, said, “We are excited with the rapid expansion of Viu around the region both in terms of the number of markets we serve as well as the speed of market penetration. It is indeed very encouraging to see the high engagement with our users who spend almost 100 minutes a day viewing their favourite content on Viu. This stickiness helps propel the business of our telco partners, benefits content providers, drives subscriptions and boosts the consumption of online advertisements for advertisers who leverage Viu’s regional platform to reach the Millennials who are more receptive to digital advertisements.”
Viu operates on a dual model of an ad-supported tier and a premium subscription tier of service. Renowned industry research company, Statista, recently published a study on revenue estimates of video subscription and online video advertising which showed strong CAGR of subscription and online video advertising revenue, reaffirming the merits of Viu’s two pronged monetization strategy – see Table 1.
Ms. Lee added, “Benefiting from the overall market growth of online video consumption and based on a strong product and content proposition, Viu’s subscription and advertising revenue growth has exceeded the industry’s estimate of market growth.”
Table 1: Revenue estimation of video subscription and online video advertising (2015 -2020)
2015 rev 2016 rev 2017 rev 2018 rev 2019 rev 2020 rev 15-20 (USD mil) (USD mil) (USD mil) (USD mil) (USD mil) (USD mil) CAGR --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ----- Subscription (SVOD) 169 211 262 326 405 501 24.3% (?24.8%) (?24.2%) (?24.4%) (?24.2%) (?23.7%) Advertising (AVOD) 433 599 818 1,118 1,537 2,089 37.1% (?38.3%) (?36.6%) (?36.7%) (?37.5%) (?35.9%)
* Including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
Source: Digital Marketing Outlook, Statista
Viu Originals’ first and exclusive content holds strong appeal
As part of its ongoing quest to be the preferred OTT video entertainment platform in Asia, Viu is introducing Viu Originals as a creative initiative to further enhance user engagement, adding value for both telcos and advertisers.
Riding on PCCW Media’s extensive production expertise and experience, Viu offers viewers high quality Asian content with Viu Originals comprising Korean, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian productions.
In addition to compelling Korean programs which are popular with Asian audience, Viu Originals will feature vibrant, exclusive content including among others, Chinese drama and variety shows from ViuTV, Indian content, with recent releases of thrillers, dramas and comedies produced in collaboration with renowned Indian directors and premium Southeast Asian content for markets such as Indonesia.
“This collection of exciting original content will widen Viu’s appeal to users, enhancing the loyalty of viewers to subscriptions and engaging consumers for advertisers,” Ms Lee said.
Viu has entered into an agreement with SYS Productions in relation to the parties’ collaboration in producing a program under the Viu Original initiative entitled “Song Ji Hyo’s Beauty Views”, which is to be hosted by a celebrity from a popular Korea variety show, Running Man. The program is set to attract millions of viewers who are already big fans of Korean shows.
This show marks a rare occasion that a famous Korean celebrity with mass appeal across Asia works with a regional OTT video platform in a production to share the latest fashion and lifestyle tips in Korea. With “Hallyu” Korean wave sweeping over Asia, this Viu Originals production is primed to be a runaway success.
Song Ji Hyo’s Beauty Views will provide a refreshing approach, offering viewers an immersive experience and insights into Korean beauty and lifestyle trends. The show is expected to be popular with viewers and may feature episodes in which Song will travel overseas with Viu, interact with fans and share her experience of the products along with insightful advice on the latest fashion and style trends in Korea.
