Viu OTT service launches in Singapore


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 12 January 2016




PCCW Media is set to launch its over-the-top (OTT) video service Viu with Singtel in Singapore, having also sealed a regional deal with Korea’s top four broadcasters SBS, KBS, MBC and CJ E&M.


The agreement gives Viu, which has been delivering Korean shows for free in Hong Kong since October 2015, an exclusive window and pan-regional rights to 95% of the four broadcasters’ latest dramas, as well as variety shows from South Korea.

Viewers in Singapore will be able to watch variety shows Running Man and The Return of Superman as well as newly released dramas Remember, Moorim School, and soon-to-be released Descendants of the Sun starring Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki, Happy Ending Once Again and Signal. K-pop music shows Music Bank and Inkigayo will also be on Viu.

“Recent research we conducted on online viewing of drama across multiple Asian markets has shown Korean content to be amongst the most popular content category for Asian viewers. 53% to 80% of viewers surveyed across Singapore, Malaysia and other markets like Jakarta, watch Korean drama on a regular basis,” said Janice Lee, managing director, PCCW Media Group.

“With the support of key content providers and telecommunications companies, we aim to provide the best content delivered on quality networks as we roll out Viu in the region.”

Viu will also be rolled out in Malaysia, Indonesia and India, with a growing catalogue of Korean, Japanese, Chinese titles and more to suit the different markets.

The OTT service was launched following PCCW’s investment last year into mobile video platform Vuclip. In Hong Kong, the Viu app has been downloaded more than 500,000 times as of the end of 2015.

DJ Lee, president of Media Content Business, CJ E&M said: “We are pleased to distribute our latest television programmes on PCCW Media’s OTT Platform to audiences beyond Korea. The millennial generation is a mass group of our audience and we are pleased to partner with Viu to reach out to them in a way tailored to their lifestyle of accessing entertainment on mobile devices.”