According to data shared by the OTT service, the platform’s pan-Asian offering has helped achieve unprecedented growth in 2019.
PCCW Media Group-owned Viu has announced that the OTT video service reached 41.4m monthly active users (MAU) at the end of 2019, representing an increase of 35% over 2018. Additionally, video views grew 69% to 57bn year-over-year. The expanding user base and increased engagement have supported the growth in its video segment revenue, which grew by 32% in 2019.
More than 40% of Viu’ers watched Viu Original productions and those titles are ranked within the top five shows viewed, amongst all new titles launched in 2019.
Viu focusses on three key areas when developing Viu Original – creating original properties based on analytics and insights of consumption on our platform; innovating new production concepts such as My Bubble Tea (Thailand), a drama leveraging youth-oriented stories and online fanfictions; and locally adapting globally acclaimed properties, such as Black (Malaysia).
Viu is also planning to launch adaptations out of Indonesia and Malaysia including the remake of Pretty Little Liars in Asia. It is expected to air in Q1 2020 with an ensemble cast featuring Yuki Kato, Anya Geraldine, Eyka Farhana, Valerie Thomas and Shindy Huang.
Another production on the line is The Bridge 2, a collaboration between HBO Asia and Viu to create the second season of Endemol Shine Group’s The Bridge. It is expected to air in Q2 2020 with Ario Bayo joining returning cast Bront Palarae and Rebecca Lim in the lead roles.
Apart from that, Viu ranked number two in “IAP Revenue”, “Monthly Active Users”, “Total Time” and “Avg Time per user” respectively in December 2019 among top video streaming apps (entertainment category) in Greater Southeast Asia as verified by App Annie.
Commenting on the figures, Janice Lee, MD of PCCW Media Group and CEO of Viu, said, “In 2020, Viu continues to bring the widest and most popular Korean content and Viu Original productions to online audiences across markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. We look forward to showcasing these works from Asian creative talents to more audience internationally. We are delighted to see an increasing appetite for Asian content from audience globally as evidenced by the sweeping Oscar wins for Parasite this year, which can be watched on Viu in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines starting this month.”
