28 September- C NTENT 4 October 2020 www.contentasia.tv l www.contentasiasummit.com Thailand’s TrueID enters Indonesia, Philippines Modest opening act for Thai operator’s regional streaming ambitions Thailand’s True Group is making a play for Southeast Asia’s on-demand audiences, adding even more streaming activity to the regional frenzy and hanging another heavy load of hopes, dreams and ambi- tion on, among others, Indonesia’s popu- lation of 274 million. The full story is on page 5 q Mobile streaming at 657b minutes 4 SEA markets hit 10m paying subs Mobile video streaming minutes in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines jumped 30% in the first quarter this year over the same three months last year, with Netflix and Viu driving premium video on demand across the four markets, new data from MPA’s AMPD shows. The full story is on page 2 q PLUS... • Zee ups Pakistan premium drama • ABS-CBN expands Dyogi’s role • Wavve hits 10m free/paid subs • 20 Oct debut for Todd Miller’s book • #ContentAsiaRecommends show picks C NTENTASIA Page 2. ABS-CBN production Mobile streaming at 657 billion minutes boss Laurenti Dyogi to Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines & Singapore @ 10m $ subs head talent agency Star Magic Laurenti Dyogi Veteran ABS-CBN staffer Laurenti Dyogi is taking over from Mariole Alberto as head of the Philippines’ talent manage- ment agency Star Magic from 1 Jan 2021. The new role will run alongside his current job as head of entertainment production. Alberto is exiting the com- pany on 31 Dec 2020 as part of sweep- ing cutbacks at ABS-CBN since its broad- Mobile video streaming minutes in Indo- Viu had 17% share, driven by Indone- cast franchise ended in May. nesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Phil- sia, the Philippines and Thailand. ippines jumped 30% in the first quarter The report says SVOD in Indonesia has this year over the same three months “a long way to go” but is showing en- q last year, with Netflix and Viu driving couraging signs of growth driven by af- premium video on demand across the fordable plans by key operators cater- Japan’s NHK adds 3 titles four markets, new data from Media ing to the mobile mass market. Similar Partners Asia’s (MPA) AMPD shows. trends are occurring in Thailand though to Lineup partnership Total mobile streaming minutes rose from a higher base. Philippines and Sin- another 19% in Q2 to reach 657 billion, gapore continue to grow steadily. most of it on YouTube. Netflix remains the largest SVOD play- At the end of June, the four markets er across the four markets with more had a total of 10 million paying subs than 3.3 million subscribers. (unadjusted for overlapping users/subs), Viu is in second place with an estimat- up from seven million at the end of ed 2.2 million paying subs. March 2020. Netflix grew significantly in the first half The report says YouTube’s share of 2020 on the back of mobile pricing and streaming minutes was 84% in Q2 2020, the popularity of its Korean content, in- Chiko’s Challenge driven by free-to-air TV content, music ternational and U.S. originals and local and user-generated kids content. acquisitions. The commercial arm of Japanese public Ex-YouTube, total streaming minutes HBO Go had about 400,000 paying broadcaster NHK is working with Amster- grew 57% to reach 107 billion in Q2 ver- and authenticated subs in Q2 2020 on dam-based indie Lineup Industries again sus 68 billion in Q1. mobile, driven largely by direct subs in to boost the international footprint of Netflix had 39% share, driven by sig- Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. three formats – puppet-based talk show nificant growth in Indonesia, the Philip- In Thailand, TrueID has 1.5 million pay- The Late Night Show with Nitty & Gritty, pines and Thailand along with steady ing and authenticated subscribers. documentary format 72 Hours, and com- growth in Singapore. edy quiz show Chiko’s Challenge. The new “strategic partnership” announced on Monday (28 Sept) excludes Asia. The contentasia new agreement follows NHK’s adapta- tion of Radio Gaga with Lineup; the show is in its third season in Japan. click to get cooking 28 September 2020-4 october 2020 page 3. C NTENTASIA 28 September-4 October 2020 Page 4. South Korea’s Wavve hits Zee ups Pakistan drama 10m streaming subs New original series from Zee5 & Motion Content Group South Korea’s year-old streaming plat- form Wavve has crossed the 10 mil- lion paid and unpaid subscriber mark. Wavve chief executive Lee Tae-hyun outlined a two to three-year profitabil- ity timeline to domestic media, and said original content was the best de- fence against global streamers such as Netflix and Disney+. Local reports have tracked Wavve’s dip early this year, at- tributing the fall to Netflix, with a recent rebound driven by shows such as his- torical romcom The Tale of Nokdu and sci-fi romance Alice. The company was formed last year by Korea’s big three broadcast giants – KBS, MBC and SBS – and telco SK Telecom. Ek Jhoothi Love Story q Indian streaming platform Zee5 and the story of “an imperfect family chasing WPP-owned Motion Content Group are perfections in this imperfect world”. Netflix, Disney+, Amazon following up this year’s Pakistan drama, Churails – the first Zindagi Original pro- Prime Video will control Churails, with light-hearted family series, duced by the Motion Content Group Ek Jhoothi Love Story. and Zee5 – is a thriller about four wom- half the world’s SVOD $$ The new series, premiering as a Zinda- en in Pakistan who join forces to form by 2025, new report gi Original on 30 October, is written by a detective agency to find cheating Umera Ahmed (Behadd, Ek Thi Marium) husbands and later find themselves em- and directed by Mehreen Jabbar (Lala broiled in a conspiracy. The series was Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Vid- Begum, Jackson Heights). created/written/directed by Pakistani- eo will together control half the world’s Ek Jhoothi Love Story stars Bilal Ab- British filmmaker Asim Abbasi. SVOD subscriptions by 2025, according bas Khan opposite Madiha Imam in the Churails premiered on Zee5 in August. to new data from Digital TV Research. Disney+ will be the biggest winner by adding 142 million subscribers between 2019 and 2025 to take its total to 172 Ex-Celestial Tiger boss Todd Milller turns author million. Netflix will add 91 million sub- scribers to total 263 million. China and Former Celestial Tiger Entertainment/ nancial security and life success and what the U.S. will together account for 51% Sony Pictures Television boss Todd Miller makes life delicious,” Miller says. of the global debuts his book, Enrich, on 20 October. “It is very much a product of Asia, and total by 2025. This is down from 63% in Published by Lioncrest Publishing with I incubated and threaded these con- 2019; indicating that other countries the tagline “creating wealth in time, mon- cepts during my entertainment industry are growing faster. ey and meaning”, the book “is about fi- career,” he adds. CONTENTASIA And the winners are... AWARDS https://contentasiaawards.com/winners-2020/ 2020 www.contentasiaawards.com C NTENTASIA 28 September-4 October 2020 Page 5. Thailand’s TrueID starts streaming in Indonesia, Philippines Modest opening act for Thai operator’s regional OTT ambitions Thailand’s True Group is making a play for Southeast Asia’s on-demand audiences, adding even more stream- ing activity to the regional frenzy and hanging another heavy load of hopes, dreams and ambition on, among others, Indonesia’s population of 274 million. In the last few weeks, True Digital has quietly flipped the switch on TrueID advertising-supported on-demand plat- forms in Indonesia and the Philippines, following about nine months of prep in Jakarta and Manila. In both markets, the platform is being offered as a standalone advertising- supported direct-to-consumer service, with telco (or other) distribution partner- Tadhana, TrueID Philippines/GMA Network ships under discussion. Indonesia country head, Armando consumed by Indonesians,” Siahaan “Finding the right content formula is Siahaan, says TrueID Indonesia’s com- says – that other regional players don’t key,” he says. petitive advantage is both its bottom- offer. “This is exactly why TrueID Indonesia up approach in terms of content mix as In the Philippines, the focus is on non- does not want to restrict itself to lim- well as services within the platform. scripted snackable content as well as ited content formats, genres and even “We have the ability to define our a curated list of articles, which other services, and instead offers a breadth platform prioritising the specific charac- OTT players don’t offer, says Philippines’ of content verticals that we believe will teristics of Indonesian audience,” he told country head, Dindo Marzan. resonate with Indonesian audiences”. ContentAsia. TrueID is committed to AVOD, includ- In the Philippines, Marzan says his big- “TrueID Indonesia offers long form con- ing native advertising/branded content gest challenge is “building a new brand tent like movies and series from Indone- in both the Philippines and Indonesia. in a country where True is not widely sia and other Asian countries, which may Any subscription tier (if there ever is one) known and Facebook, YouTube, and be similar to the other OTT platforms. But would be layered on top of the free Netflix are household names”. we will also include classic local movie services, Marzan says. Siahaan describes TrueID Indonesia’s titles or reruns of favourite local TV shows, “A huge segment of Indonesian audi- current slate – Asian content, with the which may not be considered by the ence comes from a tradition of watch- focus on Indonesia, Korean and Thai regional and global players,” he added.