In the first part of this story, we explored what drives the demand for Chinese content in Asia.

Continued investments in fresh genres and high-quality productions

iQiyi, which not only streams a wide selection of Chinese content but also popular K-drama titles, sees an overlap in the K-drama audience that they’re able to pull them to Chinese drama. Kuek said, “I think we’re trying to make sure that we always try out different styles and genres. We want to break out beyond that group so that people don’t pigeonhole Chinese content to only period dramas or rom-com.” 

Part of the streamer’s efforts is to experiment with different styles and genres. An example of this is the Chinese horror series The Ferryman: Legends of Nanyang and the crime-themed Danger Zone. iQiyi is also betting on the upcoming drama Rainless Love In A Godless Land, which plays on Taiwanese mythology mixed with an urban setting. 

“If you look at our new attempts like Ferryman, we haven’t seen Chinese horror move beyond markets,” Kuek commented. “This is a big bet from us, it’s an unknown but we want to be market leaders and we want to be ahead of the curve. I think the new trend is that you’re going to see continued investments into genres that might be refreshing for audiences that have no Chinese content, mainly through either period dramas or romance.” 

Meanwhile, Celestial Tiger Entertainment, whose recent activities include launching on Singtel TV with the premium movie channel CM+ and the announcement of its expansion of Celestial Movies and CCM in Malaysia with unifi TV, believes that action and Kung-Fu movies will still become popular choices among viewers.

Commenting on why Chinese content resonates well with Asian audiences, Ofanny said, “I believe the audience will always connect with the authentic content, which is what Chinese content creators do well in. The simple and direct storylines, with common themes that apply across similar Asian cultures, also help the audience to identify and empathize more with the content.” 

Marianne said that for Viu, the supply of high-quality Chinese content has been popular and is gaining momentum with a wider audience in the region. She pointed to several changes such as the scale, quality in production in terms of story and star power. “Chinese content will continue to come from more than one country, including the likes of countries in the region like Singapore and Malaysia,” she added.

Consumer growth in Chinese content

iQiyi remains positive on the growth of Chinese content in the Southeast Asian market. Kuek said, “We’re excited about the growth that we are seeing in Southeast Asia where we are actually very confident that Chinese content could [have] mainstream appreciation soon.” 

Kuek pointed out that amongst Southeast Asian markets, iQiyi experienced the most growth in Thailand and Malaysia, adding, “I think these are two data points of the markets that we think are going to pop.”

Ofanny shared that Celestial Tiger Entertainment has seen growth in the Philippines, Africa, South Korea, and Thailand. In the Philippines, Celestial Movies Pinoy channel shows Chinese movies dubbed in Tagalog and it has consistently done well since its launch over five years ago. 

She said, “The channel’s reach has also grown steadily in recent years due to popular demand and we believe it will do even better moving forward.” They also noticed the same trend in Korea, with Celestial Movies being present in major platforms such as LG U+ and SK Broadband. 

Elsewhere, Celestial Tiger Entertainment’s presence in Africa through KIX, has done extremely well, featuring over 80% of Chinese content from Asia. “We understand that Thai consumers who love Chinese content are seeing more demand there, especially in SVOD consumption during the pandemic period,” Ofanny shared.

Meanwhile, Viu has been continuously expanding its offerings and delivering content that is tailored to the needs of an expanding population of online viewers in the region. 

In July, the company bolstered its Asian content through volume deals with Huace Film & TV and Huace Croton Media, which brings over 65 Chinese drama titles to seven east Asia territories such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Currently, Viu is in partnership with its sister company, ViuTV, which allows them to simulcast high-quality dramas produced in Hong Kong for the streamer’s Southeast Asia territories. 

Viu is also placing its bets on localized content with subtitles and dubbing and sees growth across the region because of this. She said, “While one would see the traction in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, non-Chinese speaking markets like Thailand will see growth due to our dubbing strategy.” 

With Southeast Asia’s willingness to experiment and sample Chinese content coupled with high production values and captivating stories, it looks like there will be a continued appetite for Chinese drama. 

Summing it up, Kuek noted the success of the award-winning 2020 thriller Bad Kids: “I think that ownership is the first thing we need to do to really be doing something to lead the C-wave. We’re pushing the boundaries in terms of coming up with an eight-episode format, the gritty noir that the Chinese audience hasn’t seen before.” 

He added that in terms of OTT, having cutting-edge technology is also helping the Chinese streamer lead the wave and investing in the availability of shows having different languages so that they’re closer to the audience. “A hallmark of our commitment is that amongst the regional or global streamers with Asian roots, I think the commitment to understanding what the local context is will help us push this Chinese drama wave.”

Marianne added, “OTT’s offering of choice and flexibility has made online viewing become mainstream, with a market where users are now open to engaging with more than one service. At Viu, we pride ourselves in recognizing trends quicker, such as the appetite for Korean dramas across several languages used in the region and demand for a free subscription tier. The aim is to continue to be frontrunners in the digital entertainment space in Asia.” 

This story appears in the October-November 2021 issue of Television Asia Plus.