Viu, PCCW’s leading pan-regional OTT video streaming service, announced that the platform was the number 1 premium video on demand platform in terms of the number of Monthly Average Users (MAUs) in Greater Southeast Asia, following the latest Media Partners Asia (MPA) AMPD Research report for Q4 2021, released on March 28. The report revealed that Viu’s MAUs is once again ahead of other major streaming platforms in Greater Southeast Asia and continued to be the highest for all quarters of 2021. The platform also ranked second in both paid subscribers and premium video streaming minutes amongst major video streaming platforms in Greater Southeast Asia in Q4 2021.

Ms. Helen Sou, Chief Business Officer, Asia, Viu, said, “Viu’s consistent performance in a very competitive region, coupled with our significant growth in monetization in 2021, firmly entrenched Viu as a leading player in this part of the world. Our content has clearly resonated with our Asian audience, and our freemium business model has consistently proven popular with both consumers and ecosystem partners. As the destination of premium Asian content, we will continue to invest in stories that are relevant, from both our expanding content partnerships as well as with Viu Original productions.”

Expanding the focus on original content

In 2021, the Viu Original production strategy proved to be successful in providing differentiation in the markets. Compared to 2020, the top 10 Viu Original titles showed stellar growth of over 94% in video views and an exponential increase of over 200% in video minutes. This helped drive subscriptions by 58% from 5.3 million in 2020, to 8.4 million in 2021.

With the focus on delivering content that has an international appeal and yet is rooted in what is familiar culturally in Asia, Viu Original productions paved the way for newer monetization avenues in non-Viu territories like the Americas and Europe, stretching over 20 platforms worldwide. In addition, within Viu markets, these productions also provide a great opportunity for working with brands on product placements and sponsorships.

Positive reception for local original content in markets such as the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia will see production increase dramatically, with 30 titles slated for release across six languages. Titles that will be released in April and May as part of this plan include the second season of titles Pretty Little Liars and Assalamualaikum Calon Imam, whose respective first seasons were well received not only in Indonesia and Malaysia but also around the region as well.

Thailand will have two highly anticipated titles released in the coming months, including rap musical Wannabe featuring Thailand National Film Association Award winner “Nonkul” Chanon Santinatornkul and veteran Thai Hip Hop artist “Tan” Jawpraya Tanyuk. Close Friend was extremely well received in Thailand too during its first season and returns for a second season at a time where online buzz for the title and the genre is at an all-time high in the country.

Following the success of the Korean Viu Original titles in 2021 such as Now We Are Breaking Up, two Korean Viu Originals are set for release in the upcoming months. Based on a web novel of the same title, Again My Life will premiere in April starring multiple award-winning actor Lee Joon Gi. Also slated for release in the same month is the romantic comedy From Now On, Showtime! casting award winner Park Hae Jin and is directed by the man behind one of the classic fantasy romantic comedies, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon.

Viu continues to invest in working with top creative talents in the industry to produce original titles that continue to appeal across the region, cementing its reputation as the hub of the best Korean and Asian content.