Viu, PCCW’s leading pan-regional over-the-top (OTT) video streaming service, today announced the success of its latest Viu Original, Private Bodyguard, and Viu Original Adaptation, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, in Indonesia and the Philippines respectively. Both of these became the most watched shows on the platform within hours of being launched in their home markets. In addition, Private Bodyguard topped the chart in Malaysia while What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim became the second most watched series in Singapore and Hong Kong on the platform on their launch day.

Derek Wong, Vice President, Viu Original, commented, “With Viu Originals, we aim to resonate with our consumers on a much deeper level, with characters and stories that reflect the lives of our viewers. Private Bodyguard and What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim are great examples of Viu’s commitment to being relevant to our consumers, as we made successes out of the respective adaptations of a popular online novel and a well-received Korea rom-com, not just in their home markets but also across the region.” Viu Original Private Bodyguard is based on the story by the same name that was published on X. The series takes a fresh spin on the classic “poor girl falls in love with the handsome rich boy” angle. The anti-bullying stance and how the protagonist stands up against all odds to the bullies in her high school have resonated well with Viu-ers. Private Bodyguard is produced in collaboration with Sinemart, which forms part of the Emtek media company, with over 20 years of experience in the formats of television, cinematic and, more recently, OTT.

Viu Original Adaptation What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim has created a buzz on social media since its announcement last quarter. Momentum for the show continued to build which, as anticipated, quickly climbed the charts to the top position on Viu on launch day. In the lead roles are Kim Chiu, who has over 12.5 million followers on Instagram, and Paulo Avelino, a much sought-after film and television actor in the Philippines, who play Secretary Kim and Mr Vice-Chairman respectively. Created in partnership with ABS-CBN Entertainment and produced by Dreamscape, this is the third collaboration between the teams.

The popularity of the two shows propelled the Viu app onto the top of the download list both on the App Store and Google Play around their respective launch periods. Close on the heels of these two shows, which are dropping new episodes every week, Viu is all set to release four brand-new Viu Originals in the coming quarter, beginning with Secret Ingredient, the first Viu Original by a Korean director and scriptwriter, starring Korean actor Sang Heon Lee in the lead role alongside Julia Barretto from the Philippines and Nicholas Saputra from Indonesia.