iFlix plans massive expansion !!

Source:
http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/02/126346/iflix-plans-massive-expansion
(08 FEB 2016)

iFlix plans massive expansion 
BY BILQIS BAHARI - 8 FEBRUARY 2016 @ 11:00 AM

KUALA LUMPUR: IFLIX, an Internet television (TV) service provider in Southeast Asia, plans a massive expansion this year in emerging markets across three regions spanning Asia, Africa to Eastern Europe. 

Indonesia tops the list of the first few markets that iFlix will penetrate as it readies itself by engaging with strategic partners in the country, which has a 250 million population. “I’m going back to Indonesia in a couple of days,” said iFlix’s group chief operating officer and Malaysia’s chief executive Azran Osman-Rani when asked about the company’s plans on expanding to Indonesia. It is a huge priority market for iFlix, as are other markets in Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam and Cambodia, and those in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, he said. Azran said the company is actively engaged in discussions with partners in Indonesia and other key markets in Africa and the Middle East and is in the process of interviewing candidates. 

“This year alone, there will be a lot of announcements on new markets. It’s a long list and I’m pretty confident we will be in each of these regions this year itself,” he told Business Times in an interview recently. iFlix, a video-on-demand startup founded by Catcha Group head honcho Patrick Grove, was launched on May 26 last year. Its initial capital investment in content last year was US$30 million (RM124.5 million). This year, the company plans to double its content by offering more Hollywood movies and TV shows as well as Asian and local contents. “We started with a few thousand shows and today we’ve doubled the number. But in less than six months, we will double what we’ve just doubled. This means in less than six months, we will quadruple the amount of content that we’ve had when we first launched,” Azran said. He said new content is being added on iFlix every day and there are more exciting shows and movies in the pipeline. 

Some of the company’s popular content include American TV shows such as Fargo, Mad Men, Scandal, The Big Bang Theory as well as Malaysian content. There are also Korean and Philippine TV shows and movies in the content mix. iFlix has over 1.5 million subscribers in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Its recent deal with Telekom Malaysia Bhd to provide TV shows and movies to TM’s UniFi and Streamyx high-speed broadband customers have added over one million iFlix subscribers. iFlix’s unique business model, where it offers local content and local subtitles as well as allow viewers to download the content for offline preview, has garnered high interests among investors globally. “The level of investor interest has been very high. I think we are humbled and privileged to be able to have options,” Azran said, adding that its competitor Netflix’s announcement on worldwide expansion has accelerated the interest in iFlix. “For a lot of investors, it validates what was potentially an uncertainty. But now, investors are very clear of our business,” he also said. 

Netflix is an American-based Internet TV service provider, similar to iFlix. Earlier in January this year, it announced a huge global expansion in 130 countries including Malaysia, Kazakhstan and Russia. The presence of Netflix in Malaysia has not affected iFlix’s business and growth plans, said Azran, as both companies have different target markets as well as different price proposition and content. “iFlix is not a replacement for traditional broadcasters... neither iFlix is a replacement for Netflix nor Netflix is a replacement for iFlix. “Netflix is a modern day channel and iFlix is a modern day channel. Netflix has shows that iFlix doesn’t have. iFlix has three times the number of shows that Netflix doesn’t have,” he added. Meanwhile, speaking on the new landscape of TV broadcasting, Azran said the consumption of TV as a whole has changed in both developed and emerging markets. More people are watching movies and TV shows but they are watching less of it on a traditional big screen TV. “A big part of that is the advent of smartphones, which can show good quality, good resolution pictures and videos,” he added. On whether Internet content providers like iFlix would someday “kill” the traditional TV, Azran said it’s not either or because there’s still time and place for traditional TV, particularly with time-sensitive content such as live sports or live news broadcasts.

Read More : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/02/126346/iflix-plans-massive-expansion



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