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  • Sony YAY! enters in Malaysian market, and expands its presence in South Asian region

    Sony YAY! enters in Malaysian market, and expands its presence in South Asian region

    Mumbai: India’s leading kid’s entertainment channel Sony YAY! launches on Telekom Malaysia Berhad (unifi TV). With a lineup of fan-favorite shows, the channel debuted in the Malaysian market on 1 July 2022 to expand its presence further across the South Asian region.

    Sony YAY! launched in Tamil with a total of seven popular kid’s entertainment shows including Sab Jholmaal Hai (Honey Bunny), Guru Aur Bhole, Taarak Mehta Ka Chhota Chashma, Kicko & Super Speedo, Paap-O-Meter, Prince Jai aur Dumdaar Viru and HaGoLa.

    Sony YAY! is expected to tap into the prominent Tamil-speaking population of the region which comprises a total of 1.8 million people – the third highest in the world, after India and Sri Lanka. Considering the significant size of the Tamil-speaking audience in this region, the launch is a perfect opportunity for the channel to extend its content offerings to an expanded audience base across the South Asian market. 

    With notable titles and the top two shows such as Sab Jholmaal Hai (Honey Bunny) and Paap-O-Meter, Sony YAY! will cater to the Tamil speaking audience of Malaysia along with the Indian diaspora of the region which accounts for close to 6.8 percent of its population. The launch of the channel in Tamil on one of the largest platforms Telekom Malaysia Berhad (unifi TV) is further set to aid the channel in terms of reach and access. Sony YAY! will be accessible to the subscribers of unifi TV under the Varnam Plus Pack and the Ultimate Pack.

    With a growing audience base of around 43 million, Sony YAY! has grown exponentially since its inception in 2017 and the expansion into newer markets in South Asia strengthens the channel’s commitment to providing world-class entertainment to young audiences across the globe. This foray into Malaysia further accelerates the consistent drive to transform the global entertainment sector for Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN). 

    Speaking on this, Sony YAY! EVP and business head Leena Lele Dutta said, “Over the span of five years since we launched Sony YAY! the channel has rapidly risen to become the #1 kid’s entertainment channel in India. The current Indian channel portfolio in Malaysia has a huge potential and with the launch of Sony YAY! In Malaysia, we will be leveraging this opportunity and extending our diverse range of enthralling kid’s entertainment options to an extremely new and vibrant set of audiences. The launch has made us optimistic about newer opportunities that we can explore to reach young audiences across geographies.”

    Sony Pictures Networks EVP and head of international business Neeraj Arora commented, “As one of the fastest-growing kid’s entertainment channels in the Indian subcontinent, Sony YAY! has consistently made efforts to become the ultimate entertainment solution in the kid’s genre. The channel has curated and brought a bouquet of international shows and IPs to Indian audiences. This partnership with Telekom Malaysia Berhad will help us cater to the appetite of the rapidly growing audience across the Malaysian market and solidify our position in the global kid’s entertainment segment by bringing popular Indian shows to global audiences.”

  • Huge decrease in levels of streaming piracy seen in Malaysia over last 12 months

    Huge decrease in levels of streaming piracy seen in Malaysia over last 12 months

    KUALA LUMPUR: A new study of the online content viewing behaviour of Malaysian consumers, has found a massive 64 per cent decrease in consumers accessing piracy websites over the past 12 months. The survey commissioned by the Asia Video Industry Association’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) and conducted by YouGov, found that 22 per cent of online consumers currently use piracy streaming websites or torrent sites to view pirated content, substantially less than the 61per cent from a similar survey conducted in August 2019. The YouGov survey also found a 61 per cent reduction in the number of consumers who use an illicit streaming device (ISD) when compared to the August 2019 survey. 

    More than half (55 per cent) of online consumers had noticed that a piracy service had been blocked by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA). This would appear to have had an impact on consumer attitudes towards piracy, with 49 per cent stating that they no longer accessed piracy services and 40 per cent stating that they now rarely accessed piracy services as a result of not being able to access blocked piracy sites. 11 per cent of consumers said it made no difference to their viewing habits. 

    TVB International general manager Desmond Chan said: “We are encouraged by the efforts of MDTCA in fighting online piracy with their site-blocking campaign. Malaysia is an important market to our content distribution business. TVB’s programmes are popular in Malaysia and have always been the targets for piracy. The swift anti-piracy measures provided by MDTCA will foster a business environment in which we will continue investing.” 

    LaLiga global audiovisual director Melcior Soler said: "This substantial reduction in online piracy in Malaysia is a sign of the success of the actions undertaken by the MDTCA. Piracy only benefits the criminal organisations who operate the websites and illicit applications and harms society as a whole, especially those who work every day to generate content and entertainment for everyone. LaLiga will continue to fight against the problem of online piracy.” 

    The continual site blocking has had an impact on consumers viewing habits who are now more likely to access legal content services. 20 per cent of consumers who said they were aware of the government blocking piracy websites and illicit application domains, have since subscribed to a paid streaming service; 15 per cent said they now spend more time viewing free (AVOD) local streaming services; and 65 per cent now predominantly watch free (AVOD) international streaming services. 

    AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) general manager Neil Gane said: “We applaud the MDTCA for disrupting piracy website networks which are being monetised by crime syndicates. Consumers who subscribe to illicit IPTV services or access piracy streaming sites are wasting their time and money when the channels and websites stop working. Piracy services do not come with a ‘service guarantee’, no matter what their ‘sales pitch’ may claim.” 

    When asked about the negative consequences of online piracy, consumers placed funding crime groups (57%) , loss of jobs in the creative industry (52%) and malware risks (42%) as their top three concerns. 

  • ISRO sees rise in third party satellite launches

    ISRO sees rise in third party satellite launches

    MUMBAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is slowly but surely making its mark as far as its satellite launch services are concerned. Consider: in 2018-19 it pocketed Rs 324.19 crore courtesy its launch capabilities as against Rs 232.56 crore in the year before. That’s a decent 35 per cent plus growth in income from launches.

    This information was given out in a reply to a question raised in the Rajya Sabha to union minister for atomic energy and space Jitendra Singh late last week.

    Singh further disclosed that ISRO earned Rs 1,245.17 crore during the last five years by launching satellites from 26 countries. Additionally, it has signed contracts with 10 countries –  the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia, Algeria, and France  over the same period under commercial arrangements.

    India has till date put into orbit 319 foreign satellites.

  • Influencer Marketing Firm BuzzOne Expands To Malaysia

    Influencer Marketing Firm BuzzOne Expands To Malaysia

    MUMBAI: Leading Influencer marketing firm, BuzzOne, announced its expansion into the South East Asian market with the launch of its Malaysia operations, within months of opening its Philippines office in February this year. With this launch, BuzzOne becomes the first and only Indian Influencer Marketing firm to have multiple operations in the South East Asian markets of Philippines and Malaysia.

    The award winning firm also announced the appointment of Mark Rodrigues as Business Head of its Malaysia operations. With over 30 years of experience in the Malaysia market, Mark Rodrigues joins BuzzOne with a deep understanding of the local market and media marketing trends. In a short span of time, BuzzOne has emerged as one of India’s fastest growing Influencer Marketing firms. BuzzOne’s stellar clientele in India includes leading brands such as Amazon, Himalaya Wellness, Dettol PayTm, Vivo, Britannia, Nissan, Vivo and Puma among others.

    Speaking on the expansion, Sanjay Vasudeva, Founder and CEO, BuzzOne Influencer Marketing, said, “I am thrilled and look forward to expanding BuzzOne’s current portfolio with deep penetration into the South East Asian market with the opening of our Malaysia & Philippines offices this year. Having studied the region carefully, Malaysia & Philippines are one of the most promising markets for influencer led campaigns in South East Asia. With Mark Rodrigues spearheading our team, I am confident BuzzOne will form a strong foothold in the Malaysian market.”

    According to industry reports, ad spending in digital media in Malaysia were US$512million in 2019. A growing Influencer Marketing market, Malaysia has shown unique trends such as Instagram emerging as the preferred platform for influencer marketing in the country and over with 80% of marketers investing in influencer marketing strategies in 2018. Malaysians trust lifestyle influencers’ opinions over opinions from traditional celebrities.

  • ZEE5 unveils Tamil subscription packs for Malaysia and Singapore

    ZEE5 unveils Tamil subscription packs for Malaysia and Singapore

    MUMBAI: Underscoring its strong language content offering for audiences in Malaysia and Singapore, global digital entertainment platform ZEE5 today announced the launch of special Tamil subscription packs for these markets.  This will enable users in these markets to access premium Tamil content at extremely competitive prices. The ZEE5 Tamil premium packs are priced at 9.9 MYR per month in Malaysia and 6.98 SGD per month in Singapore.

    Subscribers will be able to access popular shows from ZEE Tamil like Sembaruthi, Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Poove Poochoodava etc. as well as ZEE5 Originals like Sigai, Kallachirupu and America Mapillai. Also available is the upcoming Tamil original movie – D7, along with other language content dubbed in Tamil, including ZEE5’s recently launched Original, Rangbaaz. 

    Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global said, “At ZEE5 we’re not just focused on offering our users the largest range of language content, but also on making it extremely easy for them to access that content through customized offerings for different markets. The introduction of the Tamil pack in Malaysia and Singapore enables viewers in these markets to access a huge bouquet of premium Tamil content, ranging from their favourite TV shows to a constantly expanding library of Originals and movies including World Digital Premieres. We’re looking forward to delighting audiences in these markets with the rollout of these new packs”

    ZEE5 offers 1,00,000 hours of Indian Movies, TV Shows, Cine plays, Music, Videos and a slew of exclusive Originals, across 12 languages – English, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Punjabi. It also offers 60+ popular Live TV channels.

    The App can be downloaded from Google Play Store as well as the iOS App Store and can be accessed by visiting www.ZEE5.com. The app is also available on Samsung Smart TV, Apple TV Android TV and Amazon Fire TV.

  • Realme introduces its new visual identity system and logo

    Realme introduces its new visual identity system and logo

    MUMBAI: Realme, the smartphone brand that specializes in providing high quality products for youth, launched its fully upgraded Brand Visual Identity system and Logo to provide a new visual experience and emotional connection with young consumers.

    The "R" logo in “Realme Yellow” designed by Eddie Opara, partner and chief designer at world-renowned design consultancy Pentagram, is an artistic and impactful representation of both the Realme brand identity and its vision of being ‘Proud to be Young’, which the brand hopes will become a symbol of youth culture around the world. Realme will be rolling out its upgraded brand image across all channels starting from today.

    The Brand Visual Identity upgrading comes as Realme is poised to make a strong entry into more markets around the world, where it will reach out to younger groups and accelerate growth. Very soon, Realme's new "R" logo and smartphones will launch across Southeast Asian markets including Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, countries in South Asia, Middle East and North Africa. The new "R" logo will be a symbol of the brand’s powerful recognition of young people’s need for individualization and self-expression. It will differentiate Realme’s experience in offering smartphones and will become an icon for young people around the world.

    The new Visual Identity is a people-oriented design featuring original aspiration and absolute self-expression. Upgrading the new Visual Identity and Logo, the brand has adopted a more concise and universal letter shape, which was inspired by the observation of human behavior and actions when they are using smartphones. It is a combination of a human-figure and the uppercase “R”from “Realme” which conveys one of the brand’s design concept as being people-oriented.

    In the design, there are merged circles, squares and trianglesforming a nested uppercase “R” and lowercase “r” where the uppercase “R” signifies the original aspiration of “Realme” in providing the youth with quality products they need and lowercase “r” signifies young people’s true selves. This uniquenesting and blending design conveys Realme's vision of sharing pride in being young with young people, while the hidden arrows point to the deep connection between Realme and young groups and their direct goals as well as absolute strength of taking challenges.

    The upgraded Visual Identity system and Logo are all based on vibrant golden yellow. This specific color, called "Realme Yellow", represents power, style, modernity and youthfulness; as well as positive connotations in both Eastern and Western cultures, such as positivity, optimism, friendliness and emotional energy, wisdom, harmony, prosperity. The main auxiliary color, gray, represents professionalism, calmness, and inclusiveness;and will be used with other auxiliary colors including classic black and white, and a light gray tone, in Realme's overall brand Visual Identity.

    Showing his pleasure in rolling out the new Visual Identity, Realme CEO and founder Sky Li said, “As a global, youth-facing smart phone brand, Realme is continuing to introduce new products that feature stylish design and a powerfulperformance. At the same time, Realme hopes to create a symbol for young people through the new brand logo – one they can identify with, and where they see a visual symbol of their emotional identity and belonging,”

    “Realme's new brand visual identity system and logo will be key to providing self-expression and satisfaction for young people around the world:we define this as unique, trend-setting, self-loyalty, and personalized consumption that meets emotional needs." He added.

    Sharing his thoughts on the new Visual Identity launch, Realme India, Chief Executive Officer Madhav Sheth said, “As a young brand, Realme has witnessed a remarkable journey till now. We have always tried to connect with the youth of the nation by providing them the best of everything with ‘Power meets Style’ moto. We believe that the new logo will be a major tool in connecting with the youth going forward with it’s classic combination of vibrant colors and unique style.”

    Established in May 2018, Realme aims to provide young people around the world with smartphone products that combine powerful performance and stylish design. The brand gives young people experiences that integrate “technology” and “style” to recognize and satisfy their deep desires for personalization and self-expression. By November 2018, the half-year-old brand will expand its business to 7 countries in Asia. With 4 smartphone products launched globally, Realme is quickly building a strong following community among young consumers. The brand is set to become the fastest growing brand which has already made 3 million sales in total.

  • Eros Now Partners with Celcom; Consolidates Distribution in Malaysia

    Eros Now Partners with Celcom; Consolidates Distribution in Malaysia

    MUMBAI: Eros International Plc (NYSE: EROS) (“Eros”), a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, announced today that Eros Now, its digital over-the-top distribution service, has extended its presence in the Malaysian market by partnering with a leading Malaysian telecom player, Celcom Axiata Berhad, for their subscribed data plan – Video Walla.

    Eros Now and Celcom’s partnership will further enhance the entertainment experience by providing Malaysian customers access to Eros Now’s vast library of 11,000 plus movies, original shows, music videos and more. Celcom customers can enjoy Eros Now’s extensive content offering under the subscribed data plan, Video Walla, and users can access Eros Now premium content by paying a retail fee of MYR 10 ($2.41 USD)/month and MYR 100 ($24.08 USD)/year.

    Bollywood and other Indian content continue to be enjoyed by the vast Indian diaspora in Malaysia where local Malaysians are charmed by Bollywood movies. Malaysia as a location is featured prominently in several Indian films and is a popular destination for hosting Indian film award ceremonies, adding to the local connection and appeal in Indian entertainment.

    Speaking about the association, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO, Eros Digital, said, “We remain focused on expanding our global presence by exploring opportunities and providing customized content offerings that connect with local audiences. Malaysia continues to be a relevant region with its South Asian content-friendly audience and we are happy to cater to this growing community by integrating with a leading local partner such as Celcom.”

    With this partnership, Eros Now remains the only Indian OTT platform to penetrate the growing Malaysian market. Previously, Eros Now had announced other local partnerships with telcos such as Maxis Berhad and UMobile.

  • Netflix’s ’13 Reasons Why’ shows massive popularity across markets

    Netflix’s ’13 Reasons Why’ shows massive popularity across markets

    MUMBAI: Netflix’s celebrated series 13 Reasons Why which returned for its second season in May has unbeaten popularity across several countries. Data science company Parrot analytics has come up with Global Television Demand Report for the quarter April-June where it examined ten markets. Among those ten markets, the Netflix original topped the chart for most in-demand original series in eight markets.

    The ten markets on which the report is based are the US, the UK, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Malaysia, Portugal, New Zealand and Poland.

    Stranger Things, Black Mirror and Orange Is The New Black have also been placed among top ten in-demand originals in most of the markets. The newly launched YouTube Premium original Cobra Kai has also attracted many viewers in some of the markets. Amazon Prime original The Grand Tour has also managed to maintain its appeal this quarter while its last episode was released in February. Hulu’s second season of The Handmaid’s Tale appeared within the top 20 across all evaluated markets.

    With the sweeping change in technology, viewers across the world are consuming TV content through various devices. Smart TV, a new obsession of viewers, has highest reported usage in the US (21 per cent). The UK is another market with high Smart TV usage (19 per cent).

    Interestingly, the audience in Malaysia is more likely to watch television on a mobile (24 per cent) or tablet device (22 per cent) than through a regular television set. In New Zealand, viewers that engage with TV content are very likely to do so through a laptop or desktop. On the other hand, people in Colombia and Germany are more likely to engage with TV content through traditional TV devices.

  • Post flight MH370 fiasco, Malaysian tourism faces uphill battle

    Post flight MH370 fiasco, Malaysian tourism faces uphill battle

    MUMBAI: “Malaysia, truly Asia!” Or is it? What was once the hottest vacation destinations is now not so popular. All because of the disappearance of Malaysian airline MH370 in 2014. The country’s tourism, which was once booming with international tourists, has now taken a hit as tourists have been avoiding the country in the wake of the incident.

    The country has since been reeling to get back on its feet and increase tourist footfall. Although Malaysia ranks ninth in the world for tourist arrivals, it faces severe competition from other countries.

    Bollywood has had a long love affair with beautiful locations in Malaysia and the country has heavily promoted in Roy, Shaadi Se Pehle, Yaadein and Shahrukh Khan’s remake of Don as Don 2. In 2016, Tourism Malaysia, together with AirTravel Enterprises India Limited (ATE), introduced the Malaysia Kabali-package deal during the launch of Rajnikant led movie Kabali. This was a part of its strategy to draw Indian travellers to Malaysia where there is already a sizable Indian community.

    Travel and tourism is one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors today, with close to $1.6 trillion clocked in bookings in 2017. Each year, the global traveller pool is flooded with millions of new consumers from both emerging and developed markets, many with rising disposable incomes and a newfound ability to experience the world.

    As many as 2.8 crore Indians travel to international destinations every year. Places like Dubai, Switzerland, Maldives, Macau, Bali, Singapore, Thailand among few others, have always been popular among Indians. Malaysia, that was once India’s favourite tourist spot, seems to have lost its sheen with newer destinations being discovered by the millennial generation.

    While Tourism Malaysia director Mohammed Hafiz Hashim realises the stiff competition in the tourism industry with new emerging tourism destinations, he remains positive that Malaysia is a popular tourist destination among Indians and just needs constant reminders.

    According to a 2017 report by TripAdvisor, for globetrotting Indians preferred travelling to Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok and Pattaya, while the evolved and well-heeled Indians sought relatively unexplored destinations such as Genoa in Italy, Corsica in France, Bora Bora and Iceland.

    In an effort to diversify the economy and make Malaysia’s economy less dependent on exports, the government push to increase tourism has resulted in it being the third largest source of foreign exchange income that accounts for 20 per cent of Malaysia’s economy.

    The country sees tourists majorly from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Japan, Korea and India. India has always been in the top 10 markets for Malaysia with a 10 per cent share out of the total 27 million tourists every year. Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) wants to put India in the top five counties by the end of 2018. For Malaysia, 1.7 lakh of its visitors come from India every year, with most travelling between April-June and November-January.

    To tap in new consumers, the board now wants to shift focus from the hygiene urban population to tier II and tier III towns. But does the consumer living in a village have budget to spare and travel internationally? Tourism Malaysia director definitely thinks so! Hashim believes that the audience in smaller segments of India definitely has the budget but don’t know what to do with the money and that’s where agents help them in planning and deciding. Although the numbers from the smaller segment aren’t astounding with less than 20 per cent growth y-o-y, he is optimistic that it will grow further in the next year.

    Travel ads are usually targeted at those with enough funds to spare for travel. Hence, it makes more sense for them to advertise on lifestyle and infotainment channels along with B2B marketing. And that’s exactly what most tourism companies do. However, Tourism Malaysia has no plan of launching the campaign on television due to budget constraints and it will only be digital-led since it is cheap, efficient and quick.

    The tourism board is trying to get local (Indian) carriers to fly to Malaysia as currently there are no direct outbound flights to Malaysia. Raising the concern, Hashim said, “We only rely on our own Malaysian airlines to carry passengers. If we can get Indian players like Indigo, Jet Airways, Air India or Vistara to fly to us, we can get good numbers.”

    For this, Tourism of Malaysia is in conversation with the government of India and private players to get the landing rights for Malaysia. It is confident that the conversation will prove to be a success and direct flights for Malaysia will begin as soon as December 2018.

    The challenge for Malaysia now is not just to market itself better than others but also regenerate interest among Indians. The country will also have to change its communication to target the Gen-Z and young consumers. Since the company doesn’t advertise on television or digital at a large scale, it will have a challenging time to ensure its place in a traveller’s bucket list.

  • Viu partners Endemol for localised adaptation of ”The Bridge’

    Viu partners Endemol for localised adaptation of ”The Bridge’

    MUMBAI: Video-on-demand service, Viu, has announced a collaboration with production and distribution house Endemol Shine Group to produce a localised, ten-episode adaptation of the global series The Bridge. Viu’s aim is to deliver international content formats tailored to be locally relevant along with local content.

    “Viu previously achieved success in adapting popular entertainment to emerging markets when it brought the CBS Hollywood Squares format to audiences in India, releasing Tollywood Squares. Today’s news is in that same vein and we believe that working with Endemol Shine to tell this gripping story, while also making it uniquely our own, will captivate our viewers,” Viu Malaysia country manager Kingsley Warner said.

    The Bridge is hugely popular in Europe and the US. The series is expected to shoot in July and begin airing in Malaysia and Singapore later this year. In the crime drama, a body is found on the border of two countries, forcing an investigator from each country to work together to solve the case.

    “Partnering with Viu is a natural fit for us, given it’s the leading OTT in deliver international content formats tailored to be locally relevant Asia. We expect the premium format of The Bridge to resonate strongly in this region,” Endemol Shine International chief executive Cathy Payne said.

    The Bridge (Bron/Broen) was originally created and written by Hans Rosenfeldt as a joint production of Sweden’s Filmlance International, part of Endemol Shine Group and Denmark’s Nimbus Film. The Bridge (Bron/Broen) was produced in co-production with Sveriges Television, DR, ZDF German Television network, ZDF Enterprises Gmbh, Film i Skåne, NRK, Copenhagen Film Fund, Lumiere Group, Stiftelsen Ystad Österlen Filmfond, with from Norvision and in co-operation with Malmö Stad.

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