NEWS & VIEWS
January-February 2016
ABU DBS 2016 innovates
digital connections
Viu celebrates S’pore
launch with distinct
Korean flavour
SINGAPORE – As a further step in
its regional expansion, PCCW Media
Group has launched Viu, its over-
the-top (OTT) multi-screen video
screen service, in Singapore.
Viu now offers Singapore fans
a “freemium” service with multi-
screen access to a range of popular
South Korean dramas and variety
shows, as well as other premium
Asian content from the region.
Viu’s Premium service in Singa-
pore will be launched in partner-
ship with Singtel, details of which
will be announced at a later date.
Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Consumer
Singapore, Singtel, said: “Viu com-
plements our suite of quality enter-
tainment services across various
devices. Korean dramas and variety
shows have a huge appeal in Singa-
pore. We look forward to launching
Viu’s premium service with PCCW
Media to deliver the latest and best
in Korean entertainment to our
customers.”
Via has also clinched a land-
mark pan-regional deal with South
Korean broadcasters SBS, KBS, MBC
and CJ E&M, giving Viu an exclusive
11
window and rights to 95% of the
broadcasters’ latest telecast dra-
mas, as well as variety shows from
South Korea. According to PCCW,
the agreement represents the “first
time” the top four South Korean
broadcasters signed a pan-regional
agreement with an OTT service
provider to provide their latest
content with an exclusive head-start
window.
Janice Lee, managing director
of PCCW Media Group, said: “With
smartphone penetration exceeding
80% in Singapore, where 66% of
Singaporeans regularly download
and/or stream video content, Viu
fulfils their desire to catch the latest
Korean content, as soon as eight
hours, while offering them stream-
ing or download options. With the
support of key content providers
and telecommunications companies,
we aim to provide the best content
delivered on quality networks as we
roll out Viu in the region.”
Launched in Hong Kong and
now Singapore, Viu will be pro-
gressively rolled out in Malaysia,
Indonesia and India, revealed PCCW.
From left: Anson Tan, general manager, New Media, PCCW Media Singapore;
Helen Sou, senior VP, New Media, PCCW Media; Goh Seow Eng, managing
director, Home Services, Singtel; and Janice Lee, managing director, PCCW Media,
at the Singapore launch of Viu this January.
The annual ABU Digital Symposium 2016 returns next year with the theme Innovating Digital Connections, and will discuss
business and technology strategies to safeguard radio and television businesses.
KUALA LUMPUR – The past few
years have seen an increase in
media industry activities around
Connected TV, due to its grow-
ing demand among audiences.
Content owners, broadcasters and
technology providers are working
together to find business models
that will make Connected TV com-
mercially viable and change the
way radio and television content
is consumed.
This year’s ABU Digital Broad-
casting Symposium (DBS 2016)
aims to address these issues. Re-
turning with the theme Innovating
Digital Connections, the sympo-
sium seeks to stimulate thinking
among delegates on the business
and technology strategies that will
safeguard and grow radio and TV
services in the highly competitive
connected era and discuss the
roadmap for providing effective
integrated services to audiences.
The three-day event will ad-
dress an array of pertinent is-
sues such as the multi-platform
delivery of radio and TV in the
Implementing Media Technology
We think globally and act locally
www.danmon.com
future, software-defined plat-
forms, networks and services, the
transformation in the broadcast-
ing field, the immersive audio
and television experiences and
the emergence of over-the-top
(OTT) as a pay and free-to-air (FTA)
service. ABU DBS 2016 will also
discuss how broadcasters should
embrace the ‘digital-first’ mind-set
of younger audiences.
The ABU Digital Broadcasting
Symposium 2016 will take place
from February 29-March 3 at the
Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur.
For more details, visit http://
w w w. a b u . o r g . m y / E v e n t- _ -
dbs2016.aspx