Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysian satellite television provider Astro has announced that it has been appointed by global mass media company The Walt Disney Company to be an official distributor of its streaming service Disney+ Hotsuite in the country.

Astro customers will be able to stream more than 800 films and 18,000 episodes of Disney’s content on the Disney+ Hotstar app. Astro is working towards making Disney+ Hotstar available via the Ultra and Ulti connected boxes of Astro later this year, providing Astro customers with a one-stop entertainment convenience.

Henry Tan, group CEO at Astro, expressed his delight with their recent partnership with Disney to aggregate more global to their platform.

“Soon customers can enjoy the dazzling line-up from Disney+ Hotstar in addition to the much-loved Astro hits, local signatures, award-winning originals and unparalleled live sports, making us the undisputed entertainment destination for Malaysians,” Tan stated.

He also noted that their ‘Movies Pack’ customers will soon be able to stream content entertainment on Disney+ Hotstar for an additional RM5 per month while non-Movies Pack customers can also enjoy Disney+ Hotstar via other value bundles.

“This is a great start to an action-packed year where we will be aggregating subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) streaming services, giving our customers the widest variety of entertainment to choose from, value and convenience,” he added.

Meanwhile, David Shin, general manager at The Walt Disney Company Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, commented, “We are excited to launch Disney+ Hotstar in Malaysia for the consumers and also collaborate closely with Astro to deliver powerful entertainment with heart. From iconic Disney classics, to brand-new Disney+ Original series, Malaysian hits from homegrown creators, filmmakers and talent and Asian series and films, there is something for everyone of all ages.”

The Disney+ Hotsuite will feature blockbuster Hollywood movies and award-winning content from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic, FX, 20th Century Studios and many more, which also includes exclusive premieres and blockbusters from leading Malaysian studios.

Sydney, Australia – Australian television (TV) channel provider Fetch has announced that two channels will be added to its AU$6/month ‘Kids Pack’ channel package, namely BBC Kids and Nick Music.

BBC Kids is the kids-oriented channel from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom, and features kid-oriented comedy and entertainment shows such as dance drama ‘The Next Step’, football drama Jamie Johnson featuring cameos by some of the UK’s biggest soccer stars; adaptations of British comedian David Walliams’ hilarious best-selling children’s novels Gangsta Granny and Mr Stink, among others.

BBC Kids, targeted at kids age 6 to 10, is the seventh channel to be added in Fetch’s channel list of BBC Channels, including BBC First, UKTV, BBC Earth, BBC Brit, BBC World News, and CBeebies on the Fetch service. Fetch also recently added subscription video on demand (SVOD) service BritBox, which is a JV between BBC Studios and fellow British media company ITV.

On the other hand, Nick Kids is a dedicated 24-hour music channel for kids by the kids channel Nickelodeon, featuring chart-topping hits by the world’s most popular artists, from Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Sia and Taylor Swift.

Tim Christlieb, director of branded services at BBC Studios ANZ, said, “We are delighted to launch this new virtual playlist channel on Fetch which fits perfectly with our pre-school channel CBeebies, offering a destination for older kids to enjoy a diverse range of programming all with the hallmark of BBC quality.” 

Sam Hall, chief content and commercial officer at Fetch TV, commented, “Fetch TV is excited to be the Australian launch partner for BBC Kids, and to further extend our partnership with BBC Studios demonstrating our commitment to offering quality British content.” 

Slated for launch on April 24th, Nick Kids joins fellow channels Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., bringing the total ViacomCBS subscription channels on the platform to nine, including Spike, Comedy Central, MTV, MTV Classic, MTV Music and MTV Dance. 

“We know Aussie kids love music, so we wanted to create a safe place for them to be able to watch their favorite artists and listen to chart-topping hits from around the world, curated just for them. Nick Music is a channel kids will love, and parents can trust,” said Beverley McGarvey, chief content officer and EVP for ANZ at ViacomCBS.

BBC Kids and Nick Music will fill in the void kid channels Cartoon Network and Boomerang will leave, as they announced that they will be leaving the Fetch platform on April 23.