Tag: Streaming

Singapore – Global streaming platform Netflix has recently reported that they have closed deals with all major holding companies as well as independent agencies, with a 150% plus increase in upfront ad sales commitments over 2023, in line with their expectations. Upfront commitments include investments from all key categories like CPG, tech & entertainment, auto, QSR, and retail.

Netflix closed partnerships for a number of their upcoming films and series including fan-favourites ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Wednesday,’ ‘Outer Banks,’ ‘Happy Gilmore 2,’ ‘Ginny & Georgia,’ and ‘Love is Blind’ as well as deals around highly anticipated live events including WWE Raw, and the Christmas Day NFL games. 

A recent example of this commitment is for the third season of ‘Bridgerton’ where they secured multiple international on-screen title sponsors including Pure Leaf, Amazon Audible, Puig, Booking.com, Stella Artois, and Hilton.

They have also partnered with LVMH, COTY Gucci, Kaiku Caffee Latte, Aeromexico, Google, and Rakuten for the highly anticipated return of ‘Emily in Paris.’ 

“Over the last few months, we’ve hit great milestones for our ads business including closing another successful Upfront market, building and implementing an expanded programmatic suite, enhancing our global measurement capabilities, and securing impactful global ad campaigns,” Netflix said in a press statement.

Netflix’s expanded buying capabilities include allowing marketers to set up private 1:1 marketplace deals directly with Netflix through The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360, or Xandr. They are working to extend the capabilities across different buy types including programmatic guarantee in November.

Moreover, they have introduced Google’s Campaign Manager 360 and Innovid for impression verification and extended their existing DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science relationship for fraud and viewability verification into programmatic channels. These solutions will then be available across all buying channels in October.

Netflix will also extend its campaign performance measurement suite into NielsenOne, Lucid (or Cint), EDO Inc., NCSolutions, Kantar, and Affinity Solutions for all buy types.

They have also partnered with clean room suppliers Snowflake, InfoSum, and LiveRamp to create a secure and privacy-safe environment for their members and advertisers. The Clean Rooms will allow advertisers to determine audience overlap, post-campaign reach and frequency, and last-touch attribution in a secure environment. Meanwhile, Snowflake Data Clean Rooms is available for partners today, and InfoSum and LiveRamp will launch in the coming months.

“We’ll continue to improve the Netflix ads plan to ensure our members are delighted by the experience while simultaneously creating solutions that deliver results for our marketers, putting brands at the centre of the best shows and films in the world, to a highly valuable and engaged audience,” Netflix concluded.

Jakarta, Indonesia – Popular anime streaming platform Crunchyroll is launching a new campaign ‘Ayo Crunchyroll!’ (Let’s Go Crunchyroll!) as it brings more anime to Indonesia by adding more than 100 titles in Bahasa Indonesia for fans to enjoy on its streaming service. It is worth noting that Crunchyroll is amping its presence in the country with a recent partnership with Telkomsel for plan packages.

Starting August 15 until the end of September, Crunchyroll’s new campaign will go live with video ads on social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Meta, and eye-catching Out-of-Home (OOH) displays featuring popular anime titles at locations like Jakarta’s iconic Bundaran HI and Blok M MRT stations. The new collaterals also bear Crunchyroll’s recent brand revamp, which focuses on portraying an ethos of fun and celebration for anime.

Crunchyroll’s anime library consists of nearly 3500 hours of content, of which over 630 hours (over 100 shows) are now available with Bahasa Indonesia subtitles and growing. Some of the popular anime titles available on Crunchyroll in Indonesia include ‘Attack on Titan’, ‘Demon Slayer – Kimetsu No Yaiba’, ‘Dr.Stone’, ‘Frieren’, ‘JUJUTSU KAISEN’, ‘Kaiju No.8’, ‘KONOSUBA -God’s blessing on this wonderful world!’, ‘Naruto Shippuden’, ‘One Piece’, ‘Solo Leveling’, ‘SPYxFAMILY’, ‘The Rising of the Shield Hero’, amongst others.

Additionally, Crunchyroll offers an array of simulcasts for Indonesian anime fans every new season so that they can watch the latest episodes simultaneously as they air in Japan, capturing the thrill and excitement of being among the first to see the latest episodes. Some of the current ongoing simulcast series on Crunchyroll include ‘Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian’, ‘Bye Bye Earth’, ‘Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction’, ‘My Hero Academia’, ‘One Piece’, ‘That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime’, ‘The Cafe Terrace and Its Goddesses’, ‘Tower of God’, ‘True Beauty’ amongst many.

Akshat Sahu, senior director of marketing of APAC at Crunchyroll, said, “We’re thrilled to bring an immersive anime experience for fans in Indonesia. We believe in the power of anime to connect people, and our expansion in Indonesia reflects the great potential of the anime fandom in the country. We are already seeing high traction on our platform in the region with growing subscribers. We aim to make anime more accessible and enjoyable for everyone in Indonesia by providing localised content and exciting anime experiences.”

Jakarta, Indonesia – Local telecommunications provider Telkomsel has announced a partnership with anime streaming service Crunchyroll for its first specialised anime destination package in Indonesia, namely the ‘Telkomsel and Crunchyroll Bundling Package.’ 

Through the bundle, Telkomsel customers, including both prepaid and postpaid (Halo) users, can easily purchase it through the MyTelkomsel app and website. ‘The Crunchyroll Fan’ package, when purchased through Telkomsel, is priced at IDR 36,000 which includes 3 GB of MAXstream quota for use on a single device. Similarly, ‘The Crunchyroll Mega Fan’ package on Telkomsel is priced at IDR 48,000 and includes 5 GB of MAXstream quota for use on up to four devices simultaneously.

Moreover, ‘Mega Fan’ subscribers will also get access to the Crunchyroll Game Vault which provides unlimited access to a constantly growing library of premium mobile games specifically for fans of anime and anime-inspired entertainment.

Both packages are valid for one month and include a Crunchyroll subscription, allowing access to a wide range of popular Japanese anime content, such as One Piece, Kaiju No. 8, Solo Leveling, Chainsaw Man, JUJUTSU KAISEN, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, amongst others.

After purchasing the Telkomsel and Crunchyroll Bundling Package through MyTelkomsel, customers will receive an SMS containing a Crunchyroll Voucher Code. Telkomsel customers can redeem this voucher code via tsel.id/croll. After downloading the Crunchyroll App from the Play Store or App Store, they will have access to both the exclusive Japanese anime shows, many of which are exclusive to Crunchyroll.

Terry Li, executive vice president of business development at Crunchyroll, said, “Crunchyroll’s goal is to always meet fans when, where and how they want to love anime, and the Telkomsel partnership aptly positions us to give Indonesian fans that access. It’s a significant milestone in expanding our audience base in the region with localised access.”

Meanwhile, Nirwan Lesmana, VP of digital lifestyle at Telkomsel, commented, “By integrating Telkomsel services with premium content from Crunchyroll, we aim to enhance the experience of our customers, especially anime content lovers spread across Indonesia. We hope this collaboration will facilitate anime fans in accessing their favorite content, supported by the widest and most advanced broadband connectivity from Telkomsel.”

Subsribers can utilise the MAXstream Quota included in the Telkomsel and Crunchyroll Bundle Package to watch the latest contents on Crunchyroll, MAXstream, and other video streaming services that have partnered with Telkomsel.

Seoul, South Korea – Popular streaming platform Twitch has announced that it will be shutting down its operations in the South Korean market by February 27, 2024; citing rising operational costs in the country brought by the country’s prevailing network fee implementation to content providers (CPs) in the country, both domestic and foreign.

In a blog post by Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, he stated that they have put a lot of effort into finding ways to continue operating in the country by reducing costs. It is worth noting that the platform tried experimenting with peer-to-peer (P2P) livestreaming, as well as reducing the maximum video quality output to 720p.

However, the platform noted that despite these measures, the network fees in the country were 10 times higher than in most other countries, making operations no longer feasible. Moreover, Twitch has continued to operate with difficulty in South Korea with significant losses.

Speaking about those that will be affected by the closure, Twitch has stated that it will be working with rival platforms such as AfreecaTV and YouTube to aid creators in the transition process to their platforms.

“I would like to reiterate that this was a very difficult and difficult decision, and one that all of us at Twitch are deeply saddened by. Korea has always been a stellar player in the global esports community and will continue to do so. We’d like to thank you all for your hard work building a great Twitch community,” Clancy said.

It is worth noting that South Korea has an implementation for content provider tech companies to pay a network fee depending on the traffic they generate towards internet service providers (ISPs). This regulation came to international attention when South Korean ISP SK Broadband had sued Netflix over the huge traffic it generated thanks to the popular series “Squid Game”.

Singapore – A new research from Magnite has found that ad-supported streaming services deliver scale for brands and that 71% of TV viewers in Southeast Asia watch ad-supported streaming. According to the report, said trend in the streaming industry serves as a signal for the future of streaming in the region.

According to the report, ad-supported streamers are embracing content across devices, which leads to more meaningful connections with brands and influences purchasing decisions. 

Around 68% of ad-supported viewers take action after seeing an ad on streaming platforms, and 94% are more likely to make a purchase from a brand they engaged with across multiple devices.

Meanwhile, ad-supported streaming audiences are highly engaged when watching streaming, which is winning viewers’ attention over social video. Around 92% of ad-supported viewers report being engaged when watching streaming content as compared to 62% of social media users who say user-generated videos on social media don’t hold their attention very long.

In an exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, Gavin Buxton, managing director of Asia at Magnite, he explained that in order to effectively leverage ad-supported streaming, brands should identify partners who can provide access to inventory from multiple streaming platforms at scale and support them in understanding targeting, creative and measurement opportunities.

“Streaming provides scale and reach at a level rivaling traditional TV and consumers in Southeast Asia are adopting ad-supported streaming in growing numbers. With streamers viewing content across multiple streaming platforms and devices, brands have more opportunities to increase the scale of their campaign investments to reach a growing audience of streamers across these platforms. This will enable brands to drive even greater awareness and impact,” Buxton stated.

When asked about how big is the scale of SEA’s ad-supported streaming industry, he stated that they look forward to many global streaming platforms launch their ad-supported streamers first in the region over the coming year.

“Our research establishes that streaming in the region is growing in scale, with 71% of TV viewers tuning in and 79% stating they prefer to watch free or reduced-cost content with ads versus 21% who prefer an ad-free experience. SEA was historically a free-to-air-dominant region, likely resulting in a lasting understanding of the value exchange between advertising and lower-priced or free access to premium content,” he said.

With many ad-supported streamers fully grasping the fact that streaming services have become a necessity for households in the region, Buxton expects that given this continued appetite for content, publishers and broadcasters will continue to increase investment in digital-first video content. 

“While video on demand (VOD) has been the main growth driver of ad-supported streaming in the Southeast Asia region, we can expect programmatic addressable, live sports, and free ad-suppoted television (FAST) adoption to also influence the growth of ad-supported streaming in the future. With linear TV now increasingly consumed in streaming environments, this opens up the opportunity to reach addressable audiences at scale,” he said.

Buxton further added, “Consumption of live sports on streaming platforms is also experiencing growing momentum, according to our research, and we expect this upward trajectory to continue, generating more opportunities. FAST adoption has been on the rise across the US and EMEA and is now starting to gain momentum across SEA, with device manufacturers and broadcasters launching more FAST channels to cater to a variety of user interests. All of this will enable advertisers to reach audiences more effectively and at greater scale.”

When asked what advice would brands consider when placing ads on as-supported streaming platforms, he said that brands should seek out and work with providers who have an understanding of the nuances of the streaming market across the SEA region. Moreover, it is also important that partners have direct relationships with streaming platforms and can provide transparency into media planning and reporting across these platforms, as well as the programmatic capabilities to maximise scale.

“As media owners continue to invest in quality content and internet-connected device ownership increases, Southeast Asia’s streaming TV ecosystem offers significant opportunities and benefits to advertisers looking to reach highly engaged audiences across all devices. For those that are newer to streaming, now is the time to dive in and test campaigns to become more familiar with the format, while those already investing should extend these investments across multiple streaming platforms and devices to capitalize on the current growth of CTV in addition to other screens,” he concluded.

Singapore  – Official sports streaming applications and those with close associations to the tournament or FIFA itself observed a huge increase in user acquisition activity as the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament came to a culmination, according to the latest report from data.ai. 

All around the world, streaming partners given official broadcast rights to stream the World Cup Final saw a surge in user acquisition activity around key matches for their respective countries’ teams. 

In particular, BBC iPlayer, RTVE Play, FOX Sports in the US, and Optus Sport in Australia became focal points for fans taking in the match and those leading up to it. 

FOX Sports saw dramatic spikes during the tournament around the US team’s matches. But building excitement can best be seen in the sudden increase in adoption of the BBC iPlayer app as England faced a make-or-break game against Australia, the outcome of which would determine if the UK team was in or out of the final.

Fans’ increasing need to watch the game and its results drove a 50% increase in downloads of the four apps as a cohort when compared to the same number of days preceding the tournament. In terms of numbers, these apps saw a combined 1.06 million new installs across the iOS App Store and Google Play globally during the first four weeks of the Women’s World Cup, which was up from approximately 706,000 in the four weeks leading up to it.

Also looking at how the apps performed in their home markets, there is impressive period-over-period growth in average daily downloads for Spain’s RTVE Play and US-based FOX Sports at 44% and 51%, respectively. Meanwhile, BBC iPlayer had yet to benefit from the full impact of England’s securing a final berth. Australia’s Optus Sport proved to be an outlier, with growth of more than 1,700% from its daily average coming into the tournament.

Furthermore, other apps with connections to FIFA and the Women’s World Cup tournament, like subscription or ad-supported live TV services, also posted impressive results. 

According to estimates by data.ai, the average weekly time spent by US mobile users in cohort apps like Hulu and Youtube TV that carry FOX Sports Live observed an appreciable increase from 48.9 million hours to 52.8 million. The analysis of app usage data also found a combined 8% increase in weekly time spent on them during the Women’s World Cup. 

Additionally, Booking.com, the official travel partner of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, delivered its best month ever for new downloads in July. The app reached 7.4 million, a significant improvement compared to how it performed in July 2022, its previous best month with 7.35 million.

Meanwhile, FIFA Soccer from EA Sports scored perhaps the greatest goal as it reached $1b in lifetime consumer spending.

Singapore – PubMatic has partnered with on-demand video streaming service iQIYI through the integration of PubMatic’s OpenWrap over the top (OTT) service.

The partnership has been motivated by premium OTT streaming services’ increasing adoption of programmatic strategies. This has allowed them to optimize revenue and improve the overall advertising experience for viewers. Hence, it gained PubMatic’s OpenWrap OTT popularity.

A key feature of OpenWrap OTT and PubMatic’s unified auction solution for OTT and CTV publishers is the expanded advertiser reach, increased revenue, and improved experiences for viewers.

Meanwhile, Frankie Fu, VP of international at iQIYI, expressed excitement about the impressive outcomes of implementing OpenWrap OTT, stating, “We are thrilled with the results we’ve achieved since integrating OpenWrap OTT. We observed an immediate uplift in bid requests and overall programmatic revenue. The PubMatic team collaborated closely with our Southeast Asia and China teams to identify the most effective monetization setup for our platform, ensuring a quick and efficient implementation.”

John Martin, senior director, OpenWrap, at PubMatic, also shared that they have been supportive of iQIYI’s exploration of the programmatic landscape over the years and that they are thrilled to assist them in their role as a flourishing global streaming platform, driving revenue growth through unified programmatic auctions.

The PubMatic and iQIYI International partnership, integrating OpenWrap OTT, marks a significant milestone in advancing programmatic technology for OTT streaming. This collaboration unlocks opportunities for revenue growth, expanded advertiser reach, and an enhanced viewer experience on iQIYI’s global platform.

Singapore – Live commerce and shoppable short video provider BeLive Technology has announced a partnership with Japanese entertainment platform mysta, aimed at offering interactive live streaming capabilities to artists so that they can audition and showcase their talents.

The new solution, powered by BeLive Technology means users can stream interactive auditions at both a local and nationwide level, offering participants real-time engagement and feedback. While it is possible to produce videos directly from mysta’s existing platform, this new solution goes beyond that, by supporting live streaming and immediate online interaction. 

Furthermore, BeLive Technology and mysta plan to jointly add new live video capabilities to their existing portfolio for the Japanese market in the future.

Kenneth Tan, CEO of BeLive Technology, said, “We are excited to partner with mysta and power video-first engagement for Singaporean audiences. Under Morikawa-san and Takahashi-san’s leadership, mysta has demonstrated a strong commitment to innovation and elevating the entertainment industry. We are delighted to advance the adoption of live video in Singapore with mysta.”

Meanwhile, Akihito Takahashi, CEO and president of mysta, commented, “We are delighted to partner with BeLive Technology, a leader in live streaming solutions. By harnessing BeLive Technology’s expertise, we can enhance the live streaming experience on the mysta platform, enabling content creators and aspiring talents to connect with their fans and unlock new opportunities.”

The new partnership expands on BeLive Technology’s growing number of clients, including Grab, Shopback, and Revieve.

Seoul, South Korea – Popular streaming platform Netflix has announced that it has pledged US$2.5b in investment to South Korea’s entertainment scene, including the creation of films, series, and other unscripted shows for the next four years.

The announcement was made following a meeting with Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos with South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol following the latter’s ongoing state trip in the United States.

According to Sarandos, said investment is twice the company had previously pledged in the Korean market since they started service in Korea in 2016.

“We were able to make this decision because we have great confidence that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories. We were also inspired by the President’s love and strong support for the Korean entertainment industry and fueling the Korean wave,” he said.

Sarandos also added that with the partnership, they will continue to grow with the local industry while sharing the joy of entertainment with Korean storytellers to their fans around the world.

“I have no doubt our investment will strengthen our long-term partnership with Korea and Korea’s creative ecosystem. We are deepening our partnership with the Korean creative industry, which has produced global hits such as ‘Squid Game’, ‘The Glory’, and ‘Physical:100’,” he concluded.

Singapore – Global audio streaming services platform Spotify has announced new personalised and curated experiences to observe the holy month of Ramadan. They include Ramadan-centric music, podcasts, and talk content dedicated to families and communities celebrating the holy season.

Listeners can also find personalised content on the “Your Ramadan 2023” playlist and see the music and talk content that is trending in their respective countries, and podcasters are constantly developing and publishing new Ramadan-related episodes.

Previously, Spotify’s editorial teams had curated playlists, podcasts, and talk content for their users during Ramadan. Through this new announcement, Spotify aims to spotlight content that changes each day, creating personalised playlists with songs picked just for listeners, and highlighting trending content that people are listening to in their region.

Moreover, the platform is aiming at making readings from the Quran easily accessible, and listeners can also find exclusive clips and greetings from their favourite artists and celebrities wishing them a blessed Ramadan.

For Gautam Talwar, managing director for Spotify Asia-Pacific, they are proud of delivering this new Ramaden-centric experience to their listeners during this holy month of observance.

“We’re designing an experience on the platform that allows our listeners to take a more active role in discoverability as well as to foster more meaningful connections with artists and podcasters they love on Spotify,” Talwar said.

Meanwhile, Rhea Chedid, senior podcast manager at Spotify, commented that they are now seeing more and more podcasters release series that are the ultimate companions to everyone observing Ramadan.

“Everything from shows about cooking and the history of Ramadan traditions and Islam, to audio scripted series that entertain and podcasts that review your favourite Ramadan television series, we are really witnessing creators think deeply about how they can better the lives of listeners through audio during this time,” Chedid said.