News round-up: Viu picks up Mediacorp content; Mena.tv drops fees to support industry

Viu picks up Mediacorp content

PCCW Media Group’s pan-regional OTT video service Viu has struck a deal to air drama and lifestyle content from Singapore national media network Mediacorp.

Starting from today, more than 600 hours of curated Mediacorp content will be available to ‘Viu-ers’ throughout Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The Mediacorp content offerings are now available on the Viu mobile app, which can be downloaded for free on App Store, Google Play, and selected smart TVs; as well as on the web at www.viu.com.

Among the scripted and factual titles now available are Chinese hit rom-com My One In A Million, dystopian drama A World Of Difference and family-friendly romance Happy Prince.

Viu chief content officer Virginia Lim, said: “Viu has established itself to be a leading pan-regional OTT platform engaging our viewers with premium entertainment content made in Asia. This collaboration with Mediacorp is another example of Viu being the ideal digital platform in the region to showcase the great content produced in Singapore.”

Mena.tv offering free service

Content buying platform Mena.tv is offering its marketing services for free over the coming months.

The initiative from Dubai-based consultancy ChannelSculptor, which connects buyers and sellers of TV content, made this decision following the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the global economy.

Founder and CEO Nick Grande said: “TV has a vital role to play at the moment: inspiring people, keeping them informed and offering an escape from the monotony of quarantine. We at mena.tv are a small team, but we are privileged to be in a position to be able to connect buyers and sellers of TV content at a time when business continuity is under threat.

“In response to the current crisis, we have decided temporarily to make our content marketing services available free of charge. For the coming few months mena.tv will offer all producers, content creators and distributors free content listings, making your brands and titles visible and accessible to the MENA region’s buying community of professionals from broadcasters, OTT platforms, and telcos.”

Grande added that as a business, Mena.tv still needed to pay its own staff and suppliers, so asked for anyone in a position to pay for additional services to support them through their fee-based programming or audience analytics services, or through bespoke content marketing campaigns.