distributionchannels Viu Point With Asian versions of The Bridge and Hollywood Squares, Viu/Vuclip cement- ed its place in the rare category of Asian streaming platforms ballsy enough to put real budgets behind original con- tent creation. Vuclip’s president/COO, Arun Prakash, talks about taking the lead in local content spend, the realities of the local production ecosystem, and partnerships that set shows free. What problem are you trying to solve with originals, such as the local tent, largely, is made for free to air or for movies, but premium content is version of Hollywood Squares in India and scripted drama The Bridge? lacking. It’s a great opportunity for Viu.” “Viu’s philosophy is to bring premium entertainment to everyone. We don’t believe premium entertainment is only for the elite few. We are What was it about The Bridge that convinced you? “We navigate the focused on Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent as well as in decision-making process through two eyes – consumer insights and in- Middle East and Africa. tuition. Our strategic initiatives include the globalisation of local content “When we look at bringing premium content to everyone, there are and the localisation of global content. Both are important to us. The three elements that come together to make that a possibility. First and Bridge presents a great opportunity to do that, with Double Vision, Me- foremost is availability of premium local content. The second one is ac- dia Prima and HBO Asia.” cessibility of that content in a very fresh way, not a year later. We know consumers don’t understand content windows and doors. They want In addition to Viu streaming The Bridge in all its markets, Media Prima will fresh content. And so access to fresh local content is extremely important. air the series on free-TV channel, ntv7, in Malaysia and HBO Asia will air it And the third element is the affordability and, especially in Asia, providing on premium/subscription services across the region. What do you see as value to the consumer. We look at addressing all three through a free- the advantages of this mixed streaming/free/pay-TV arrangement? “We mium business model. believe that content is created to be consumed and if the content is cre- “Viu focuses on the youthful segment of the population. What we are ated to be consumed there’s no point being protectionist. We believe fi nding is there is not much local premium content being made and we strongly in getting the content out to be consumed across all the plat- see that as a big gap. As a platform, it’s easier for us to spend money forms, whether it’s free to air, whether it’s pay TV, whether it’s on the digital and license content because we can get it onto the platform and to the platform on Viu. So that’s one strong belief. consumer quickly. But we see the gap in premium content. Local con- 26 The second belief is the economics of making high production value, contentasia issue fi ve, october 2018