Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE) is counting down to the rollout of its first standalone subscription streaming app, CMGO, scheduled to go live this quarter – possibly in the next few weeks.

The Hong Kong-based streamer, which announced the Chinese movies-focused app during the ContentAsia Summit in Bangkok in 2023, hasn’t confirmed the launch date, but says the streaming service will rollout in Singapore first, followed by other markets in Southeast Asia.

CTE hasn’t yet announced CMGO’s movie line up, saying only that the app will offer a curation of top Chinese movie titles from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

The line-up will include exclusive, never-seen-before titles, along with original and director’s-cut versions and classics. Among these are edgier titles that cannot be streamed on linear channels.

CTE also has plans to produce CMGO Originals. No details have been disclosed.

The CMGO strategy leverages CTE’s partnerships in the region as well as its strengths in curation, honed over the past 20 years in delivering Chinese movies to audiences in Asia.

The new service fills a glaring market gap, Choi said in a session on Chinese content during the 2023 ContentAsia Summit.

“There hasn’t been one single app in the market to now 100% focused on Chinese movies,” she said.

She added that the streaming line up consolidated Chinese movies into one place, presenting unprecedented Chinese movie depth for Asian audiences, including titles not seen before in the region.

CTE operates a bouquet of pay-TV channels, including first-run Chinese movie network, Celestial Movies; CCM; CM+ in Singapore; PopC, featuring online movies from China; action channel Kix; horror thriller channel Thrill; and edutainment network Miao Mi.