APRIL 24, 2015 – BALI, INDONESIA – FOX International Channels (FIC) announced today at the Asia Pacific Operators’ Summit that its key brands FOX, FOX Sports and National Geographic Channel will be made available over the top in partnership with leading platforms, including Avex in Japan, Tencent and its OTT partners in China, Astro in Malaysia and Cignal in the Philippines. These services range from SVOD, linear streaming to catch-up, and will offer FIC’s content across all genres.
Commenting on these new partnerships, Zubin Gandevia, President of FOX International Channels Asia Pacific and the Middle East, said “We are excited to be partnering with Avex, Tencent, Astro and Cignal. It is our mission to work with our platform partners to grow their subscriber base. The online, on-demand opportunity is the new frontier and we hope our innovative new products will help our partners tap into a new segment of consumers who do not have pay TV today.”
He continues, “FIC is proud to have FOX, FOX Sports and National Geographic Channel, three of the world’s biggest entertainment brands that have helped make pay TV a household name. That makes FIC well positioned to help our partners bring in new audiences to their OTT services, and we look forward to doing so.”
Rieko Muramoto, Corporate Executive, Digital Business at Avex Digital Inc. said, “We are very pleased that we are able to deliver the latest world’s entertainment to Japanese viewers and also being a world pioneer in the VOD industry by offering a hybrid service that offers content on both a linear and on-demand basis. We could only make this happen by partnering with FIC. We look forward to giving viewers a new way to enjoy TV entertainment and seeing this service being adopted widely across Japan.
Sun Zhonghuai, Corporate Vice President, Tencent said, “This agreement with FIC is a great example of working with market leaders who share our mission to deliver the best-possible content and experience to users, and further demonstrates that Tencent is the partner of choice for visionaries like FIC as they seek to provide high-quality video content to China’s huge consumer market.”
CK Lee, Vice President, Sports Business at Astro said, “This deal enables us to reach out to new fans through over the top. We are delighted to further strengthen our relationship with FIC.”
Noel Lorenzana, CEO of Mediaquest said, “FOX content has always been one of the most popular destinations for programming in the payTV space. The PLDT, Smart and Cignal group have been in the forefront of providing the best entertainment using the best connectivity for the largest subscriber base in the Philippines. This partnership is a milestone and something to look forward to in the content, payTV, broadband and mobile space. It’s also a show of leadership for PLDT, Smart, Cignal and FIC. The viewers win as they are able to watch the best content as if they were in the Front Seat.”
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