iflix

iflix Ltd
Type of site
 Private
Available in Malay, Indonesian, English, Thai, Sinhalese
Founded 2014
Headquarters Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Area served
CEO Mark Britt
Key people Patrick Grove
(iflix Co-Founder and Chairman)
Mark Britt
(Co-Founder and Group CEO)
Azran Osman-Rani
(Group COO and CEO of iflix Malaysia)
James Bridges
(Chief Content Officer)
Ash Crick
(Chief Technology Officer)
Sherwin dela Cruz
(iflix Philippines Country Manager)
Thinakorn Thianprathum
(iflix Thailand Country Manager)
Cam Walker
(CEO of iflix Indonesia)
Products Video streaming
Website www.iflix.com
Alexa rank Increase 10,053 (July 2016)

iflix is a subscription Video-on-Demand platform based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[1] iflix has partnerships with over 150 studios and content distributors globally[2] including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, NBC Universal, Fox, CBS, BBC, Sony Pictures and Media Prima to name a few. Iflix has exclusive rights to shows (see list),[1] with tens of thousands of content, consisting of both Western and local Asian content such as Korean dramas.

iflix is currently available in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brunei and the Maldives and has announced plans to expand into additional key emerging markets in 2016.[2][3]

History

Founding and Establishment

iflix was founded by Patrick Grove, CEO of Catcha Group, Mark Britt and Evolution Media Capital (EMC), a merchant bank focused on the media, sports, and entertainment industries.[2]

In April 2015, iflix announced the completion of a $30 million round of funding, led by leading international investment firm, Catcha Group and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), the largest integrated telecommunications company in the Philippines.[4]

The company launched its service in Malaysia and the Philippines in May 2015.[6] During the month, iflix additionally announced the formation of its Advisory Board, composed of Hollywood business and creative leaders.[7]

By July 2015, iflix recorded over 100,000 subscribers, becoming Southeast Asia’s fastest growing Internet TV service.[15]

Within the 12-week trial phase of its official launch in Thailand in November 2015, iflix drew 200,000 subscribers. [18]

In March 2016, iflix attracted a $45-million investment from European pay-TV giant Sky plc.[21]

In June 2016, iflix announced its official launch in Indonesia and in August 2016, iflix announced its official launch in Sri Lanka.[24]

In 18th November 2016, iflix launched it's services in collaboration with the No.1 Telecommunication services provider in the Maldives, Dhiraagu.

Management

Former CEO of AirAsia X Azran Osman Rani was appointed as CEO of iflix Malaysia and Chief Operating Officer of iflix Group in April 2015.[5]

Cam Walker, former Head of Content Development at Emtek was appointed CEO of iflix Indonesia in March 2016.[6]

In April 2016, David Goldstein was appointed Head of Asia alongside Martin Johansen as Head of New Markets.[7]

In July 2016, former CEO of StockUnlimited Christian Toksvig joined as Head of International Business Development, Founder of Iktomi Nader Sobhan joined as Head of Middle East and North Africa and former CEO of Price Check joined as Head of Africa.[8]

Partnerships

iflix works with selected studios and telecommunications companies both regionally and worldwide. It has partnerships with PLDT Group for commercial distribution[8] and the landmark content partnerships with a number of Hollywood’s studios, including The Walt Disney Company,[9] Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),[10] Paramount Pictures,[11] Warner Bros,[12] Fox,[12] and Starz.[13] iflix also announced together with Vimond Media Solutions, which plans to establish a jointly operated development centre in Kuala Lumpur.[14]

In August 2015, iflix announced that MGM, had become an investor in the business. MGM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Barber sits on iflix’s Advisory Board and the companies’ extensive multi-year content licensing partnership.[16]

In September 2015, iflix entered into an agreement with Malaysian telecommunications giant, Digi Telecommunication Sdn Bhd (Digi) to provide iflix’s service to Digi customers in Malaysia.[17]

In December 2015, iflix announced partnerships in Malaysia and the Philippines with the countries’ leading telecommunications providers, Smart Communications (Smart) and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) in the Philippines and Telekom Malaysia (TM) in Malaysia. In conjunction with Smart and PLDT, iflix will provide its service to over 70 million Smart and PLDT HOME customers in the Philippines for no additional cost.[19] In conjunction with Telekom Malaysia (TM), all TM Unifi and select Streamyx customers are offered a free 12-month iflix subscriptions.[20]

In April 2016, iflix announced partnership with the largest telecommunications services company in Indonesia, Telkom Indonesia, and Indonesian network provider Indosat Ooredoo.[22][23]

Celebrity investors

iflix works with notable local celebrities.

In July 2015, Malaysian actress Maya Karin and TV host Sazzy Falak joined the iflix family as ambassadors and shareholders.[25][26]

In November 2015, iflix welcomed Philippine celebrities Iza Calzado, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Ruffa Gutierrez, Raymond Gutierrez, Richard Gutierrez, JM Rodriguez and Karylle Tatlonghari-Yuzon as shareholders of the Company and partners in the business.[27] Thai celebrities; including actresses and best friends ‘Jieb’ Sopidnapa Chumpanee and ‘Aom’ Phiyada Akkraseranee, and up-and-coming stars ‘Jeab’ Lalana Kongtoranin, Note Panayanggool, ‘Paule’ Ponphan Sittinawawit also joined the iflix family both as investors in the business and advisors in the curation of new content for online viewers.[18]

List of programs distributed by iflix

Acquired content

Features

Playlists

In August 2016, iflix launched ‘Playlists’ featuring curated playlists from over 150 celebrities and icons across the region, as well as Collections based on moods and popular themes. Notable celebrities on ‘Playlists’ include Afdlin Shauki, Amber Chia, Ashraf Sinclair, Michelle Ziudith and ‘Ploy’ Ployphan Taveerat.[9]

Download and Watch Offline

iflix is one of the first and only SVOD services in the world to offer offline viewing to its members. Available for both the Company’s Android and iOS offerings for smartphones and tablets, Download and Watch Offline allows iflix subscribers to download the content of their choosing without a wi-fi connection and without incurring mobile data costs as part of their subscription. Each television episode or movie can be downloaded as a low, medium or high quality file to best accommodate the storage capacity of users’ devices.[28]

Devices

Members are able to access iflix on up to 5 devices of their choice, including phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, TV's or other connected devices. iflix also allows members to share their subscription and watch different shows on two different devices simultaneously with each subscription.

Instant access

In line with the company’s collaborations with Smart and TM, customers have instant user access to iflix. A world first, through newly developed, proprietary technology, iflix’s system is able to instantly recognise a user on a Smart, TM Unifi or Streamyx connection, and will tag that device, enabling the user access to iflix on that device wherever, whenever.

Subscribers

iflix hit 100,000 subscribers streaming over 30 million minutes of content in July 2015, less than two months since launching in Malaysia and the Philippines.[10]

In October 2015, iflix surpassed half a million subscribers less than five months since launching in Southeast Asia, with over 300,000 subscribers in the Philippines alone.[11]

In December 2015, iflix surpassed the one million member mark within six months of launching its service.[12]

As of July 2016, iflix has five million subscribers in all its existing markets.[13]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.