Malaysia-based investment firm Catcha Group is launching a new subscription video-on-demand service across key Southeast Asian markets this year.
Dubbed iflix, the service will offer over 10,000 hours of top-tier American, Asian and local market content to viewers in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
The service is the brainchild of Patrick Grove, CEO of Catcha Group, and Evolution Media Capital, a merchant bank focused on the media, sports, and entertainment industries.
Grove said: “More than 99% of ASEAN households currently consume pirated content. We finally have the game-changing solution to not only combat piracy, but also allow consumers access to incredible content on every connected device, whenever and wherever they want it, for less than the price of a pirated DVD”.
Each iflix subscription will allow a user to access content on five devices, as well as download content to their mobile, tablet, computer or TV via a media player.
By 2018, the number of Southeast Asian smartphone users and households with fixed broadband connections is expected to grow in excess of 240 million and 55 million respectively.
Between 14% and 38% of these smartphone users are already watching long-form videos on their devices, a factor that will contribute to iflix’s success, Catcha said.