Viu and AIS PLAY : collaboration to launch two new Viu Original productions
Viu and AIS PLAY expand strategic collaboration to launch two new Viu Original productions
Viu, a leading pan-regional OTT video streaming service from PCCW Media Group with more than 41 million* monthly active users (MAU), extended its collaboration with AIS PLAY, the largest telecom provider in Thailand, to jointly launch two new Viu Original productions, My Bubble Tea and Voice in the Rain. The shows will air simultaneously in Vius 16 markets.
Viu and AIS PLAY first partnered in 2017. The collaboration resulted in tremendous consumer adoption with subscribers of Viu service via AIS PLAY in 2019 having increased more than 3.6 times year-on-year. Closely following this success, AIS PLAY and Viu offered a new entertainment pack this March to bring premium Asian and South Korean content to AIS PLAY users, including JTBC’s highly-rated TV series, A World of Married Couple, and Bong Joon-hoo’s Oscar-winning feature film Parasite. Today, this strategic collaboration is further expanded into developing regional original content, including My Bubble Tea and Voice in the Rain. This marks the first time AIS PLAY has worked with a regional OTT player to develop original content to reach out to highly engaged digital audience base.
My Bubble Tea series is a romantic comedy based on a popular online fiction, which tells the story of a woman who falls for her handsome boss and concocts a supernatural bubble tea brew to win his love. Unfortunately, a man she despises accidentally drinks the tea and falls head over heels in love with her. The two male sides of this chaotic love triangle will be played by Nichkhun Horvejkul, a Thai American singer who is a member of the Korean boy band 2PM, and Mean Phiravich who is extremely popular with Thailand’s Gen Z and Millennial audiences. The series will include Arabic, English, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu, Burmese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese subtitles on an as-available basis.
The story of Voice in the Rain will be announced shortly.
Ms. Helen Sou, Chief Business Officer of Viu, said, “We are pleased with our long standing partnership with AIS and thankful for our shared vision and commitment to consumers. Both parties together have entertained millions of consumers in Thailand, and share a massive, engaged digital user base. We are excited to leverage our assets in innovative ways and expand this relationship further into the world of creative content development and production. It is a first of its kind for AIS and we appreciate the trust and confidence AIS has placed in us and our creative teams. We look forward to bringing innovative and entertaining shows to audiences in Thailand and pan-regionally via this collaboration.
Mr. Thawatvongse Silamanonda, Country Manager of Viu Thailand, said, Apart from importing series and variety shows from across Asia for Thai viewers to watch, we also are passionate about producing Viu Original series with local relevancy with local flavor. AIS Play is the first partner that we worked with when Viu launched in Thailand. We share the common vision to deliver engaging premium content to consumers and have leveraged our assets together in innovative ways. Now we are collaborating on Original productions for audiences in Thailand and pan-regionally. We appreciate the trust and confidence AIS has placed in us and our creative teams.
Mr. Alistair David Johnston, Managing Director – New Business of AIS, said, AIS PLAY is the leading streaming service provider offering distinctive and attractive entertainment services to Thais nationwide. We have curated quality contents, including movies, series, concerts, eSports, cartoons and variety shows from all over the world and Viu is an important partner and an active part of our business success. With these new shows, our collaborative relationship with Viu will continue as we deliver content bundles, events, and original productions that further engage, delight, and grow our viewers. In this challenging time, providing people with the power to escape and happily distracted is a blessing.”
Viuers can watch the romantic series on the Viu app which can be downloaded for free on App Store, Google Play, and selected smart TVs, as well as on the web at www.viu.com. The shows will also be available on all AIS PLAY channels including AIS PLAY app, AIS PLAYBOX, on the web at https://aisplay.ais.co.th/ and Apple TV.