Television Broadcasts (TVB), Hong Kong’s leading free to air broadcaster, will up its game in the overseas over-the-top video sector. It will launch a new platform in Thailand and strengthen bundling plans with telco and hardware manufacturers.
TVB is partnering with MVTV in Thailand to create a Thai version of TVB Anywhere, the Hong Kong broadcasting giant’s international OTT platform available outside of Hong Kong and mainland China.
TVBI’s general manager Desmond Chan told Variety that the platform will feature TVB’s original content dubbed into the Thai language. It will also act as a content aggregator, offering over 100 Thai channels. The new package is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2018. The platform will further expand to other Southeast Asian territories including Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, said Chan.
TVB Anywhere was relaunched last year. It now claims more than 100,000 subscribers, after selling the service into Macau through a bundling deal with Macanese telco CTM.
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Chan said the TVB Anywhere app will be preinstalled on tablet computers manufactured by Alco Electronics, with subscription fees covered by the retail price of the tablets. The tablets are to be exported to North America and may be launched in the second quarter, he said.
TVB has no plans to launch an OTT platform in mainland China. Its Jade and Pearl channels are accessible in the Guangdong region, and its original content is licensed to mainland OTT platforms via TVBC, a joint venture with CMC and SMG.
