China’s iQiyi strikes strategic partnerships with Malaysia’s Media Prima
iQiyi meant business when it recently announced that one of its goals is to break into and dominate the Southeast Asian entertainment market.
Fresh from that announcement, the innovative, market-leading Chinese online entertainment service swiftly announced its partnerships with two local powerhouses – Primeworks Studio, the content production and distribution arm of media and entertainment giant, Media Prima, as well as Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom), one of the nation’s largest telecom companies.
iQiyi had grown its user base by more than 15 times at the tail end of 2020. Through these partnerships, it is poised to grow that figure even further.
The multi-year partnership with Primeworks Studio is anchored on iQiyi’s exclusive first window broadcasting rights to the majority of TV3’s locally produced and highest-rated primetime dramas.
Available on-demand, the catalog covers both top library titles and fresh titles that will be streamed exclusively on iQiyi the same day it airs nationwide on Media Prima’s TV3 channel.
All of the Malaysian channel’s titles will be made available within a dedicated tab on the iQiyi app for local content, which is also accessible on web browsers. By the end of 2021, the tab is expected to be home to more than 1,000 hours of premium local content.