Singapore’s largest pay-TV platform, StarHub, unveiled its OTT platform in the middle of August, becoming, for a few minutes, the newest player in Asia to embrace the future of video everywhere. And that’s just among the established pay-TV platforms.

The line for new online players, big and small, in Asia is as long as ever. Netflix and Amazon Prime lead the pack this month. On 2 September, Netflix Japan launches, partnering with one of Japan’s largest mobile carriers Softbank. Softbank customers will be able to sign up for the video streaming service through their existing accounts.

Also in September, U.S.-based Amazon Prime rolls out streaming video services in Japan. Critics are counting the days until the Japanese market chews up and spits out this latest slew of American players; Forbes called Netflix’s record high share price, which added US$3.9 billion worth of shareholder value following the announcement of the September launch, “an overreaction and overvaluation” of Netflix’s prospects in Japan. “If those buyers and sellers had been operating with more complete information... they probably would have sent the company’s share price in the opposite direction,” Forbes’ Rob Cain said in his column, adding that “Japan is a notoriously difficult territory for American media companies to crack”. Cain also pointed out that Netflix’s comments on China showed how “woefully ignorant” the company is about operating in China.

There’s little doubt that Netflix will launch in other Asian markets. iflix, which has launched in Malaysia and Philippines, will roll out in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam before the end of the year. Singtel’s Hooq is on the march. Word is that Hong Kong’s PCCW has something stunning rolling out soon.

The response to the efforts by established platforms, such as StarHub in Singapore, to follow their audiences is being greeted more enthusiastically. Although no one pretends the task of finding and keeping paying subscribers in a new world of “one click in, one click out” is easy.

In an ongoing effort launched at the beginning of 2014 to track the development of premium video services online, ContentAsia profiles four more players (in addition to the 32 major platforms already covered) in the space – dTV Japan, Genflix Indonesia, OnAir Mongolia and tving in South Korea. This is what they said...

dTV, Japan

dTV is a video content distribution service owned and operated by Tokyo-based Avex Broadcasting and Communications. The platform offers about 120,000 titles (original content, international movies, Japanese dramas/movies, animation, foreign drama series, Korean drama, Chinese drama, kids, culture, variety, music programmes) on 13 channels, geo-blocked for Japan and accessible via internet-connected devices.

Launched on 11 November 2011 as d-VIDEO/BeeTV and relaunched as dTV in April this year.

Subscribers/registered users 4.51 million (as of 31 May 2015)

Who’s in charge Rieko Muramoto, board member/head of programming; Yoshio Yanagisaki, visual product creative; Tomomasa Yamashita, GM, Business Operations

Rates/Packages ¥500/US$4 a month. Some content is offered as “rental” (TVOD) and charged by title/format. One SD title is typically ¥400/US$3.30.

Original content On the cards are projects with Italian film director Giuseppe Tornatore and local director Kazuaki Kiriya. Original dTV titles include live-action drama series Attack On Titan (starring Satomi Ishihara) based on the manga titles, premiered in August 2015.

Key titles Attack on Titan, The Walking Dead season five, Shinjuku Swan

Major content partners Japanese (local) TV networks, film companies, local publishers, music record labels

Greatest challenge/s Developing Zapping UI (a feature that auto starts trailer videos while flipping through different channels) and the set top-box terminal, which are critical in providing a new video streaming experience.

The best thing that has happened to the online/over-the-top (OTT) industry in Japan this year is... “Japan is still at a developing phase in terms of OTT. However, we believe that growth and development in this field will be quite rapid as it was in the U.S. and other countries” (Reiko Muramoto).

What do you think is the biggest impact on the OTT industry in Asia (and Japan) in the next 12 months… “Asia will also see a rapid growth and development in this area. There is yet to be a dominant player (service) in Asia, and we are very excited to see who that will be.”

Genflix, Indonesia

Genflix is an OTT extension of DTH satellite pay-TV service Orange TV, offering live linear TV channels and VOD content. Geo-blocked for Indonesia, Genflix, operated by PT Festival Citra Lestari, is accessible via mobile phone apps and a website on internet connected devices.The service, launched in September 2013, relaunched in June 2015, with an update in July 2015.

Subscribers About 100,000 registered users since June relaunch

Who’s driving the initiative…Greeny Dewayanti, director; Harianto Tan, head of IT; Artine Utomo, chief content officer; Andreina Lusia, senior content manager

OfferingPrimarily sports (powered by Orange TV), including English Premier League (2013-2016), Serie A Italy (2013-2016), Spanish league Copa Del Rey and French Ligue 1 (2013-2016), via linear channels BeIN1, 2 and 3. Genflix also carries more than 1,000 VOD local/international movies and TV series. International titles includePee Mak(Thailand),Kollegiet (Denmark),Araf(Turkey),Deadly Hitch(France),Ditto(Korea), ATM2(Thailand),MMA Road Fighting Championship(South Korea), dramaAutumn’s Concerto (Taiwan) andMMA Bellator Fighting Championship(U.S.).

Price/ratesUS$2 a month for unlimited content

How much content is also on Orange TV?“We have different content from Orange TV since we are aiming different target markets” (Greeny Dewayanti).

Rights/windows?“We aim for the shortest possible theatrical window.”

Original contentOn the agenda eventually

Target demoIndonesian youth who want to consume premium content on the go. Genflix is available to everyone in Indonesia, including non-Orange TV subscribers and is accessible on all networks (Wifi, 3G, 4G from any operators) in Indonesia.

Challenge“OTT is still new in Indonesia but we are embracing 4G and seeing a tremendous growth in smartphone usage and adoption here.”

Priority“Market penetration on both small and big screen users.”

The best thing that has happened to Indonesia’s OTT industry this year...“The emergence of new OTT players as well as the roll outs of 4G and FTTH network infrastructures that contribute to a bigger and better ecosystem.”

OnAir, Mongolia

OnAir is an OTT TV service trial launched in February 2015 in Mongolia by KhulanContent, a subsidiary of Mongol Mass Media Group, offering mostly local TV series, movies and music via Android TV, Chromecast and other internet-connected devices. The platform targets all internet users. Mongolia had 1.9 million internet users, 1.7 million smartphone users and 127,000 IPTV subscribers in 2014 (source: Communication Regulatory Commission of Mongolia).

Who’s in chargeAmundra Amartuvshin, CEO; Erkhembaatar Mungungadas, CTO

Average viewing timeApproximately 20 minutes daily per user

UpgradesDeveloping an app upgrade to include remote features on wearables (smartwatches, Apple Watch, Android Wear) and connected car supports (Android Auto and Apple’s CarPlay)

UsersSince trial, OnAir has 15,000 registered accounts.

2015 take-up expectation400,000 registered accounts (free accounts) and 40,000 premium subscribers

Price/plansFree. The plan is to start a premium package for MNT5,000/US$2.60 a month for TV archives and premium content (without ads) soon. The free services will continue to include streaming of all live TV channels and select movies and videos (with ads).

The offering40 live local TV channels, 14-day TV archives (drama, kids, documentaries), music videos and movies. Most of the offerings are local content. International titles include localised formatMillion Dollar Money Dropon Edutainment TV and moviesA Family Portrait, Step,Be My Valentine,Dersu UzalaandOnly Old Men Are Going To Battle. 50 new titles are added monthly.

Top showsNBA (SportBox HD channel), Korean dramaJang-Bo Ri is Here!(Edutainment TV) and Mongolian wrestling competitions (TV9).

ChallengesBottlenecks in server capacity and network bandwidth. Plans to upgrade bandwidth from 1Gbps to 10Gbps and connect to MIX (Mongolian Internet Exchange), a centralised switch for all Mongolian ISPs.

What do you think is the biggest impact on the OTT industry in Asia in the next 12 months…“The biggest impact is the penetration of Netflix into new countries especially the Chinese market” (Erkhembaatar Mungungadas).

tving, Korea

tving is a four-year old OTT, online TV/video service of Korea’s CJ HelloVision. Geo-blocked for Korea, offering real-time TV channels from T-DMB/cable TV operators and VOD movies/TV shows via PCs, smartphones and tablets. tving started off as a sub-menu for a video service under Gom TV in May 2010. In March 2011, the service re-launched as tving, a separate, independent service. tving has seven million registered users.

Who’s in chargeKim Jin-seok, CEO; Jung Ji Hyun, GM business team; Park Hun Ju, GM, tech team

Offering140+ real-time channels and 110,000+ local/international VOD titles. 80+ channels for free. Content partners include broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS), cable channel E&M and JTBC. Original content is on the future agenda; early efforts were scrapped as low appeal and high cost.

RatesWon2,900/US$3 a month for all real-time channels. Won4,900/US$4 a month for unlimited VOD. PPV TV drama costs Won1,000/US$1 per title. Latest movies cost Won10,000+/US$10+ per title and old movies range from Won1,000/US$1 to Won4,000/US$3 per title.

Looking for...Big-screen content to drive the TV-connected tving stick, launched last year.

Priorities“Preparing expansion to TV screens in earnest. As the OTT industry becomes more competitive and less profitable, the TV screen will be a foothold to seek new opportunities.” (Kim Jin-Seok)

The best thing that has happened to Korea’s OTT industry:“There is less competition in OTT now, especially the subscription business model, since we learned that the strategy is pricing. To compete with traditional pay TV, where the entry price is about US$3-US$7/month, tving charges US$3. This pushes advertisers and emerging home shopping channels to choose OTT platforms. Online/mobile ads and transaction margins from TV shopping channels are critical in profit earnings for OTT service providers.”

The biggest impact on the OTT industry in Asia…“Netflix’s aggressive expansion into Asian market, armed with original content. It is expected that Netflix’s original content will be injected with Asian casts and/or Asian backgrounds/settings to attract the Asian viewers. Just like how YouTube became an influential online video player with nearly 70% share, it is a concern how local video platforms would struggle harder as Netflix enters the Asian pay-TV market.”

This article first appeared in ContentAsia Issue 3, 2015, published in August 2015