Janice Lee, CEO of streaming platform Viu & managing director of Hong Kong's PCCW Media Group, is our Woman to Watch today because... she's in the ring and scoring wins with giant ferocious competitors who are, among other things, coming after the Korean and Asian rights with which Viu staked its claim in the streaming space from the very beginning. And because market talk of an IPO, which Viu/PCCW has never actually confirmed, may have faded but it hasn't gone away. 

Q4 2020 highlights that Viu is putting out include ranking first in aggregate monthly active users amongst premium major video streaming platforms in the four Southeast Asia markets (Indonesia, Philippines,Singapore and Thailand) included in Media Partners Asia's latest Ampd report. For the quarter, Viu, which offers a hybrid AVOD/SVOD service, ranked second in paid subscribers and streaming minutes amongst major streaming platforms in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia and Singapore, Viu ranked second in monthly active users, paid subscribers and total streaming minutes.In the Philippines, Viu ranked first in monthly active users and second in paid subscribers and total streaming minutes.  

Lee divides her motivation into two.

"I think it is easy to get motivated by achievements of goals together with the team and by the camaraderie built along the way," she says. 

"However, what equally motivates me, if not more, is the feeling after overcoming each challenge and prevailing over what seems at the time impossible tasks.Faced with a problem and coming out of the other side of a situation with a sense of “ah-ha” I did not know I could do it, is a most rewarding feeling of self-improvement," she adds.

What would you like people to say about you when you are not in the room?

"From my business partners:  She is tough but fair and a trusted partner."

"From my team : She is tough but fair. She’s got our backs and we’re in it together."

Are you now where you thought you would be when you were 20?

"No. While I graduated at 20 and started my first job in media, I feel it is an entirely different industry that has constantly evolved and each day serves up excitement. I am glad I was able to reinvent new businesses along the way and be part of the industry journey."