Mediacorp signs licence deal for Stuff
Haymarket Media has awarded Mediacorp the brand licence for Stuff for Singapore and Malaysia.
Its website attracts about 300,000 unique visitors monthly based in Singapore and Malaysia, and Mediacorp expects to broaden its audience reach on its multiple media platforms – online, digital, broadcast and print.
Mediacorp plans to create new marketing solutions for Stuff for clients, including ways for consumers to experience their brands through live events and bespoke content.
Advertisers will be able to reach quality audiences on Stuff through Customer360, Mediacorp’s audience targeting solution.
SPH’s ShareInvestor upgrades mobile app
Singapore Press Holdings’ subsidiary, ShareInvestor, a financial internet media and technology company, has launched an upgraded version of its mobile app to help retail investors make timely investment decisions and manage financial portfolios.
First launched in December 2010, the all-new ShareInvestor Mobile app uses its latest proprietary streaming technology to provide investors with real-time market information and business and financial news.
Users can access stock prices from seven key markets – Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the US. Singapore stock prices have a 10-minutue delay while those for Hong Kong and Malaysia have a 15-minute delay.
iflix gears up for global expansion with new hires
Southeast Asia’s leading internet TV service, Malaysia-based iflix, founded by Patrick Grovewho in April made BRW’s Rich List, continues to expand regionally and is also set to tackle new markets outside Southeast Asia.
Regionally, Peggy Lee, head of PR and communications, confirmed that the company will enter Cambodia and Vietnam, although no timeframe is available yet.
New hires have been made to tackle the new markets.
Christian Toksvig, former CEO of StockUnlimited, joins iflix as head of international business development. He will implement partnerships with telecom operators in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Nader Sobhan, founder of branding and design firm Iktomi and previously head of the digital directorate at MBC, an Arab world free-to-air broadcaster, will lead iFlix’s Middle East expansion.
Andre De Wet, formerly CEO of PriceCheck, an African e-commerce site, will oversee the move into Africa.
Thai TV channel and ad agency coproduce signing contest
Thailand’s TV Thunder has partnered with IPG Mediabrands to invest 200 million baht (A$7.5m) on the La Banda Thailand singing contest, which will kick off on 30 July and run every Saturday for 12 weeks.
La Banda is a Simon Cowell creation, a US-based singing contest for talented teens with ambition.
TV Thunder and IPG Mediabrands have already co-produced two popular TV programs, Dance Your Fat Off and Hidden Singer.
SpotX expanding in Southeast Asia
SpotX, a video advertising platform for internet publishers, is expanding in Asia.
Daniel Rowlands, senior director of supply for Japan and Asia-Pacific, will relocate to SpotX’s Singapore office, where he will join newly recruited senior operations director Alvin Ling and senior marketing manager Karen Tan. This follows the hire earlier this year of Marcus Tan as managing director of the region.
Marcus Tan said, “It has been a busy but rewarding first half of the year, with several new publishers, like Mediacorp and Gameloft, signed in Asia.”
The company hopes to expand into Indonesia, India, Philippines, Malaysia, China, Korea and Japan.
New board for Philippines state-run TV network
All top executives of the state-run People’s Television Network (PT4) have tendered their courtesy resignation to new President Rodrigo Duterte through presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar.
The members of the board were appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III in September 2015.
Earlier, Andanar said he plans to revamp the network and pattern it after the BBC. He said he also wanted to streamline all the government’s media assets which also include Radyo ng Bayan and 37 other radio stations.
South Korea’s cable TV industry on shaky ground
South Korea’s antitrust watchdog Fair Trade Commission’s decision to oppose the proposed merger and acquisition plan between IPTV operator SK Broadband and cable TV operator CJ HelloVision has left not only the two companies in trouble, but also local content creators and the cable TV industry.
The 50-billion-won (US$43 million) investment plan of the merged business entity in nurturing content businesses is no more.
Korea’s pay-TV market is rapidly shifting from conventional cable TV to the IPTV services providers.
Mediacorp signs deal with Outbrain
Singapore’s Mediacorp has signed a two-year partnership with content promotion platform Outbrain to maximise its online content results.
The deal enables Mediacorp’s online properties – Channel NewsAsia and TODAY online – to leverage Outbrain’s technology for deeper engagement and audience growth, analytics about their core digital users, and to maximise monetisation.
Outbrain will aggregate Mediacorp’s audiences with those from its previous local publishers and global deals such as News Corp Australia, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Indian Express, Fairfax, CNN, Time, and Mashable.
Thailand’s T Group expands into entertainment
Thailand’s T Group Holding is expanding its entertainment and show business offerings to other regional countries.
Showbiz comprises 47% of the company’s business, while 50% of its business is in chemical product distribution.
In April the company staged its first entertainment venture outside Thailand by organising a rock concert in Myanmar.
Later this year the company will organise the Let It Be: A Celebration of the Music of The Beatles – Part IIconcert in Kuala Lumpur in partnership with AC Entertainment.
Mediaweek Asia In Brief
• South Korea’s leading fixed-line operator KT has launched a new mobile shopping service, Shopping Now, combined with its IPTV service, Olleh TV. Viewers can search and buy products related to content they are watching. KT has Korea’s largest number of IPTV subscribers with more than 6.5 million at the end of last year.
• Kumaran Pillai, publisher of The Independent Singapore, claims the website has a readership of 750,000 after three years of operation. He said that in the site’s first month in 2013 it drew 800,000 page views.
• ABS-CBN in the Philippines has acquired 65 hours of the series Fitness First Class via a package deal with French-headquartered Prime Entertainment Group. It will air the series on its Lifestyle Network.
• Reclusive leader of South Korea’s internet giant Naver will make a rare appearance today – Lee Hae-jinwill front the press on the same day when the company’s subsidiary and mobile messenger operator LINE is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.