Taiwan’s Catchplay has expanded its streaming service into Indonesia through a deal with leading telco and IPTV service provider Telkom Indonesia.
The service will be offered to Telkom’s 1.6 million IndiHome subscribers via IndiHome hybrid set-top boxes, web and android and iOS apps available in Google Play and the App Store. Telkom is planning to sponsor the first six months’ access for IndiHome subscribers.
Catchplay chairman Timothy Chen said in a statement that the content offered in Indonesia has been tailored for local audiences. In addition to its partnerships with US studios NBC Universal and Warner Brothers, the company is licensing content from local distributors and producers, such as PrimaCinema and StarVision.
Titles announced at launch include Hunger Games Mocking Jay 2, Sisters, Point Break, The Last Witch Hunter, The Little Prince and Gods Of Egypt. The service claims it can stream some titles just a few months after their theatrical debut. Library titles include popular franchises such as Fast And Furious, Despicable Me and Jurassic World.
The service has both TVOD and SVOD payment options. ‘Movie Fans’ receive one free movie a month from a curated selection, while local or Hollywood library titles are charged at $1.40 (Rp19,500) and new releases cost $2.20 (Rp29,500).
Meanwhile, ‘Movie Lovers’ pay a monthly $4.8 (Rp66,000) subscription, which includes one free new title and unlimited views of library titles.
“Indonesia is not only the biggest market in the region but also a very vibrant playing field for entertainment content services,” said Catchplay chairman Harvey Chang. “We are confident that our service will be welcome here, especially through the partnership with Telkom.”
Telkom director of consumer services Dian Rachmawan said: “Catchplay provides not only a good selection of blockbuster movies, particularly new titles, but also unparalleled user experience for movie lovers. We are glad to be the first to introduce it to the audience in Indonesia.”
Catchplay first launched its streaming service in Taiwan in March (see story here).
Netflix launched in Indonesia as part of its global rollout in January 2016, but was blocked by Telkom Indonesia for offering inappropriate content. Singapore-based HOOQ and Kuala Lumpur-based iFlix are also operating streaming services in Indonesia, which has around 90 million mobile broadband users but only 5.5 million fixed broadband users.