AS part of its promotional strategy for next year, Media Prima Bhd’s over-the-top (OTT) content player, tonton, has opened up its content library for all Malaysians to enjoy.
Previously, only 20 per cent were available for free, but now, anyone with a tonton account can access 90 per cent of the archive, which accumulates to more than 20,000 hours of content.
In an interview with the New Straits Times, tonton general manager Ben Jern Loh said, “We have a huge selection of drama series that are a year and older, which are now free for viewing.
“On top of that, our latest news, sports, entertainment, lifestyle and talk shows are available for free viewing once they premiere on television.”
This allows subscribers of tonton, which offers free membership and subscription-based video-on-demand services, a chance to catch up if they were to miss their airing.
“We’ve been looking at user consumption patterns and discovered that our paying customers go for tonton’s exclusive content,” said Loh.
It includes the Marvel live-action series Inhumans, Media Prima TV Networks’ dramas and telemovies, as well as tonton originals, which collectively make up 20 per cent of the archive.
“The remaining percentage is left untouched. (Some) tonton users want to watch (shows), but they don’t necessarily want to pay for such services. This is why we decided to make the archives free. Tonton doesn’t view this as a loss, as it will make Media Prima Bhd’s content more accessible.
“The free content comes with video advertisements. Digital advertising is primed for further growth this year and we expect a surge in digital inventory availability,” said Loh.
On the production front, tonton aims to work with JinnyBoyTV once again in producing exclusive content, following the success of their co-produced movie, ByMYSide.
“We made it available on iTunes Malaysia. Within the first three days (of airing), ByMYSide was rated the No. 1 movie, surpassing even the biggest Hollywood movies (like Fast and Furious 8 and Spider-Man: Homecoming).”