HOOQ Expands Freemium Layer in Indonesia

Through a partnership with uCast, HOOQ is adding some 50 online channels to its freemium offering in Indonesia.

The channels will be added progressively to the tier starting this month. The initial 15 channels include Buzzfeed, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, In-Style and Fail Army. The online channels join the 16 free-to-air services already on the platform’s Live TV offering, including Al Jazeera, K-Drama and Lejel Home Shopping.

“HOOQ has been laser-focused on winning in Indonesia and will continue to invest and innovate with our Indonesian offering to keep our customers HOOQ’d,” said CEO Peter Bithos. “Adding uCast’s slate of online channels to the content mix not only diversifies but strengthen HOOQ’s existing content offering. Increasingly, mobile phones penetration rate has led to unparalleled screen time, with the average Indonesian spending almost four hours a day interacting with digital content. This, together with the rise of social media platforms, has led to the immense popularity and garnered huge following for online channels such as Buzzfeed, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated and more. We are confident that Indonesian audiences will be thrilled with bite-sized entertainment that packs a punch.”

Jennifer Batty, chief content officer of HOOQ, added, “HOOQ prides itself for offering the most exciting content mix for entertainment fans in Indonesia. We constantly innovate to meet the evolving needs of our subscribers as can be seen from the series of unprecedented industry-first moves we have made in the last one year—from daily sachets to live TV to the offering of a skinny bundle and now the introduction of online channels. The addition of these online channels will undoubtedly elevate our viewers’ experience and allow HOOQ subscribers to truly enjoy the very best of local and Hollywood content—be it their favorite programs on local television channels, episodic local originals, local movies, award-winning TV series and blockbusters from Hollywood, or popular programs on pay TV and online channels.”