Tribe Marks Download Milestone, Seeks Out New Content Partners

KUALA LUMPUR: Astro Malaysia’s video streaming service Tribe is eagerly exploring new content and advertising partners as it marks its first anniversary having reached the 1 million downloads mark for its app in Indonesia and the Philippines.

“As Tribe celebrates its first anniversary, we are pleased to achieve 1 million app downloads amid fierce competition in our markets,” said Iskander Samad, Tribe’s CEO. “We are thankful to our partners and end users for their continued support, and we expect growth to continue being robust over the coming year. In addition to support from telco partners, we took advantage of the digital sphere and social media to reach digitally savvy audiences, and our efforts seem to have paid off.”

He continued, “Our loyal users really like Tribe’s linear experience, especially the Korean content channels and live sports. Oh!K, K-PLUS, KBS and TvN get solid viewership as users follow latest K-drama and K-music shows across these networks; while the Fox Sports channels get a lot of viewership particularly during motorsport races, badminton tournaments and Bundesliga matches. And when they miss episodes, they can always catch up through our VOD library. This is one of our strong value propositions—a live and up-to-date content experience that resonates. I believe this also bodes well for our ad-supplemented business model.”

Seeking out new brand partners for video pre-rolls and, later this year, mid-rolls, Samad notes, “With 80 percent of our users under the age of 35, and a distinct female skew among the K-content viewers, Tribe would be the perfect channel for retail, fashion and lifestyle brands focusing on the younger demographic.”

Tribe is also actively looking for new content partners in Indonesia and the Philippines with an eye on programming that will appeal to the millennial set, both premium and “digital-first” short-form. Last year, Tribe collaborated with Indonesian directors Joko Anwar and Angga Sasongko to produce short films, and the platform is currently collaborating with Globe Studios in the Philippines to aggregate content created in collaboration with emerging talent.