iwonder Goes D2C in Australia, NZ, Singapore

The doc and current-affairs streaming platform iwonder, which has been available through the iflix service across Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East since last year, has launched a direct-to-consumer offering in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The platform, launched by iflix and Foxtel alum James Bridges, delivers factual content focused on entertainment, sports, history, politics, science and technology, religion, music, movies, nature, war and iconic personalities. It has a slate of about 500 hours at present, including Alt-Right: Age of Rage and Ten Billion. iwonder is curating its slate to tie in with current events, with news stories, featured on the home page, paired with titles that explore related themes.

“High-quality, engaging stories that give much deeper context into what is happening in the world today will be the bedrock of our service,” said Bridges, co-founder and CEO. “For example, when students around the world continue to take to the streets to demand a response from world leaders on climate change later this month, iwonder will respond by featuring the news on our home page and pairing content which delves deeper into surrounding issues on climate, politics and activism. iwonder will always focus first on great storytelling that helps us understand more about our world and ourselves. We are passionate about connecting the best of the 30,000 or so documentaries produced each year, so many of which fly under the radar without Hollywood marketing budgets, to audiences that are increasingly migrating to streaming.”

The platform is charging $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year. The service is eyeing expansion into Western Europe, Bridges tells World Screen.