TV2U looks to leverage World Cup for billion-dollar IPTV market

Internet protocol TV enabler TV2U International (ASX: TV2) has struck a potentially pivotal streaming agreement with Indosat Ooredoo, one of the largest telecom service providers in Indonesia.

The deal contacts TV2U to deliver a premium mobile-first subscription streaming service for Indosat’s subscribers ahead of the FIFA World Cup commencing on 14 June with the launch of the service scheduled to commence a few weeks earlier.

The World Cup is the largest spectator event in the world that attracts several billion viewers globally over the course of one month of regularly scheduled matches.

According to TV2U, its streaming agreement with Indosat is expected to be executed “in the next few days” with the initial service offering focusing on the World Cup as a means of generating an initial push of subscribers.

The agreement is then expected to expand into a major live and on-demand content marketplace for Indonesian consumers after the sporting event concludes on 15 July, 2018.

Indonesian market

Indosat currently offers pre-paid and post-paid mobile telecom access services to its 100 million subscriber base across three brands in Indonesia: Matrix Ooredoo, Mentari Ooredoo, and IM3 Ooredoo.

Once executed, the streaming agreement will run for an initial 36-month period under a revenue share arrangement with Indosat.

TV2U will supply the platform and application suite, provide product knowledge, and offer remote support for the streaming service once it has been launched.

Importantly from a capital expenditure perspective, TV2U will not have to invest resources into any additional infrastructure for deploying the service as the service will be delivered through TV2U’s existing technology platform, iStream.

As a mobile-first platform, iStream will be available on Android through the Google Play store and on iOS via the Apple Store, but also, will be offered via a web browser which is expected to attract millions of viewers considering the expected popularity of the World Cup event in Asia.

TV2U’s technology will power iStream to run both real-time content such as streaming every World Cup match live, but also, provide a variety of on-demand content such as match reruns and highlights programmes to be managed by Indosat’s editorial curation team.

With the assistance of TV2U’s technology, Indosat hopes to create a “one-stop, unrivalled content hub for football fans in the region”, according to TV2U.

Cutting-edge technology

The commercial opportunity for TV2U and Indosat is being driven by targeted advertising and highly informative analytics of their audience.

TV2U says that its “advanced analytics capabilities” built into iStream will help Indosat drive additional revenue with its technology enabling advertising to be “dynamically stitched into a live stream” or automatically inserted into previously recorded on-demand video at a later date.

Such functionality is expected to attract advertisers and globally recognised brands looking to associate themselves with streamed content.

According to TV2U, since its platform is capable of drill-down advertising based on geography, device, or individual user preferences and content viewing habits, this provides an “essential up-sell opportunity” for pushing subscribers towards the iStream service and for supporting Indosat’s ongoing advertising and engagement efforts.

“Building on our growth in the Indonesian market, this new offering will be a testament to the flexibility of TV2U’s technology for quickly and easily allowing service providers to launch a bespoke and branded ‘over-the-top’ service. The southeast Asia TV and online video market is expected to be worth over $11 billion in the next five years and TV2U is continuing to position itself at the heart of this evolution,” said Mr Nick Fitzgerald, CEO of TV2U.