Monday Nov 25, 2024
Monday Nov 25, 2024
Friday, 12 August 2016 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shiran Illanperuma
Online video-on-demand streaming service iflix launched operations in Sri lanka last week marking the service’s first foray into the South Asia region. iflix Sri Lanka General Manager Firaz Markar cited the island nation’s strong telecommunications infrastructure and built-in demand as a compelling reason for the launch.
“Relative to the South Asia region, Sri Lanka has some of the best mobile infrastructure and cheapest data packages. With a high literacy rate the Sri Lankan audience also consumes a lot of English media making the island a suitable market for iflix to kick off its expansion to South Asia,” explained Markar.
Originally launched in the Phillipines, iflix has since expanded in the South East Asian region with launches in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. According to Markar, plans are also underway to roll out the service into other developing markets including those in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
Markar went on to distinguish iflix from similar video subscription services like Netflix and Hulu, remarking: “Our strategy is to offer a value proposition that is affordable for a developing market. We have locally tested out service to ensure that it is adaptable for the varying data speeds throughout the island especially outside of Colombo where a surprising number of our subscribers are based.”
iflix content available in Sri Lanka is currently limited to mostly English language television shows and Hollywood films. However, Sinhala subtitles are available for all content with Tamil subtitles set to be released in the near future. Dubbing in local languages is also on the cards said Markar.
“Our strategy is to not just push Hollywood, we want to tap into the potential of our local market. We are already in talks with local producers, content aggregators and television channels to make their content available for a mass market,” said Markar.
In order to pre-emptively circumvent controversy Markar said that iflix would be censoring “culturally insensitive” content through internal mechanisms. Markar said that scenes containing graphic sex or violence would be edited out though viewers will not be informed before watching content that has been censored. In the past iflix has run into difficulties partnering with Indonesian telecommunications companies due to objection over some of its content.
According to Markar, iflix contains thousands of hours of television and film content that is available for viewing through a subscription based model. All new subscribers will be given free access to the service for a month after which viewers can opt to pay Rs. 449 per month or Rs. 4,308 per year (a 20% discount on the monthly rate). Payment methods for the service are only by credit or debit card for the moment.
Pix by Shehan Gunasekara
