Indonesian ride-hailer Gojek takes on Netflix with video-streaming platform

CJ

26/09/2019 04:30

By Fanny Potkin
    JAKARTA, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Indonesian ride-hailing and
payments firm Gojek launched a video streaming service featuring
original movies and TV shows on Thursday , as the firm makes a
big push into online content in Southeast Asia's largest
economy, its entertainment chief said.
    "We see that there's a gap where people want to watch
Indonesian high-quality content, but where the only choice to
see it is to go to the cinema," Gojek Entertainment Group Chief
Executive Edy Sulistyo told Reuters in an interview.
    "With 'Goplay', we are here to fill the gap and bridge the
millions of Indonesian mobile viewers to the Indonesian film
industry," he added, referring to the name of the new
video-streaming platform.
    Having evolved from a ride-hailing service founded in 2010
to providing a one-stop app through which users can make online
payments and order food and services such as massages, Gojek is
now nursing ambitions for a larger share of the Southeast Asian
market, where Singapore-based rival Grab currently dominates
ride-sharing.
    The launch of its Indonesian video platform sees the
start-up, which is valued at $10 billion based on its last round
of fundraising in July, take on U.S streaming giant Netflix
 NFLX.O , Malaysian upstart Iflix, and Singaporean firm and Grab
partner HOOQ in a fight for eyeballs in the country's
fast-growing video streaming market. 
    "Mobile penetration in Indonesia has reached 54 percent,
which is roughly 130-140 million people, so the potential is
very big," Sulistyo said.
     The expansion into video streaming comes on the heels of
Gojek launching in September a gaming platform in Indonesia, in
collaboration with strategic investors Google  GOOGL.O  and
Chinese internet giant Tencent  0700.HK , that offers gaming
credit top-ups and e-sports tips. 
    Gojek also invested in a digital media start-up late last
year as it strengthens its expansion into online content. 
    Indonesia's internet economy is forecast to grow to $100
billion by 2025, according to a 2018 study by Google and
Singapore state investor Temasek, as more consumers use
smartphones to go online.
    
   INDONESIAN CONTENT
    Subscriptions to the 'GoPlay' mobile-only video streaming
platform will start at 89,000 rupiah a month ($6).
     While some of its rivals, including Netflix, have produced
Indonesian content, Sulistyo believes the breadth and "quality"
of the Indonesian movies and TV series Gojek is offering will
give it the edge, including a 3-5 minutes short films section.
    Gojek has secured the streaming rights to hundreds of recent
Indonesian films and shows.
    It launched its own in-house studio in 2018 in anticipation
of the platform, co-financing at least nine different original
Indonesian movies and series, including Indonesia's 2019 Academy
Awards nominee "Memories of My Body".
    This was done in part through partnerships with VICE's
Indonesia unit and film production company Visinema.
    The executive declined to say how big an overall budget
Gojek has allocated to the initiative, but added the company was
working with a wide range of production houses for its
programming, which would be recalibrated according to viewers'
responses.
    While focused on Indonesian content, Sulistyo said Gojek had
also inked some tie-ups with foreign production companies for
partial access to their libraries, including with South Korean
entertainment powerhouses CJ E&M  001040.KS  and SM
Entertainment  041510.KQ  for TV shows.
    "We want to spend enough to satisfy demand," he said, noting
there were no short-term plans to expand GoPlay beyond
Indonesia.

 (Reporting by Fanny Potkin; Editing by Alex Richardson)
 ((f.potkin@thomsonreuters.com;))