Astro expands distribution via Google’s YouTube

• Astro Digital and Google ink Content Hosting Services Agreement
• Total of 14 Astro channels with over 300 hours of content now available via YouTube Malaysia

ASTRO Digital, a subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad, has entered into a strategic collaboration with Google to extend the distribution of its branded content to Malaysia and the rest of the world via YouTube.
 
Commenting on the collaboration, Henry Tan, chief operating officer of Astro said: “We are pleased to partner Google to widen the distribution of our Malaysian content onto digital platforms such as YouTube, so that we can go beyond the household to access non-Astro customers as well as Malaysians living abroad or anyone in the world, who are interested in our content offering.”
 
Astro Digital and Google inked the Content Hosting Services Agreement in March of this year and the media company has hosted its content on YouTube since the launch of YouTube Malaysia during the same month.
 
Astro now has 14 channels on YouTube with over 300 hours of library content and these channels have achieved over 35 million cumulative views since launch.
 
Content offerings include six full length “catch-up” channels from NJOI, the company’s free satellite TV available across three vernacular languages such as Astro’s Awani, Prima, Oasis, Xiao Tai Yang, AEC and Vaanavil.
 
In addition to these six channels from NJOI, there are eight short-form promotional channels which feature behind the scenes, music videos, promos, extras and educational clips in English, Malay and Chinese.
 
Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak witnessed the partnership. Astro was represented by Tan, and Google by Julian Persaud, its South-East Asia managing director. The event took place in conjunction with the Digital Malaysia and the MSC Malaysia International Advisory Panel (IAP) meeting today (Oct 9).