Astro become first international partner of China’s leading entertainment app

Frank Ye, Head of International Business, iQIYI & Astro Vice President, Chinese Customer Business

Malaysia has been chosen as the launchpad for China’s market-leading online entertainment service by partnering with Astro. The service is an application called iQIYI, which has over 100 million paid subscribers and this partnership marks the app’s first, outside of China.

The iQIYI app is going to be available for all Malaysians on their mobile devices and Apple TV and will carry a wide range of content for free or through subscription to the VIP Gold or VIP Diamond membership for exclusive, ad-free content. This partnership will give Astro customers special privileges such as discounts and 2-month free VIP membership.

iQIYI combines creative talent with technology and produces blockbuster content. Following the suit of other popular streaming services, it has a comprehensive library of, professionally-produced, partner-generated and user-generated and even original content. The company sets itself apart in the online entertainment industry by powering its technology platform with advanced AI, big data analytics and other core proprietary technologies.

 “The exchanges and communications of global content have become more accessible with the help of wireless technology, data storage technology and big-data analytics,” said Yang Xianghua, President of Membership and Overseas Business Group of iQIYI. “With strong marketing capabilities, outstanding content creation and distribution strength, Astro has been a close partner of iQIYI – we are confident that this close partnership will continue to fully synergise through the creativity and capabilities of both parties to provide users in Malaysia with better services,” he added.

The Astro-iQIYI partnership started in 2017 with the reality street dance show, ‘Hot Blood Dance Crew,’ airing on the same day as China. Astro even held the audition for iQIYI’s widely popular ‘The Rap of China’. Today’s partnership will see the first content collaboration for three of Astro’s originals – ‘Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant’, ‘Call Me Handsome’ and a web drama ‘Why So Famous’, which will be featured on the iQIYI App.

“The partnership is timely as we are seeing growing streaming services and interest as consumers are able to enjoy the rich content choices in a convenient and personalised manner,” Henry Tan, CEO of Astro said. “iQIYI is at the forefront of video streaming, offering both compelling content and a good user experience. In addition, we look forward to benefit from iQIYI in data analytics and AI.”