Fox attempts to win Asia’s crowded streaming market with original content

By Kinsey Grant

Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. is going to capitalise on original programming to gain market share in an Asian streaming landscape widely dominated by Netflix and Amazon.com Inc. , Asia’s Nikkei reported.

Fox Networks Group’s president of Asia Pacific and Middle East Zubin Gandevia said Fox’s digital offerings in the crowded market are differentiated by the media company’s impressive scale. “We are the biggest buyer of content in the English [language] market,” Gandevia said. “We have the scale ... it’s all about the content.”

Fox launched the Fox+ streaming platform in Taiwan this week in partnership with Taiwanese telecom operations leader Chunghwa Telecom Co. After six months of exclusive work with Chunghwa, Fox+ will be able to work with local partners including cable operators and other telecom firms.

In addition to a wide swath of Chinese-language programming, the platform will offer English-language programming as soon as it streams domestically. Taiwan is Fox’s third Asian market following the Philippines and Singapore.

Amazon and Netflix both entered the Taiwanese market ahead of Fox and offer streaming services in more countries. China’s iQiYi also boasts a large share in the region’s competitive streaming market.