Video streaming company iflix is looking to incorporate a feature on its website that would make the user viewing experience more interactive.
In a presentation during the first Brunei CEO Summit held last May, iflix chief executive Azran Osman-Rani said a feature that enables users to comment on the shows they watch is now under consideration.
The idea, he said, was inspired by applications like Twitch, a livestreaming video platform and community for gamers that focuses on video gaming and playthroughs, and is aimed at the younger market.
“For [the younger audience that plays video games], it’s not just that ‘this is me and the video game’, but that ‘I’m part of a community’. That creates a more social and interactive experience. So taking inspiration from applications like Twitch is the ability for people to comment and engage others while watching TV shows,” Azran said.
The feature will not post comments in real time, Azran said, noting that iflix shows are not live.
“What we do is we time the comments,” he said, explaining that after a user comments on a particular scene, the comment would subsequently come out on the same scene when other viewers hit the exact point in the video that the comment was made.
iflix has also started talking to Hollywood studios to get actors and directors to also comment on their own shows, he said.
“It’s the 21st century, so let’s move on to 21st century television.”
Azran said that the feature could drive traffic away from pirated services towards iflix.
“This provides a unique feature you would not get using pirated services or cable and satellite services,” he said.
He also said the the move is in line with iflix’s focus on “the next generation”. He notes that 80 per cent of iflix users are under 30 years old who primarily use a mobile phone as their mobile phones as their entertainment device.
“They want to be able to engage with people,” he said.
He did not give a timeframe for the deployment of the feature.
Azran said the feature is the latest of several that the company constantly comes up with to keep up with the “giants” in the video streaming and entertainment industry.
“We always have to recognise that we are small and we’re competing with giants… The only way to stay alive as a small player is to move along faster. Moving fast, constantly trying new things,” he noted.
He added that that while not all of iflix’s ideas worked, iflix continues to try new things to stay ahead of competition.
“That’s the spirit of constantly innovating: having the mindset to say, six or seven or eight [ideas] didn’t work, and that’s okay because it’s the speed of trying things – that’s the only thing that keeps us ahead of the big global giants of Silicon valley or the big lumbering satellite TV giants that still charging a lot of money when the reality is that the phones that we are carrying today have far more computing power,” he said.
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, iflix was established in 2015 as a subscription video-on-demand service that is focused on emerging markets. It allows users to access TV shows and movies through different platforms, including mobile phones. With a focus on localising content, the company prides itself for providing access to regional and local programmes, as well as for providing subtitles for these programmes in the languages of the localities they are accessed in.
iflix is reported to have more than five million subscribers around the world as of May 2017. The service is currently being offered in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brunei, the Maldives, Pakistan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Egypt and Sudan.
In a presentation during the first Brunei CEO Summit held last May, iflix chief executive Azran Osman-Rani said a feature that enables users to comment on the shows they watch is now under consideration.
The idea, he said, was inspired by applications like Twitch, a livestreaming video platform and community for gamers that focuses on video gaming and playthroughs, and is aimed at the younger market.
“For [the younger audience that plays video games], it’s not just that ‘this is me and the video game’, but that ‘I’m part of a community’. That creates a more social and interactive experience. So taking inspiration from applications like Twitch is the ability for people to comment and engage others while watching TV shows,” Azran said.
The feature will not post comments in real time, Azran said, noting that iflix shows are not live.
“What we do is we time the comments,” he said, explaining that after a user comments on a particular scene, the comment would subsequently come out on the same scene when other viewers hit the exact point in the video that the comment was made.
iflix has also started talking to Hollywood studios to get actors and directors to also comment on their own shows, he said.
“It’s the 21st century, so let’s move on to 21st century television.”
Azran said that the feature could drive traffic away from pirated services towards iflix.
“This provides a unique feature you would not get using pirated services or cable and satellite services,” he said.
He also said the the move is in line with iflix’s focus on “the next generation”. He notes that 80 per cent of iflix users are under 30 years old who primarily use a mobile phone as their mobile phones as their entertainment device.
“They want to be able to engage with people,” he said.
He did not give a timeframe for the deployment of the feature.
Azran said the feature is the latest of several that the company constantly comes up with to keep up with the “giants” in the video streaming and entertainment industry.
“We always have to recognise that we are small and we’re competing with giants… The only way to stay alive as a small player is to move along faster. Moving fast, constantly trying new things,” he noted.
He added that that while not all of iflix’s ideas worked, iflix continues to try new things to stay ahead of competition.
“That’s the spirit of constantly innovating: having the mindset to say, six or seven or eight [ideas] didn’t work, and that’s okay because it’s the speed of trying things – that’s the only thing that keeps us ahead of the big global giants of Silicon valley or the big lumbering satellite TV giants that still charging a lot of money when the reality is that the phones that we are carrying today have far more computing power,” he said.
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, iflix was established in 2015 as a subscription video-on-demand service that is focused on emerging markets. It allows users to access TV shows and movies through different platforms, including mobile phones. With a focus on localising content, the company prides itself for providing access to regional and local programmes, as well as for providing subtitles for these programmes in the languages of the localities they are accessed in.
iflix is reported to have more than five million subscribers around the world as of May 2017. The service is currently being offered in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brunei, the Maldives, Pakistan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Egypt and Sudan.
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