By Ron Chen, Correspondent ASEAN Region

PCCW’s leading pan-regional OTT video streaming service, Viu and Choueiri Group jointly announce the appointment of Digital Media Services (DMS), the digital arm of Choueiri Group, as Viu’s Exclusive Media Representative across the MENA region.

The collaboration, which became effective on October 1, 2021, will witness DMS working towards supporting Viu’s freemium digital video platform, and promoting its ongoing evolution as a highly beneficial advertising medium for brands and advertisers across the MENA region.

Elaborating on the full scope and potential of the collaboration, Chief Business Officer of Middle East & South Africa, Viu, Rohit D’silva said, “ Viu’s growth stems from its strong content offering combined with its leading expertise related to online video curation as shown by its deeply rooted presence across MENA’s digital ecosystem. During H1 of 2021, Viu’s revenue increased by 47 per cent YOY with 49.4 million MAU, and over 7 million paid subscribers across all markets. We are delighted to collaborate with Choueiri Group and the DMS team to accelerate the advertising video on demand (AVOD) aspect of the Viu flywheel in the region. Working closely with DMS, we believe that we can contribute significantly towards making ‘Curated, Brand Safe, Digital Video’ a substantial and meaningful part of the conversation around digital advertising budgets in the region.”

Chief Operating Officer of DMS, Ziad Khammar said,  “DMS has been a leader in investing and leading in video advertising for the past decade. Viu’s addition to our portfolio is sure to elevate video advertising in the region and we are excited about this development as the platform holds a strong footing in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE. We are confident that advertisers will welcome Viu’s robust commercial proposition for their Premium Curated Video on Demand services in the MENA region. Our aim is to continuously grow our commercial opportunities and strengthen our video offerings for advertisers, especially during seasonal opportunities like Ramadan.”

Viu has created a large and rapidly growing base of users across the Middle East through its diverse content offering which includes various genres and well-known Arab and Asian content. Viu is the only one of two OTT players in MENA to have a freemium offering, complimented by a compelling catalogue of original content, making it the perfect platform for advertisers to reach a growing and heavily engaged pool of audiences.