Canal+ Group’s Thema and IQiyi have partnered to launch the pan-Asian streaming service in the UK and Ireland.
The development marks IQiyi’s first partnership in Europe and Netgem TV’s first dedicated Asian service on the platform.
Commenting on the launch, Anna Pak Burdin, iQiyi’s international head of business development, said: “We’re thrilled to announce our first ever partnership in the UK and Ireland via the launch of iQiyi with Netgem to bring the best of Chinese, Korean and other Asian dramas to fans in the UK and Ireland.
“As the home of beloved pan-Asian content, we’re excited to offer Netgem TV users high-quality exclusive premium content like top-charting “My Roommate is a Gumiho”, Chinese drama “My Dear Guardian” and iQiyi’s first Southeast Asia Original, “The Ferryman: Legends of Nanyang”, in up to 4K resolution. iQiyi hopes to continue to elevate the viewing experience of Asian content for our audiences, and we are excited to form a partnership with Netgem to bring more cinematic and thoughtful storytelling”.
Philippe Rouxel, EVP Distribution at Thema, added: “Thema is very proud to achieve a new step in the international expansion of iQiyi, the ultimate Asian streaming service, showcasing the best and largest choice of Asian content. With the launch of iQiyi’s compelling offering on Netgem, we are excited about the incredible opportunities to further roll out iQiyi across Europe”.
Shan Eisenberg, CCO at Netgem TV, said: “We thrive to bring our viewers the best-in-class content options in each category as we believe modern TV viewers are looking for choice but also guidance through the overwhelming choice of add-ons available. iQiyi is the clear champion in its genre and we are delighted to welcome them on Netgem TV and pleased to deploy our full suite of content discovery UI leviers to ensure max engagement on this fantastic new service”.
IQiyi has over 106 million paid subscribers worldwide and offers more than 10 localised interfaces and subtitles, making Asian content accessible to global audiences in 191 territories worldwide.
Its international app currently offers over 4,000 original and licensed titles across movies, dramas, variety shows and anime that can be downloaded and watched offline or on-the-go. Other than bringing the best Korean content to the service, iQiyi will also provide to its Netgem TV audience in the UK and Ireland, the best in Chinese content – especially in genres such as romance and suspense thrillers.
Meanwhile, Netgem TV already addresses a total of 3 million homes in the UK and Ireland.
