Digital entertainment firm picks Thailand for maiden launch of “LUVE”   

“After talking to TV stations, creators and agencies, we realised that there is a need and a space for the new short-form video platform that is targeted at millennial audiences because now more than ever people consume shorter and shorter videos,” Fred Chong, CEO of the Malaysian startup, told a press conference here last week. 
Thailand was picked as the first country because it is a very important market. 
Two years ago, Thailand became its biggest market and now has the most content creators or 150 channel partners with WebTVAsia. 
“We all agree Thailand produces the best TV commercials and storytelling short-form content,” he said.
LUVE will come with artificial intelligence or machine-learning to study or understand users’ habits and preferences so the app can feed users the proper contents matching their habits.
“For example, we know you are on the train at 8am and at the house at 9pm. Then we will feed you two different contents depending on the timing,” he said. 
Chu Soon Seng, CEO of WebTVAsia Thailand, who was responsible for the new platform, said LUVE was designed to serve young generation users below 25 years of age.
“We don’t want to replace TV because our target groups are those who already don’t watch TV,” he said.
The new platform would focus on videos from less than five minutes in length to micro form or less than one minute in length, which matched the Thai young generation’s watching patterns. 
“Our new app is something very new. We will know how long (the video) should be sent to you based on your habits so you will get more proper content than before,” he said.
All functions of the new platform would be designed to make it easier for users to watch. Also, only good quality contents will make the cut for users. 
The contents in LUVE will be localised or created by Thais because culture was diversified in Asia, he said.
Chong said the company was embarking on an ambitious plan to become Asia’s biggest short- and micro-form video platform by 2018. 
“If we can do well (in Thailand), it will be the model to apply for the next country,” he said.
“The firm’s foundation of one billion views, 25 million subscribers and various highly rated original shows will give us a competitive advantage and head start,” he said.
WebTVAsia develops, produces, markets and distributes contents across multiple digital platforms. 
It began as one of the pioneering YouTube Channel Networks in Asia in 2013, unifying the entire value chain of digital content creation, distribution and investment into a single entity to form a pan-Asian media entertainment group. 
Based in Kuala Lumpur, WebTVAsia is active in 12 markets across Asia-Pacific with offices in nine markets – China, Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
As part of the company’s regional expansion, WebTVAsia also reported at the press conference that it has acquired a major stake in Vietnam’s METUB Network, invested in producing a feature film with United Entertainment Partners China and partnered with HTC Taiwan to deliver and drive digital marketing campaigns working with Asia’s top digital talents. 
“In recent months, we grew our team in Asia to expand regionally to nine markets now. 
“The acquisition, investment and partnership deals that we are announcing today not only provide us with a larger footprint in this region, they also allow us to further penetrate into the individual markets that we’ve been active in over the last three years,“ Chong said.