All reality shows all the time
THERE’S A new streaming service on the block and this time it’s focused on making sure people get their daily dose of reality drama — from Keeping Up With the Kardashians to Vanderpump Rules — from NBCUniversal and it’s called Hayu.
Pronounced like “hey, you,” the streaming service prides itself as a service that’s dedicated to reality content, a segment of the market that is “not met by other [streaming] services,” Hendrik McDermott, SVP brand on-demand and managing director of Hayu in an e-mail interview with BusinessWorld on Oct. 28.
The service, which launched in 2016, is currently available in 14 markets including the UK, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, and now the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
“As in the other countries where we have launched, there’s a gap in the market for an OTT* Unscripted service for young females and Hayu super-serves this audience with content they love,” Mr. McDermott said.
“While we don’t share subscriber numbers, we are extremely pleased with the momentum we’ve achieved for Hayu since the launch — three and half years ago — as evidenced by our steady expansion,” he added.
Offering “over 7,000 episodes of top reality content” with “750 episodes added to the service each year and complete box sets allow fans to catch up on almost every series from the very beginning,” Hayu features series such as Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Vanderpump Rules, The Real Housewives, and Dance Moms. There’s also a selection for fans of true crime and home design shows.
The majority of the US shows on the service will debut the same day as their US launch. The service also allows subscribers to download episodes to view at their leisure.
Three years after its launch, the service has decided to expand into Southeast Asia since it “has all the right ingredients to break through Southeast Asia.”
“Specifically, we know from our local research that the Philippines has a huge appetite for high-quality reality content, which NBCU International has in abundance,” Mr. McDermott said.
The service is offered at P149 a month and is available for download in Google Play and the iTunes App Store and on web browsers.
* “Over-The-Top” refers to streaming content over the web. — Zsarlene B. Chua
