Since the launch of its Ani-One YouTube channel, the medialink group (02230.HK) has successively added Thai, Vietnamese, and Filipino sub-channels. At present, there are 5 channels on the YouTube platform, with a total of 6 million subscriptions, including tens of thousands of paid subscribers. Zhao Xiaoyan, chairman and CEO of the group's board of directors, revealed that an Indonesian channel will be added this month, and there are plans to launch an Indian channel later this year, expanding the distribution of the group's proprietary content to more markets online.
Medialink Group also launched two national animation channels, "Anime fan" and "Ani-Mi Asia", on YouTube last year, offering Chinese domestic animated works to the audience of 13 Asian regions for free. The two channels currently have a total of nearly 150,000 subscribers. She pointed out that except for bilibili (09626.HK), the national animation partners also include Tencent (00700.HK), iQiyi (IQ.US) and Netease (09999.HK), describing that the production cost of domestic works is not cheap and is popular among overseas audiences. At this stage, the two channels do not plan to add paid content, but will consider adding a subscription model similar to Ani-One channel when development is mature.
In March of this year, the group announced an investment in Hong Kong film and television production company S11 Partners. Zhao Xiaoyan said that in the future, the group will strengthen the distribution of its own cooperation and investment-produced content, including drama series, movies, and variety shows, but emphasized that it will not engage in sole production. It is expected that the investment will usually be around 10% to 30%, and tend to obtain content distribution and marketing rights to reduce investment risks.
The 25th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) will be held at the end of this month. She hopes that the number of visitors and sales at the group's booth can record double-digit growth, and with the strengthening of promotion of the group and the organizer, it is expected to attract many tourists and increase customer sources.