BusinessToday spoke to Dato’ Khairul Anwar Salleh, CEO of Media Prima Television Networks and Primeworks Studio on his thoughts on the challenges plaguing the media ecosystem and media trends and news that Malaysian readers are consuming, to name a few.
- With the evolution of media offerings from various media houses, how do you plan on differentiating your product offerings in the time to come?
Being the largest media company in Malaysia, Media Prima Berhad has been on board the digital transformation journey, with customer centricity at its core and a ‘digital first’ mind-set. We continue to focus on being the main content hub and continue to expand our live streaming and on-demand videos, as it becomes more accessible and viable to the viewers.
- What challenges do you foresee plaguing the media ecosystem, even players as big as yourself?
We strongly believe that good content is the key to success and with that in mind, we recognize the need to expand our business and focus on various opportunities. An example of this would be focusing on the streaming business to continue to be attractive. Hence, we will focus our efforts on a solid foundation across our TV, print, and online platforms in order to increase our customer engagement and increase our business revenue.
- How do you plan on growing your digital media ecosystem and as print dies out, are there plans to maintain one or two of your print offerings?
We are looking at changing the current news system to a combined news system that integrates both TV & Digital News. Our main attention will be on promoting TV3 news and developing a niche for other news content on our other channels to maintain our no. 1 position with the most consumed news, not only on TV but also online.
- There is a lack of focus on niche areas as most media focus on politics, business, lifestyle and general news. Do you plan on growing your offerings in certain areas, let’s say agriculture or even ESG?
In terms of news programming, MPB has always featured areas such as agriculture and ESG as these are important efforts when it comes to protecting our earth in order for the future generation to enjoy a better quality and sustainable life as well as to balance the economic, social and environmental impact. All our news bulletins on TV3, 8TV & TV9 as well as our current affairs segment, Aduan Rakyat, report on ESG & agriculture topics.
- How has your advertising side performed in 2022? How do you foresee your advertising revenue performing in 2023?
Due to the pandemic, consumer behavior towards media consumption has seen considerable shifts. While OTT is emerging among specific audience segments, mass audiences continue to enjoy TV consumption with higher time spent than before. Advertising revenue from television platforms has stabilized in this post-pandemic period. While some advertisers are struggling with inflation due to global conflict situations, TV advertising revenue will continue to be a key contributor for Media Prima business.
- Can you share media trends and news that Malaysian readers are consuming?
The future of television is changing rapidly and the evolution of TV will intensify in years to come. With new digital technologies and a push towards new forms of entertainment, we feel that TV will continue to transform into a more personalized experience. On-demand has radically changed consumer behavior where consumers have power over their viewing.
With that in mind we have always had a customer-first mind-set which is why we now have tonton CINEMA, a pay-per-view (PPV) streaming service that offers a wide selection of content that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, and in the format that best suits their immediate needs.
- Do you think a media company such as Media Prima will outgrow its role as a content provider and move into other parts of the business ecosystem?
Media Prima’s vision is to be the leading digital-first content and commerce company, whilst enriching lives by informing, entertaining, and engaging across all media. With that in mind, our strategy is to continue to remain as the lead content provider but also expand to operate in a hybrid environment. We have successfully been able to adapt to the ever-changing consumer habits and the way they interact with content. For example, the major content amplification and marketing push is on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
- Media Prima posted a net profit of RM5.2 million for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31 2022 (FY22), up 26 percent from RM4.2 million in the same quarter last year. Are you optimistic you can maintain the trajectory?
We remain positive in terms of our profit for the remaining quarters of the year despite the many challenges we continue to face in the market post-lockdown, such as less people watching TV, increasing consumer behavior on our competitors i.e OTT. Having said that, we believe that with quality content (in news & current affairs, drama, entertainment etc.) we will be able to achieve our target for 2022.
- What are your future plans to maintain this trajectory?
As an established broadcaster, the plan is to focus on being the #1 local channel and content provider by producing great content and stay true to our commitment and reputation for fresh storytelling and high-quality productions. Aside from that we have always had a customer-first mind-set which is why we now are focusing on tonton CINEMA, a pay-per-view (PPV) streaming service that offers a wide selection of content that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, and in the format that best suits their immediate needs.
Finally, we plan to continue to form strategic partnerships locally & regionally, much like the partnerships we have built with international streaming platforms/ OTTs ie Netflix, WeTV, iQiYi and Disney+ where we were able to work synergistically to reach out to potential new audiences
