WebTVAsia, leading digital media entertainment company, announced today a global strategic partnership with China’s top short video platform Tudou, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group.

The tie-up confirmed WebTVAsia as Asia’s first Multi Channel Network (MCN) partner to participate in Tudou’s new RMB 2 billion (USD 291 million) global short-form content sourcing initiative, codenamed “The Big Fish Plan”.

As a “Big Fish Partner”, WebTVAsia is offered market-leading privileges by Tudou in four areas: Algorithm Weighing, Valuation Adjustment, Brand Marketing and Copyright Protection. Content providers under WebTVAsia are therefore extended similar benefits with further localization and marketing support by WebTVAsia’s China division.

Founder and Group CEO of WebTVAsia, Fred Chong said, “We are very excited to be officially partnering Tudou in the exponentially growing short video space. With our Asia-wide network of over 1,000 top content channels, and localized production teams in 10 countries, we are confident this long term partnership will be a commercial success.”

The working relationship of both companies is now further strengthened with several successful joint projects together since 2013, including the worldwide viral video hit Little Apple which generated 500 million views on YouTube and Youku-Tudou.

In addition, today WebTVAsia also announced its next phase of regional expansion by acquiring Indonesian online media company Layaria, and investing a major stake in Korean entertainment agency Duble Kick Entertainment.

WebTVAsia’s market share in Indonesia, with Asia’s third biggest social media user base of 80 million, is set to see exponential boost through it majority acquisition of Layaria. Founded in 2011 by its CEO Dennis Adishwara, also a popular actor and filmmaker, the network has over 800 top creators that spread all major cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. It is poised to hit 25x viewership growth on its LayariaTV channel by 2019.

South Korea marked WebTVAsia’s tenth official market entry in Asia with its significant investment stake in Duble Kick Entertainment, helmed by celebrity K-pop producers Park Jang Geun and Ham Joon Seok. Since 2012, the studio has produced an impressive 77 albums with star names like T-ARA, SISTAR, KARA, BAP and Momoland. The strategic buy will see more top Korean artistes and original content being promoted and commercialized across Asia on WebTVAsia’s regional network of 1,000 digital channels.

All deals were made official at the closing of the Rise of Asia Forum here, an annual conference attended by over 500 Asia Pacific media and entertainment industry leaders, namely Tudou, Tencent, Lazada, Sony Music, Warner Music, Havas, Omnicom and more. It was officiated by First Vice-Chairman of the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) Thailand, Mr. Alongkorn Ponlaboot. The one-day event was held as part of Viral Fest Asia, promoted as the most influential digital music festival in Asia.

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About WebTVAsia WebTVAsia is one of the fastest growing digital media entertainment companies in Asia with regional presence in 10 countries: China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Its YouTube-certified multi channel network with 1,000 of the most popular Asian creator channels  are watched over 1.5 billion times monthly by an audience of 40 million Asian millennials. The Malaysia-founded group is also famed for creating the global viral music video hit, Little Apple of China; Asia’s foremost digital creator award show, WebTVAsia Awards since 2015; and the most influential digital music festival, Viral Fest Asia in 2016. Its forward thinking vision of “Celebrate Asia” is a brainchild of founder and group CEO Fred Chong, to bring together the best creative talent in Asia and showcase their most outstanding content to the world.

About Tudou (NASDAQ: TUDO) Tudou is a leading Internet video company in China. It provides an online platform that allows users to upload, watch, and share videos via the Internet. The company offers entertaining contents, including Professional Generated Content and User Generated Content. Founded in 2004, it is now a fully owned subsidiary of Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group.

About Layaria

Layaria is a media company that commits to improving the quality of entertainment content via online video. It has a mission to build creativity of talented young video creators from all over Indonesia. Founded in 2011 by entrepreneur, actor, director and producer Dennis Adishwara, it was one of the first companies to be appointed YouTube Premium Partner in Indonesia. Now, it has a Multi Channel Network of over 800 most talented content creators and presence in major cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Yogjakarta, Medan and Makassar. In 2015, Layaria collaborated with Indonesian government’s digital economy agency, BEKRAF to develop the creative industry subsectors in film, video and animation.

About Duble Kick Entertainment

Duble Kick Entertainment is a South Korean entertainment company led by celebrity music producers Park Jang-guen and Ham Joon Seok. Famed for its original founding duo Duble Sidekick comprising Park and Kim Jung-seung, the leading Kpop music studio was responsible for hit albums by T-ARA, SISTAR, BAP, Apink, KARA, MBLAQ and many more. Its award winning streak includes MELON Music Awards “Best Songwriter”, NAVER Awards “Best Producer” and GAON Chart K-Pop Award “Composer of the Year”.