Evergent, the CRM innovator providing flexible monetization tools for direct-to-consumer and B2B businesses, today announced a partnership with Astro, Malaysia’s leading content and entertainment company. Through the agreement, Astro will use Evergent’s customer management and monetization tools to support registration and subscription management for its new streaming service, sooka. Offering both free ad-supported content and subscription services, sooka unites live international sports programming with popular Malaysian dramas and entertainment programs.
Astro is the most widely used entertainment company among Malaysia’s population of more than 30 million people, serving 74% of Malaysian TV households. The company is committed to both entertaining and informing its customers and is responsible for commissioning and producing more than 9,000 hours of original content each year. Sooka, Astro’s newly launched streaming service, is the first platform in Malaysia to offer live streaming global sports on mobile devices, including the recent UEFA Euro 2020 tournament and the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Servicing subscribers in 175 countries, Evergent offers flexible customer management and monetization solutions for media and telecommunications providers. In today’s highly competitive entertainment landscape, media companies must compete on both the quality of their content and the value they offer customers; Evergent enables content providers to quickly test and deploy new monetization strategies to find the most effective, customer-friendly business models.
“Astro’s mission is to provide Malaysians with entertaining and informative content, reaching as many customers as possible through the most popular platforms and devices. Through our partnership with Evergent, we are now able to offer multiple pricing options for our new sooka streaming platform while also retaining the ability to unlock new business opportunities as we scale the service. As a result, our customers can choose the pricing model and payment methods that best match their needs, allowing Malaysians to enjoy premium content and live sports anytime, anywhere,” said Euan Smith, chief executive officer of TV and group chief operations officer at Astro.
“Through Evergent’s global partnerships, we are able to work together with the most innovative media and entertainment companies in each country or region. Astro is the market leader for Malaysian entertainment and a leader in Southeast Asia, and we are proud to help them further grow their business through the launch of sooka,” said Vijay Sajja, founder and CEO of Evergent. “Astro’s new flexible monetization options, powered by Evergent’s industry-leading technology, will make premium content more accessible to millions of Malaysians.”
