- MX Player, operated by India’s Times Internet group, is growing into more than half a dozen major foreign markets for the international push.
MX Player, the on-demand video streaming service operated by India’s Times Internet group, is growing into more than half a dozen major foreign markets like the United States and the United Kingdom to offer more entertainment content to millions of people stuck in their homes.
The on-demand video streaming service in Singapore, which raised $111 million in a round led by Tencent last year, said it has expanded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Nepal in addition to the United States and the United Kingdom.
In an interview, Karan Bedi, chief executive of the company, told TechCrunch that as in India, MX Player will sell its catalog at no charge to consumers in the international markets and monetize via advertising.
The streaming service, which has accrued more than 175 million active monthly users in India, provides locally appropriate titles in every market, he said. This is noticeably different from the expansion of Disney’s Hotstar into select international markets where it targeted primarily to cater to the Indian diaspora.
MX Player actually does not sell any newly created titles in any foreign market— instead of selling movies and showing it’s licensed from global and local studios— but the streamer plans to change that in the coming months, Bedi said.
Even as the expansion comes at a time when the world is struggling to control and counter the coronavirus epidemic, Bedi said MX Player had been testing the service in several markets for several months already.
“We believe stories hitting a chord will satisfy this rapidly growing demand from discerning entertainment lovers. To that end, we have partnered with some of the world’s best talent and content partners that will help put us a step closer to being the go-to destination for entertainment worldwide, “said Nakul Kapur, MX Player’s Business Head for International Markets, in a statement.
MX Player, an app famous for efficiently playing a variety of local-stored media files on Android smartphones, was acquired by Times Internet for about $140million in 2018. Times Internet has added video sharing services to it in recent years, and then live TV channels
MX Player also bundled free music streaming (through Gaana, another property owned by Times Internet), and launched casual in-app games for country users.
Bedi said the organization is working to bring these new services to foreign markets and is also looking to reach other regions like the Middle East and South Asia.
