Warner And Sony-Backed Hooq Files For Liquidation

Hooq, the multi-territory streaming service, was launched in 2015 by the Singapore-based telecom company, Singtel. The service, available across Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and India, was also backed by Warner and Sony. Unable to grow fast enough to match up to competing streaming services, Hooq voluntarily filed for liquidation in Singapore, yesterday.

Touted as an entertainment platform made in and for Asia, Hooq’s roster included around 10,000 films and television series. As recently as January 2020, the service had announced the release of 100 original shows by Q2 2020, in languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Tagalog, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, and Mandarin. More recently, however, the streaming service made news for not being able to pay full remittances to its in-production shows. In Thailand, for example, the production for a television series co-produced with the Kantana Group was shelved after Hooq did not pay the promised sum of money.

In a statement released yesterday, Singtel (which owns a 76.5% stake at Hooq) confirmed that it has “commenced a creditors’ voluntary liquidation” of the streaming service. “The liquidation of Hooq is not expected to have any material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of Singtel,” the statement added. Hooq boasted of around 80 million users, with its largest subscriber base in India, where it partnered with the Disney-backed Hotstar. In Indonesia, the streaming service had partnered with Vice Media and with Viacom in Singapore.

While most content providers are launching direct-to-subscriber services, the costs of production remain high while consumers are spoilt for choice with several streaming services trying to lure their attention. As a result, “a viable business model for an independent, OTT distribution platform has become increasingly challenged,” the statement explained. Amidst rising content production costs and the high cost of maintaining an independent streaming service, Hooq’s growth has not been sufficient enough to provide satisfactory returns. 

In the past, in its bid to attract more subscribers, Hooq had introduced cheap and affordable daily plans, advertising-supported video on demand, and free-to-air channels. It had also forged a content partnership with the cab-hailing app, Grab.

The company has said it will be holding a shareholders’ and creditors’ meeting on April 13 and in the meanwhile, Lim Siew Soo and Brendon Yeo Sau Jin are the provisional liquidators who will be overseeing interim operations.