BroadbandTV Expands Into 8 Countries In Southeast Asia And The Middle East

Vancouver-based BroadbandTV (BBTV), which says it’s the world’s largest multi-platform network with 85,000 channels that account for 22 billion views per month, has announced today that it is expanding into eight new countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt. Now, BBTV is active in 23 countries (and seven languages).

“We’re committed to building on our existing momentum, and today’s news is yet another example of how we’re laying the foundation for our next stage of significant growth,” said BBTV founder and CEO Shahrzad Rafati in a statement.

Rafati added that both Southeast Asia and the Middle East are rife with potential. “Southeast Asia is the world’s fastest growing Internet economy and is expected to reach $200 billion by 2025,” she said, citing a study by Google and Temasek. “Today, the Middle East is only capturing a fraction of its total digital potential. It has the ability to add $95 billion per year to its total GDP through digital by 2020,” she added, citing a McKinsey

BBTV, which comScore says is the world’s third largest video property after Google and Facebook, counts ad sales, subscriptions, apps, merchandise, and content licensing as its primary revenue streams. Late last year, Broadband inked a deal with Univision to manage its YouTube channels and all fan uploaded content. The company also partnered with the NBA on the launch of a new video network called NBA Playmakers that will feature content created by millennial basketball enthusiasts.