While the coronavirus pandemic has led to a surge in consumption of online streaming platforms, Singapore-based Hooq recently announced that it is filing for liquidation and has shutdown its services.
According to a TechCrunch report, the five-year-old on-demand video platform has reportedly terminated its partnerships with Disney’s Hotstar, Grab and Indonesia’s VideoMax.
A joint venture between Singapore telecom group Singtel, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros Entertainment has over 80 million subscribers in nearly half a dozen markets in Asia.
When the platform’s subscribers logged on the website for their daily dose of entertainment on Thursday, they were welcomed by a sad note on the website by the company.
On its website, the company informed its user about the liquidation process and said, “For the past 5 years, we gave you unbelievable thrills, heartrending drama, roaring laughs, awesome action, and more. Our goal was to bring you the best entertainment from here to Hollywood. Our hearts are full of gratitude for all of you who shared the journey with us.”
Earlier last month, the streaming service said that it could not receive new funds from new or existing investors.
The service counted India, where it entered into a partnership with Disney’s Hotstar in 2018 and telecom operators Airtel and Vodafone, as its biggest market.
Hooq brought dozens of D.C. universe titles including “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Wonder Woman” and other popular TV series such as “The Big Bang Theory” to its partners. In India, users began noticing last week that those titles were disappearing from Hotstar.
However, there has not been any confirmation by Hotstar regarding the development yet.
With the closure of services, employee layoffs are expected. Already there have been numerous reports about employees being laid off by companies as a cost-cutting measure to tide over the coronavirus crisis, the closure of Hooq only adds upto the crisis.
Although most of the layoffs around the world have been from travel and airline industries, Hooq is reportedly the first company in the online streaming domain to cut jobs.
It is not yet confirmed if these employees will be provided any unemployment benefits by the company.
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