High capital costs, a small market, and limited growth opportunities have slowed the development of Over-the-Top or OTT platforms in the country. To address these challenges, the country’s three licensed OTT platforms, Samuh, Shangreela, and Songyala, are merging into one under the brand name ‘Samuh+Shangreela”. The founders and CEOs of the three platforms signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise the merger on Saturday.
The merger aims to expand the country’s OTT industry and support local content creators.
“The main reason we are moving forward with the merger is to become stronger and more successful. By combining the experience and expertise of the three of us, especially the founders along with the networks we have among our board of directors, we believe that this merger presents an opportunity to grow even stronger and expand beyond Bhutan into the regional market,” said Nyema Zam, Founder/CEO of Samuh.
Work on the merger began last September with support from the Department of Media, Creative Industry, and Intellectual Property.
“After merging, we are going to do big. We will not be competing with each other now, so all these ideas will be collaborated. From here on, we want to grow really big. Ultimately, our goal and mission are the same it is to entertain people, and the main objective is to provide youth employment,” said Sangay Tsheltrim, Chairman of Shangreela.
The new platform has the potential to generate between Nu 60 and 100 M in domestic revenue per month and over USD 1 M in monthly revenue from regional and global markets. It also aims to generate approximately 2,000 jobs over the next five years.
“We are going to come up with so many contents for intense like movies, short films, feature films, documentaries, drama series, and reality shows. For those contents, we will be needing actors, scriptwriters, directors, sound engineers, editors, and cameramen. So, there will be full-time, part-time and contract jobs,” said Sonam Ugyen, Founder/CEO of Songyala.
With Samuh already providing on-demand TV, the merger plans to launch three private TV channels in the country and is set to apply for a license.
“When we look at the complementary of the business, when we look at the overall ecosystem, the media ecosystem elsewhere in the world which is non-existent in our country we felt that it would be an opportunity for us to seize,” said Tshering Gyeltshen, Founder/CEO of Shangreela.
Nyema Zam, founder and CEO of Samuh, will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of ‘Samuh+Shangreela’. Tshering Gyeltshen, founder and CEO of Shangreela, will take on the role of Creative Director for Film and International Partnerships, while Sonam Ugyen, founder and CEO of Songyala, will serve as the Executive Producer for TV Shows and Local Partnerships.
According to the MoU, these leadership positions will be assigned for three to five years, with the possibility of renewal based on individual performance and the evolving needs of the company.
Namgay Wangdi
Edited by Sonam Pem
