Astro Sets Guinness World Records Title for Longest Live Streamed Festival
55 Hours of Live Streaming of Thaipusam Gets 119 Mil Reach on Facebook
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Astro created a key milestone today when Guinness World Records™ awarded the media company the record for the Longest Live Streamed Festival with 55 hours of non-stop live streaming of the Thaipusam festival from 22nd to 25th January. The live streaming enabled global audiences from US, UK, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia to follow Thaipusam's rich and colourful celebrations in Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India on Astro Ulagam's website and Facebook page.
As a result, Astro Ulagam saw 119 million reach on its Facebook and the campaign's hashtag #Vetrivel2016 trended during the period. Interestingly 35% of the global audience who followed the live streaming of the Thaipusam proceedings were from US, 28% from India, 16% from Malaysia, 5% from the UK, 4% from Canada with the rest from other countries.
Swapnil Dangarikar, official adjudicator with Guinness World Records presented the Guinness World Records certificate to Dr Rajamani Chellamuthu, Senior Vice President of Indian Customer Business, Astro today. He congratulated Astro for providing the platform for global audiences to witness one of Malaysia's most colourful festivals and as such playing a key role as the country's tourism ambassador.
Dr Rajamani of Astro said, "At Astro, we aspire to offer our viewers content choices, and the live streaming of the Thaipusam procession created much interest globally and even transcended geographical boundaries via our digital platform. This Guinness World Records attempt took 100 crews deployed across three countries - Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia and the presence of drone cameras to provide panoramic and full spectrum viewing experience, in order to best capture the vibrant festivities in each of these countries. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our fans for their tremendous support which motivates us to push beyond our limits. Setting this Guinness World Records title takes festive celebration with Astro to a whole new level and further distinguishes Astro Ulagam as the leading destination for entertainment and live events."
Fans posted many messages on the Astro Ulagam Facebook page to congratulate Astro for bringing the Thaipusam festivities to audiences globally via the live stream. Elsie Isayas from the United States said, "Batu Caves is a beautiful place and I am especially captivated by the caves there. Thank you Astro Ulagam for bringing back those wonderful memories." Another fan from South Africa, Livonia Govender wrote, "I was extremely amazed with the production work, smooth viewing experience despite the long period of live streaming. Kudos to everyone who worked on this."
Following the success of the Guinness World Record attempt, Astro has plans to continue with a global Thaipusam celebration with the theme Panjamirtha Vannam and hashtag #Veeravel2017.
Astro Ulagam is Malaysia's Indian Entertainment News & Events hub highlighting Indian channels & top shows on Astro, latest entertainment news, videos and more. Currently Astro Ulagam Facebook page have 1.7 Million likes, average weekly reach of 15 Million and 2.2 Million average video views weekly. For more updates, please visit the official website, http://www.astroulagam.com.my/
About Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd
Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad is a leading content and consumer group in Malaysia and Southeast Asia with a focus on the pillars of watch, listen, read and shop. With a customer base of 4.8 million residential customers or approximately 67% penetration of Malaysian TV households, Astro offers 183 TV channels, including 54 HD channels, delivered via Direct-To-Home satellite TV, IPTV and OTT platforms. Astro provides HD, 3D, PVR, VOD and IPTV services through Astro B.yond and Astro on the Go. Fulfilling its promise to bridge the digital divide for all of Malaysia, Astro introduced NJOI as an entry-level DTH satellite TV service and is the country's first non-subscription based satellite TV, offering 28 TV and 20 radio channels. Astro Radio includes Malaysia's highest rated stations across key languages and is available on both terrestrial and digital channels, reaching approximately 12.8 million weekly listeners. Its digital arm is involved in digital publishing, applications and platforms as well as publication of entertainment and lifestyle magazines locally.
Astro holds the distinction of the 'Gold' award in the Media and Entertainment category at the Putra Brand Awards for 6 consecutive years from 2010 to 2015, including the 'Brand of the Year' award in 2012 and the 'Brand Icon' award in 2013.
Astro's CSR projects have been recognised by the International Business Awards (IBAs) for the fourth consecutive year. Astro was named the winner of a Bronze Stevie Award in the 2015 IBAs in the Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year (Asia, Australia and New Zealand) category for Astro Kasih Sports Initiative. In the 2014 IBAs, the company won a Silver Stevie Award for 'Astro Kasih Hostel and EkoVillage' project. In 2013 and 2012, Astro's 'Beautiful Malaysia: Longest Underwater Clean Up' project and 'Astro Kasih Hostel' project were awarded with a Silver Stevie® Award respectively.
These awards are in recognition of Astro's efforts to exemplify innovation, quality and strong corporate responsibilities
Media contact
Roseline Maria Anthanyomthu
Associate, Stakeholder Communications
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 03-9543 6688 ext 7377/Mobile: +60-16 215 8583
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