iQIYI’s second local original Sorry Naik Lori featuring Nazim Othman, Ruhainies and Tajul has closed its season by becoming the #1 Malay drama released in the last quarter of 2022 on the streaming platform. This follows the success of the release of its first original Rampas Cintaku, showing a strong appetite for quality original Malay productions among audiences.
Over the years, iQIYI saw a rapid grow og demand and preference for local content amongst Malaysians, despite OTT consumption in Malaysia has been typically dominated by English and Korean content. According to iQIYI’s 2022 Year in Binge survey, 50% of respondents from Malaysia actively searched for local Malay content on the platform this year.
Commenting on the success of Sorry Naik Lori, Dinesh Ratnam, Country Manager of iQIYI Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei said, “We are thrilled that Sorry Naik Lori has garnered the same warm reaction as our first original had just months before. This romantic comedy is our first script-to-screen original production done in partnership with foodpanda. It features a very relatable storyline that represents the lifestyles of modern Malaysians today, one that is highly engaged on social media and one where deliveries have been part of our daily lives, shown through a foodpanda delivery rider who plays a key character in the series. It demonstrates a high interest in hyper local content that is real and differentiated in its storytelling approach.”
The same survey also recorded a high interest and appetite for local Malay content among international audiences. The platform’s first two local original productions, Rampas Cintaku and Sorry Naik Lori, were voted as the top 3 most wanted to watch Malay dramas by respondents from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States.
Speaking on the brand’s content curation strategy, Dinesh said, “People are naturally culturally curious, intrigued by stories from around the world. Our focus is to be bold in bringing unique storylines that represent the essence of local communities and creating a strong local content ecosystem to show the best of what Malaysia has to offer.”