‘Projek: Anchor SPM’, a premium series under the Astro Originals umbrella inspired by untold Malaysian stories, has become a phenomenon amongst the millennials, as seen by the positive feedback received by the series throughout its run. The success not only impacts the local entertainment industry, but also reaffirms Astro’s commitment to continue producing the best content and viewing experience to its customers. ‘Projek: Anchor SPM’ aired its final episode yesterday, leaving a lasting impression as the viewership and ratings achieved by its digital platform and ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) services including Astro GO, NJOI and On Demand trended on the positive side.
The series by creative director Razaisyam Rashid and Anwar Ashraf has achieved success by becoming the number 1 highest-viewed drama on the Astro Citra channel for the month of March and April. ‘Projek: Anchor SPM’ also boosted the NJOI prepaid channel by recording an increase of 10 per cent, with CITRA being the number one ala-carte purchase pack during the run of this premium drama.
The series also managed to captivate audiences on social media, as ‘Projek: Anchor SPM’ never failed to become a trending topic on Twitter from its first episode to the last which aired on Astro Citra, channel 108 (HD) / 128 (SD), every Monday, at 9.00pm. Total reach on social media also reached over 88 million mentions over the eight weeks of broadcast. On the TikTok platform alone, it gets more than 100 million views through the hashtag #ProjekAnchorSPM.
The topics of conversation on social media also vary according to the conflict and storyline of the drama presented in each episode. The main talking point that became the talk of the audience were the fresh storyline, cinematographic effects and dialogue scripts that left an impact on the audience. Among the top trending topic that received a lot of traction on social media is the antagonistic character Hilmi, played by Nadhir Nasar. Hilmi became a viral meme on Twitter, and he even created its own phenomenon through the "Hilmi Good Boy To Bad Boy” movement. Not only that, the ‘Hilmi Fever' that hit the audience also saw audiences trying to copy his hairstyle.
Viewers and film critics also praised the production team behind ‘Project: Anchor SPM’ for their accuracy in producing props and film sets, such as scenes that featured a poster of Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza's 10th album ‘EMAS' in the background, which was released in the same year as the drama was set in. Apart from that, another topic that was much-talked about on social media is the 'chemistry' between Aaidaa (Daiyan Trisha) and Aizat (Aedy Ashraf), 'Team Aizat' vs 'Team Hilmi’, as well as the throwback moments that brought the audience back to their schooling days through the themes of teenage romance, friendships, activities, sports and many more featured in the series. More excitingly, many who shared on social media were satisfied with this premium series and wanted a second season for ‘Projek: Anchor SPM’.
This indirectly proves that there is high demand for the ‘coming-of-age’ genre in Malaysia. What is even more impressive is that the series transcends the Malay drama group demographics, as statistics from Astro On Demand shows that ‘Projek: Anchor SPM’ managed to become the most popular local viewing on the platform on Astro GO and On Demand. Most interestingly, it encouraged a group of ‘urban’ spectators and non-Malays to follow the premium drama.
‘Projek: Anchor SPM’ tells the story of of a group of form five students from Sekolah Tengku Isa Anuar (STIA) in Cameron Highlands, a prestigious boarding school. Aizat, the respected captain of the rugby team, along with Hilmi, the excellent Student Leader and Chief Invigilator, as well as their friend known only as Botol, are close friends and are always together in difficult and happy times. Meanwhile, Aaidaa, STIA's most outstanding academic student who likes to be alone, worked hard to help her stepsister, Jaja, who is less educated, to prepare for the SPM examinations.