Telecoms operators need to understand that all the evidence points to VoD platforms meeting a need that up until this point has been met by pirated DVDs. There is now a bewildering array of film and music platforms in particular. Russell Southwood looks at how things are changing now that high speed bandwidth is increasingly available in African countries.
Two conversations have stuck in my mind this week as I finished editing VoD in Africa - A review of existing VoD services, their challenges and opportunities in 2013:
1. The myth that Africans don't buy content: An executive who works in francophone Africa told me that when he goes to buy USB sticks, the retailer always asks: does he want it filled up with movies for just a little bit more money? In almost any market anywhere in Africa, there are pirated CDs that sell for a few dollars and these attract weekly customers. A pirate market is one operating at prices customers can afford.
In the absence of cinemas, this is probably one of the cheapest forms of entertainment available short of home brewed drinks, and can be sampled at home or in video booths alongside bars. The only question is whether these buyers of pirate videos will be willing to pay the same or slightly more to receive better quality, legal downloads? The logic says yes and there is some early evidence to back this up. But social habits change less quickly than technology as the variable pattern of m-money uptake across the continent illustrates.
2. Once the bandwidth is there, demand for VoD and other online video services will shoot up: The CEO of one of the companies supplying bandwidth told me that once reliable high-speed bandwidth is in place, demand for online video services will explode.
In Kenya - which has one of the better bandwidth speeds - a You Tube clip plays for a number of minutes and then buffers. This acts as a break on anyone wanting to watch a feature film. Open that throttle and give reliable bandwidth and the demand will grow.
The more challenging aspect of this problem is that there are still high levels of data congestion in operator networks. Following a pattern I have observed for nearly 14 years, operators wait for demand to saturate their networks before investing. They also have fears that they will not get the required return they need on the comprehensive overhaul many of these networks need to make them ready for streaming and downloads.
Although we know of several operators who have spoken of rolling out VoD platforms in their larger markets, the launch dates for these roll-outs have simply been pushed back and back. The suspicion must be that they are not yet ready for what needs to be a wholesale commitment of this kind. We hope they prove us wrong but we're not holding our breathe.
In the meantime, there are more film and video platforms than you can shake a stick at, popping up, particularly in the main content markets of Africa. There is a video briefing that looks at three of these platforms at the end of this article. Some of these have a very high chance of success and others will probably fall by the wayside. The high profile attention lavished on iROKO means that international players are beginning to express more interest in Africa and offer more African VoD content.
Anyone who wants to participate in this opportunity needs to know who is out there, what content they have access to (whether they have rights to it) and how many users they have attracted. If you thought the SMS ecosystem was complicated, then the VoD ecosystem shares some of that complexity. Key players are still acting on guesses, intuitions and feelings, without much market data and comprehensive research.
Some of the findings are fascinating and unexpected. Unfortunately and despite recent efforts, the African audiovisual market is not well documented. Theres so little real research available on this market - especially on the emerging VoD segment - that this piece of research should prove invaluable. Key players in the VoD segment need to be ready for VoD uptake in the years to come.
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/en/issue-no-679#sthash.wiCBcFz0....
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
Telecoms operators need to understand that all the evidence points to VoD platforms meeting a need that up until this point has been met by pirated DVDs. There is now a bewildering array of film and music platforms in particular. Russell Southwood looks at how things are changing now that high speed bandwidth is increasingly available in African countries.
