Market report on VoD and Africa released

13 Dec 2013

At the beginning of the month, Balancing Act released the first market report focused on VoD and Africa. It has become quite commonplace in the past decade or two for people to complain that there is nothing on TV. The ability to watch a programme from any device anywhere at any time is a luxury that video-on-demand (VoD) provides.

Market report on VoD and Africa released

Whether it is called 'catch-up TV', 'programme replay', SVoD, AVoD, QVoD, TVoD, etc., there is a new, complex way of watching television: tailored to the needs and desires of consumers.

Multimedia digital convergence

With multimedia digital convergence landing across Africa, the multiplication of TV channels over the past 10 years, and better access to the broadband internet, African populations are asking for more than traditional linear TV service. They increasingly also want to manage their viewing time.

At the end of 2013 and on the back of Discop and AfricaCast 2013 events, the African VoD market is heating up. Almost everyone in the African audiovisual and telecoms sectors have heard of iROKOtv, BoxOffice by Dstv, Buni TV or YouTube's growth on the continent, but very few people know if the future of the African VoD segment's growth is online, via satellite or mobile, how many VoD platforms are related to Africa and how this segment will shape up in the coming years.

Only 20-30 players to stay in the market

Streaming video service players mentioned in the report were set up from South Africa, the USA, Nigeria, Kenya and other places. Researchers counted over 50 VoD platforms related to Africa, but only about 20 to 30 players will stay in the market.

It should also be mentioned that a few telcos in Europe and North America have successfully integrated African content in their TV offerings to serve the local African diaspora. This is the case in France with channel aggregator, Thema TV, which reached over 100,000 premium subscribers for its 'bouquet Africain'. Its related SVoD service has attracted 10,000 subscribers as of November 2013. iROKO's majority of premium subscribers are from the diaspora in North America and in the UK.

The majority of cable and telco-based television providers in Europe, North America and Asia offer VOD streaming, including both pay-per-view and free content but Africa is an exception: except for a few players, the large majority of telecoms operators in Africa have not yet invested in VoD services due to the lack of bandwidth, technical expertise, market knowledge, limited content rights, time or innovation budgets. The other issue African telcos have to overcome when trying to include VoD packages in their offering is the revenue split for each party: telcos have had the reputation of being too hungry for money in the past.

Recent user surveys carried out in Europe show that in a VoD model and prior to content exclusivity, the consumer choice criteria is the VoD brand reputation, choice of content, quality of service, payment security and the interactive and information tools proposed on VoD platforms.

Positions and drivers of African producers

As point of comparison, in Europe, there are over 3000 VoD services including 2459 on-demand AV services established in the EU alone with different genres and 447 services are focused on films in the EU. Over 130 cinema VoD services are established in the USA and in Switzerland. About 45 on-demand services are dedicated to trailers and 10 are focused on archives in Europe according to Mavise database in May 2013.

This report highlights the positions and drivers of African producers, distributors, TV broadcasters, telcos, airlines, hotels and public places for launching VoD solutions. Innovations in digital migration, Africa's cultural heritage and catch-up TV are also part of the VoD ecosystem.

Using a range of information, the report looks at three things:

How changes in economic growth levels will drive VoD services and affect the African audiovisual and telecoms markets;
What the VoD players' strategies and business models are/should be
Who the VoD players related to Africa are (over 30 players, contact details provided).

Why is VoD important

Why is VoD important to telcos?

Large African telecoms operators and device vendors have got VoD up their sleeves. The report lists 10 reasons why they should be investing in the VoD segment. Some of the reasons are that telcos need to find new market segments to drive internet usage, provide value added services and key differentiators, and avoid just being dumb pipes. But there is more to be said.

Why is VoD important to broadcasters?

TV broadcasters - including pay TV networks and channels that co-produce content - can leverage VoD as a value added service, to generate extra audience and advertising. But how can they build a popular VoD service?

Why is VoD important to African TV programme makers and film directors and producers?

To be sustainable and continue to grow, African audiovisual producers need to find a way to control and dramatically improve the distribution of their productions. But more can be done to sidestep the content pirates, protect and grow their assets.

For more, go to www.balancingact-africa.com.

Source: Balancing Act