As Smartphones and Internet Connections Rise in Africa, So Does Entertainment Streaming

Growing smartphone and internet penetration across many African countries saw global streaming companies make a deeper play for audiences here this year. From a report: Netflix signaled its interest in Africa by hiring a content producer for the region and took on the MultiChoice, the continental satellite TV giant owned by Naspers, Africa's most valuable company. The Los Gatos, California company spooked MultiChoice with everything from trolling online ads to billboards placed conspicuously close to their Johannesburg headquarters. MultiChoice has clearly taken notice and has called for Netflix to be regulated. No African regulator has shown the appetite to rein Netflix in, though. Indeed, Netflix has bolstered its library of African content with a first original movie from Nigeria's Nollywood movie industry and committed to producing its first original African series.

[...] Altogether, there's clearly a growing market as content consumption habits evolve among Africa's youth -- a majority of the continent's population. For example, Nigerians are already consuming more video on mobile devices than on television. Platforms like Tv2Go, which launched in South Africa in November, are experimenting with free mobile platforms, but may find that increasingly discerning streaming audiences need binge-worthy content to attract them.

Re:

[DontBeAMoran]

Formula 1 drivers always make race-ist comments.

Companies hate regulations

[Registered Coward v2]

MultiChoice has clearly taken notice and has called for Netflix to be regulated.

Unless it can be used to limit competition. Then they like it.

Re:

[Dunbal]

I'm sure they'll understand the need to pay tax because of American SUV's and Chinese manufacturing emissions - a tax which does nothing at all for the environment - and pay it gladly. Go on. We know Africans have lots of money stashed away...

And naturally

[Anonymous Coward]

Greedy Silicon Valley bastards are primed to cash in and remake the culture so they can cash in even more. You people are the most sheepish the world has ever seen. Silicon Valley and the coasts ARE our 21st century colonialists.

Re:

[Dunbal]

I think you need to look up what "genocide" actually means. Anti-white discrimination is happening, and whites are losing their rights. But I don't think whites are being lined up in front of ditches and shot just yet.

Re:

[Red_Forman]

Anti-white discrimination is happening, and whites are losing their rights.

I think Trump is the best man to implement the opposite policy in the USA. Deny the rights of black people to buy fried chicken, watermelons and waffles.

Re:

[unixisc]

Except that the world was up in arms against this, back in the 80s, when Apartheid was the law of the land. Now, the Blacks have their own Apartheid, but since the races in question are flipped, nobody cares. Also, all over the Muslim world, non Muslims are systematically discriminated against, even while everybody else in the world, be it US, Canada, Israel, India, China, et al are lectured on the evils of 'Islamophobia'.

Re:

[unixisc]

'Land Reclamation' is something on par for the course for Communists, which is what the ANC always was and still is. The area in question is irrelevant, and the 'reclamation' is also being done on people who legally bought the land after the abolition of apartheid, under Mandela's presidency. You are nothing but a tinpot racist, except that since it's hatred directed at Whites, it's okay for not just Leftists, but a good number of people on the Right as well

Re:

[unixisc]

Oh, I agree w/ that, which is precisely why I put 'Islamophobia' in quotes

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Whites are systematically being murdered with machetes and flaming tires in South Africa. Just saying.

Captain Obvious speaks!

[WoodstockJeff]

As access to something becomes increasingly available, use of that something increases as well.

When you didn't have the means to stream video and music, it was, necessarily, limited.

Re:

[Solandri]

Africa is an interesting case because some technologies were introduced before predecessor technologies (Star Trek prime directive fans take note). For example, wired phone lines had been installed in only a tiny part of Africa before cellular phone technology because widely available. Cellular was clearly superior, so that was adopted instead. Resulting in Africa having the highest ratio of cellular to wired phones in the world. So it's not a simple case of something being used more because it's increa

Re: Captain Obvious speaks!

[Nidi62]

There already is a cottage film industry in Africa. Look up Nollywood.

English obvious error

[Rui F Ribeiro]

It should be "took on MultiChoice" and not "took on the MultiChoice".

Bing-worthy?

[Anne Thwacks]

may find that increasingly discerning streaming audiences need binge-worthy content to attract them.

A lot of people already find plenty of African made movies are binge-worthy. However, they mostly rely on Video-CDs - which bring a new perspective to "Ultra low resolution" unequalled even by VHS.

Pay TV is a big deal in most of Africa - in the unlikely event that you have an electricity supply. Solar will eventually fix that.

Binging on online movies will not be a big thing unless the networks cut the p

Wireless capacity?

[Lije Baley]

I'm wondering how their networks will support this, assuming that they are primarily wireless. It really amazes me how much entertainment is streamed every which way across the internet compared to the efficiency of traditional broadcasts. I guess we've got fiber to burn here in the U.S., but not so much in developing countries.

Re:

[AHuxley]

Most of that new tech is rented into Africa by advanced nations like the US, parts of the EU, South Africa, China.
The wireless services are placed in well protected areas and then local consumers will pay to rent telco services.
The "fiber" is a problem.
Mines that export and bring in tax money need power, rail and support services first.
An export project like a mine will use tax money before new "fiber" projects to every part of a poor nation.
The solution to that is to drop in wireless services and se