Last week, the
Hollywood
mobile streaming service, Aflix, launched its streaming service in Nigeria, Kenya & Ghana. It is eager to meet the largely untapped need for Video‐on‐demand across the continent.
Aflix Director of Business Development, Nyasha Mutsekwa, believes the streaming service, which delivers Hollywood content at affordable price points to Africans via Smartphones, will disrupt the cinema industry as it promises to place a diverse collection of films and shows at the fingertips of customers. “We are bringing the luxury of theatre going into African homes, at a price point that is affordable. Aflix customers will be able to watch Hollywood titles, from the classic favourites, to current new releases and Blockbuster hits,” he said.
Explaining the timing for the launch of the service, Mutsekwa said the time for the launch was perfect given the growing use of smartphones in Africa and the affinity for movies among Africans. He also noted that the Internet TV industry was worth up to a billion dollars and Aflix will leverage this to change how content is viewed in Africa.
Mutswkwa further asserted that iRoko TV’s launch of a similar service was a response to Aflix and not the other way round. “We have been working on a solution for Nigeria for over two years now and we are more in direct competition with Multichoice’s DSTV since we are focusing on the latest TV shows and movies. iRoko is rather responding to our plan to launch in the market. Our objective is to bridge the Hollywood and African continent market.”
Users of the service can sign up for the service and get a two week free trial after which they can subscribe fully at the rate of about N1,600 ($9.99) per month. Alternatively, users may decide to use the pay‐per‐view option where they only rent the titles they want to watch at the time for about N480 ($2.99).
Source: Ventures Africa
