{"id":436507,"date":"2020-09-29T07:17:59","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T05:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=436507"},"modified":"2020-09-29T07:17:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T05:17:59","slug":"netflix-targets-mobile-content-to-strengthen-africa-grip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/media\/436507\/netflix-targets-mobile-content-to-strengthen-africa-grip\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix targets mobile content to strengthen Africa grip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Netflix Inc became the world\u2019s largest subscription-streaming service by flooding the market with popular content that\u2019s cheaper than the competition.<\/p>\n

Yet five years after it arrived in Africa, the US company is struggling to grow beyond the wealthiest segment of the population, held back by poverty, piracy and limited access to broadband. In a continent of more than a billion people, the service has 1.4 million subscribers, according to Digital TV Research.<\/p>\n

That compares with almost 20 million customers signed up to<\/span> African pay-TV company MultiChoice Group Ltd.<\/p>\n

Now Netflix is stepping up a gear – experimenting with cheaper, mobile-only subscriptions and commissioning more locally-produced shows that reflect the cultures and experiences of ordinary Africans.<\/p>\n

An important battleground is Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s biggest economy and the heart of its TV industry. The rapid expansion of 4G mobile networks gives streaming services a new channel to reach audiences — as long as they\u2019re able to pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Netflix to target the whole region coming in with a higher price, the mobile market will be crucial,\u201d said Ben McMurray of Ampere Analysis.<\/p>\n

Netflix is testing if viewers will buy the mobile-only service at 1,200 naira ($2.65) a month, well below the 2,900 naira it\u2019s been charging for its most basic account. With over 100 million Nigerians living on less than $1.90 a day, it could still be a stretch.<\/p>\n

The offer is still costlier than the equivalent of 250 naira a month charged by Iroko, a streaming platform that has the largest online catalog of Nigerian \u2018Nollywood\u2019 content, including long-running hit comedy \u201cJenifa\u2019s Diary.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the income from Iroko\u2019s low-price plans hasn\u2019t been enough to cover its costs and the company is now scaling back its African operation to focus on wealthier viewers in the diaspora.<\/p>\n

Co-founder Jason Njoku partly blames a bleak economic backdrop. Nigeria has been hurt by coronavirus lockdowns and a lower oil price, leading to the threat of a recession. The government expects 33.6% of the population will be unemployed by the end of this year, up from 23.1% at the end of 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t remove yourself from the macro picture in Nigeria – people are poor,\u201d said Njoku. \u201cThese markets are tough and I don\u2019t see them getting any better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Netflix\u2019s answer is to avoid the low production values found in a lot of \u2018Nollywood\u2019 output and channel the continent\u2019s best talent to develop slickly-made shows across every genre. This year it struck deals with well-funded producers like Nigeria\u2019s EbonyLife TV and Star Wars actor John Boyega\u2019s UpperRoom Productions.<\/p>\n

The content blitz follows Netflix\u2019s success with \u201cQueen Sono,\u201d a drama about a South African secret agent, and \u201cBlood and Water,\u201d a Cape Town-set drama about a girl searching for her missing sister. It\u2019s now pushing into comedy, reality TV and shows for children and young adults, partly by licensing series or films from local distribution partners.<\/p>\n

\u201dWe want to tell amazing stories tailored to different languages, different tastes, and different moods,\u201d a Netflix spokesperson said in emailed replies to questions. \u201cWe know how important it is to have a slate that offers diversity and variety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netflix is on a mission to massively increase its international subscriber base. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney expects it to reach 500 million customers by 2030, up from 193 million at the end of June.<\/p>\n

The company plans to expand the mobile-only contracts permanently if the trials, which began in South Africa and Egypt, are a success. It\u2019s struck partnerships with South African wireless carriers to add subscriptions to people\u2019s phone bills and offers pre-paid vouchers for those without bank accounts.<\/p>\n

Netflix also needs to make sure more of the Nigerians watching the service are paying for it. Tumininu Elemoso, a 26-year-old Nigerian living in Canada, said she gave her Netflix sign-in details to seven people across the globe, three of them back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey also give my password to others who don\u2019t want to add Netflix to their bills,\u201d she said. \u201cI get notifications when anyone logs in. Some of them feel<\/span> guilty and send money to my account.\u201d<\/p>\n

The account sharing isn\u2019t all bad news for Netflix as it means more people are using the service and the company gets to see what content is most popular, said McMurray: \u201cIt is more important for them to become a staple for content consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Read: Netflix launches R39 a month mobile plan in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Netflix Inc became the world\u2019s largest subscription-streaming service by flooding the market with popular content that\u2019s cheaper than the competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":282892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5554],"tags":[26,1253],"class_list":["post-436507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media","tag-headline","tag-multichoice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436527,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436507\/revisions\/436527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}