Local media and technology behemoth Naspers launched its video on demand service this week, pre-empting the arrival in South Africa of the international streaming service Netflix.
Similarly, when Netflix comes to South Africa, slated for next year, the price and content mix will determine whether he signs up. “Again, [it] depends on price and availability,” he said. “It will probably be cheaper, but the local Netflix may not have all the shows and movies that are available overseas.”
Other M&G readers on social media shared concerns about the price, content and data implications of any new streaming service.
Nstoaki Phali said: “I was on MTN FrontRow but couldn’t stand the data cost. Vidi was worse: one movie went through three [gigabytes] of data. Not worried about the content but the cost.”
“Let’s see the quality/price first,” said Maxence Mayanika Zaniekene.
Asked how ShowMax would woo the existing market of video-on-demand consumers, John Kotsaftis, the general manager of ShowMax South Africa, said: “There are a lot of shows on our platform that those services won’t have,” including an extensive library of local content. At R99 a month to subscribe, the pricing is also competitive, he said.
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