By Alexandra Wexler
On stage in a marine park stadium, a director yells "Action!"
and the cameras roll as a young woman in a turquoise wetsuit starts
to dance and a sea lion leaps from a cobalt-blue tank and twirls in
front of her.
It is one of the final scenes being filmed for "JIVA!," a
Netflix Inc. original series about a talented dancer who realizes
her moves could be her ticket out of a working-class neighborhood
in coastal Durban, South Africa. It is one of a raft of new series
the global streaming giant hopes will score millions of new
subscribers across the world's youngest and fastest-growing
continent.
"I pitched the story, they loved it and then they green lit it.
It was like one, two, three," said Busisiwe Ntintili, creator,
showrunner and executive producer of the show, slated to premiere
world-wide on the streaming service in 2021. "It shows that Netflix
really knows what they want."
Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the final frontiers in Netflix's
bid for world domination of the $100 billion video-streaming
market. Its 1.1 billion citizens represent a vast untapped
opportunity for the company. In January, Netflix said it had
surpassed 100 million subscribers outside the U.S. for the first
time.
Streaming in Africa is expected to grow rapidly. Digital TV
Research, a London-based industry forecaster, estimates
subscriptions in Africa will balloon to 13 million by 2025, up from
3.9 million in 2020.
This month, Netflix appointed Zimbabwean businessman Strive
Masiyiwa, the chairman and founder of African telecom and
technology company Econet Group, to its board.
Netflix said that viewing in South Africa, the continent's
most-developed economy, more than doubled from January to November
versus the same period in 2019.
To win African eyeballs and wallets, Netflix is also investing
more in original African programming; the company declined to
comment on how much it is spending.
Challenges for streaming services on the continent are many:
piracy, expensive mobile data and slow internet speeds as well as
poverty. Netflix is still seen as expensive by many Africans and
only accepts dollar payments in many markets, which limits it to an
elite audience.
Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said
that Netflix will need to spend more if it is to dominate on the
continent. Netflix has commissioned some original content in
Africa, he said, but it has not made a financial commitment to open
its own studio.
Netflix's chief rival is homegrown streaming champion Showmax,
part of Johannesburg-listed MultiChoice Group Ltd., which has led
the way on the continent with original African content that makes
up around 40% of Showmax viewing.
Showmax was launched before Netflix was available on the
continent and was the first of the two streaming services to offer
downloads for offline viewing as well as downloads in varying
qualities.
Netflix currently leads Africa, with just shy of 2 million
subscribers, according to Digital TV Research. Showmax comes in
second with 688,000 direct subscribers, but that figure doesn't
take into account subscribers to MultiChoice's pay-TV service,
DStv, for whom Showmax is offered as a free or discounted add-on to
certain subscribers. MultiChoice, which was spun off last year from
internet and media giant Naspers Ltd., Africa's largest company,
says Showmax and sister brands GOtv and DStv now have 20.1 million
subscribers combined.
Other international competitors are lagging. Amazon Prime Video
has about 100,000 subscribers, according to Digital TV Research.
Disney+ isn't yet available on the continent.
Most of Netflix's Europe, Middle East and Africa markets,
including sub-Saharan Africa, are managed from Amsterdam, but the
company is stepping up its local fare. The company premiered its
first original African series earlier this year, a spy drama called
Queen Sono, which made Netflix's top 10 lists in multiple
countries. After initially renewing the show for a second season,
Netflix canceled the series, with the creator indicating
pandemic-related logistical issues.
Netflix says it scours the continent for the greatest African
stories and storytellers, then equips them with the resources to
make the best versions of their series or films. Variety in
language, taste, culture, experience and mood are also
important.
The company has announced new creative partnerships for more
original content in Nigeria this year, including a film adaptation
of "Death and the King's Horseman," a play by the 1986 Nobel Prize
laureate in literature, Wole Soyinka. Netflix also licenses and
acquires locally produced shows and movies from countries including
Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique and Angola.
To lure as many subscribers as possible, both Showmax and
Netflix are working on finding the inflection point on pricing that
tips the consumer in their favor.
Netflix is currently testing mobile-only subscriptions in the
region, a subscription type already offered by Showmax. The monthly
price in South Africa is 59 South African rand, equivalent to
$4.03.
"Everyone wants to be able to reach larger audiences and have an
impact outside just your own country," Ms. Ntintili said. "I know
if people outside of South Africa see young people dancing, they
will just go crazy."
Write to Alexandra Wexler at alexandra.wexler@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 22, 2020 08:14 ET (13:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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