French film studio and distributor Canal+ Group has partnered with online film platform iRoko to launch Africa’s first French-speaking subscription video on demand (SVoD) service. This is said to be part of a “multi-million euro deal” between the two companies.
The service will first launch as an Android-only app with download functionality in the coming months. It will also be optimised to save on data bandwidth costs.
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According to a press release sent to Ventureburn, there are 250 million French-speaking individuals across 23 African countries. This collaboration sees language as the first step to bringing content closer to viewers. All content will be in French.
President of Canal+ Overseas, Jacques du Puy, says that with the company now close to having two-million pay TV households in Africa, they look to widen their mobile audience:
iRoko’s original approach integrating popular content production and mobile SVoD perfectly matches our group’s entertainment vision in French-speaking Africa. This will also allow us to make more accessible the contents that we specifically produce and design for the African market.
Read more: Video on demand startup iROKOtv expands to East Africa
Jason Njoku CEO of iRoko adds, “Together, we will be giving the many millions of French-speaking Nollywood and Telenovela fans unprecedented access to content that has previously been inaccessible.” He goes on to say affordable content is the right approach to striking in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Both companies have previously worked together on content distribution deals for the likes of Nollywood TV.
