Nigerian video streaming service iROKOtv signs deal with Nokia

Nigerian video streaming service iROKOtv has signed a deal with Nokia to launch a free mobile app for the Lumia range of Windows 8 Phones. The deal allows Nollywood fans to access the service’s full catlogue of Nigerian films on the go.

According to iROKO Partners, the company behind the service, the app is built with the same functionality as www.irokotv.com, giving users total control over their viewing experience and the ability to search the catalogue of thousands of movies by genre and actor, as well as select movies to “watch later”.

“The iROKOtv app is a fantastic addition to the ‘Nokia Collections within the Widows Phone Store’. Content is king, access is key and this app encapsulates this perfectly; awesome content, available on-demand, accessible on a mobile phone. Nollywood at your fingertips, wherever you are,” says Adibeli Nduka-Agwu, Head of Business Development for iROKO Partners.

The app has been customised for the users optimum experience, providing delectable additional features such as behind the scenes clips from famed Nollywood sets as well as interviews with casts. The app also boasts an exclusive news and gossip section around the growing Nigerian film industry.

“The partnership with Nokia is an extremely exciting development for us. They are global leaders in the tech and mobile device sectors for emerging markets, with a dominant presence in Nigeria and West Africa. This combined with their considerable expertise and enthusiasm in promoting African content, is why we are delighted with this collaboration,” she added.

For Nokia the partnership is part of its mission to encourage local app development within the region

“We are happy that this is coming first on the Lumia device using the Windows8 OS. This is one of the ways through which Nokia is championing and encouraging the development of local apps in the region and Nigeria as well. Aside from the serious work, users of the Lumia windows phone 8 who have a subscription on iROKOtv PLUS can access the website to get the latest news in Nollywood and also the latest movies and have some form of entertainment even while on the go,” says Nokia’s Head of Ecosystem Developer Experience in West Africa, Teemu Kiijärvi.

The partnership also extends to iROKO Partners’ music site, iROKING, the leading platform for African music. Nokia Asha users will also have access to over 35 000 tracks from 400+ recording artistes anytime, anywhere via Nokia Browser.

iROKO Partners launched iROKOtv in 2011 and claims to be the biggest online legal distributor of Nigerian films, last year it also launched iROKOING its answer to Spotify in Africa. In April 2012, the company received two rounds of funding to the tune of US$4 million from Tiger Global, a New York-based private equity and hedge fund.