The idea of launching a VoD and OTT streaming service has long been part of Arewa’s strategic roadmap: "Our goal was to bring Hausa speakers together on a television platform in the north and then expand to rest of Nigeria. We were expecting a critical mass of library content with the quality standards needed to cope with international competition,“ said Jacob Arback CEO of Arewa24.
He describes the new service as “Netflix for Hausa content”, which means that it encompasses all genres of this global service, including drama, music, sports, etc. There will be no advertising and users will get unlimited access for $4.99 per month and $48 per year.
Launched in late October, the service will be available on the Arewa24 website and iOS and Android apps are available. Google Play reports that there have already been more than 500,000 downloads of the app. It will also be available on Roku and Amazon Prime and over time via several other platforms
“The strategy is to upload the content free on YouTube with a transition message saying that users will need to move over to the new channels by 21st November. We want to start with early adopter fans in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the USA and Europe.” He sees the service as a way of avoiding having an expensive satellite service to reach these diaspora fans.
Source: Digital Content Africa via NexTVAfrica.com.
