Malaysian subscription streaming video service iflix, which is focused on emerging markets, has signed a deal with U.S. studio NBCUniversal to bring premium content to sub-Saharan African users.
The Netflix and Showmax competitor entered into a major multi-year content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal, giving iflix subscribers access stream and download a selection of the studio’s titles, according to Telecompaper.
Some of the content covered in this deal will include hit shows Gladiator, Suits, Psycho, Grimm and the iflix exclusive series Midnight Texas.
The video-on-demand company is focused on the lower end of the streaming market, launching its operations with mobile networks as partners.
Early in 2017 the company announced the creation of iflix Africa to bring its service to sub-Saharan Africa while taking on the likes of Netflix and Showmax in the region.
In August iflix announced that it had attracted investments amounting to $133 million in a new funding round led by U.S. media giant Hearst that was successful due to significant interest from both new investors and existing shareholders, according to TechCentral.
That amount was earmarked to assist in the African expansion efforts. The company first aims to expand into Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, with iflix Africa taking the company’s global footprint to 23 territories, reports MyBroadband.
With African headquarters in Cape Town, iflix will attempt to add further African nations to their current portfolio of emerging markets.
The Malaysian-based company, which operates in 18 Asian, Middle East and North African markets, claims to have the best of Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood and other regional and local programming, while they will also offer African customers an extensive collection of exclusive African content.
This NBCUniversal deal certainly builds on their content provision for the sub-Saharan African market, with hundreds of hours of international content now available to subscribers in the region.
Evert van der Veer, iflix head of content for Africa and the Middle East, expressed his excitement at the deal.
“NBCU is one of the world’s most pre-eminent providers of award-winning content. We are thrilled to offer many of their most acclaimed series and movies to consumers across the sub-Sahara African region, reaffirming our commitment to our members to offer the best and widest selection of entertainment content available,” said Van der Veer, according to RapidTVNews.
Iflix officially launched in Ghana during September 2017, giving Ghanaians access to video-on-demand services at an affordable rate.
A single month of unlimited access to iflix TV content, which includes series and movies, costs $2.40, and a discounted annual subscription costs $19.40 per year, according to ITNewsAfrica.
