Africa's biggest company is launching a Netflix competitor in the US
AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Africa's largest media company, Nasper's, has plans to expand its new video streaming service to North America, Europe, and Asia, according to Bloomberg.
The service, called "Showmax," is a Netflix competitor that will offer not only content from the likes of CBS, the BBC, and Time Warner, but also content produced on the African continent.
The $65 billion South African company hopes to attract 15 million subscribers outside of Africa, partially by leveraging a deal with Samsung to include Nasper's service in its smart TVs, Bloomberg reports. In comparison, Netflix currently has over 60 million subscribers worldwide, and Hulu hit 9 million paid subscribers earlier this year. Amazon bundles its streaming video service with other items in Amazon Prime, which might have 60-80 million subscribers globally according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets.
Nasper's bet seems to be that worldwide subscribers will pay a premium for African content overlooked by other streaming services. That is the differentiator. The African diaspora numbers around 30 million worldwide, according to Quartz, and could be a source of customers who feel their needs aren't being met by companies like Netflix and Hulu.