In less than two years, web television operator MeTV has acquired over 1 500 hours of African films – and the catalogue is growing.
MeTV Africa’s chief marketing officer Tongai Ndavambi describes MeTV as a Johannesburg-based African operator motivated to make content from the continent easily accessible around the globe.
“At the same time we are growing the industry by developing a new business model. We’ve gone from chasing producers for films to having producers approach us with experimental content suitable for the web.
“Initially it was a process of explaining our concept and how they (producers) would benefit. The traditional model of distributing content has crippled the industry,’ says Ndavambi, who founded the company together with Nyasha Mutsekwa (chief executive officer) and Sipho Ngwenya (chief technology officer).
MeTV Africa’s target audience seeks African stories told through African eyes by African voices. Sixty-five percent of the viewership comes from South Africa, 15% from Kenya and 10% from Nigeria, with the balance from around the globe.
Web television context
According to Ndavambi, many producers won’t produce the same quality of content for web television as they do for traditional television. Another issue is bandwidth cost constraints in Africa, which means most web television viewers will not watch long shows.
“In terms of sourcing web television content, we’ve seen that some producers hoard content just so that nobody else can access it unless through them, such as catalogue owners,’ says Ndavambi.
Compared to other television models, web television is cheaper in the sense that an operator doesn’t require a studio or a technical team to schedule and enable broadcasts. There are however costs for relevant staff such as developers as well as the cost of web hosting.
Currently MeTV Africa streams content from South Africa and the African diaspora. Content ranges from shorts, documentaries, animation and reality shows to events.
By Martin Chemhere
Screen Africa magazine – August 2012
