Telecommunications and ICT provider Vox has unveiled plans to launch specialist Internet video-on-demand content bouquets targeting niche communities.
The service, which will be launched later this year, will be substantially different to generalist entertainment options offered by the likes of Naspers’s Showmax, Liquid Telecom’s Kwesé Play, Cell C’s Black and Netflix, Vox CEO Jacques du Toit said in a podcast interview with TechCentral on Monday.
Instead, the service, which will offer bouquets aimed at specific language groups — from the Portuguese to the Czech communities — looks set to compete with the specialist language bouquets offered by DStv parent MultiChoice.
“We believe there is a niche market where we can target specific nationalities — Portuguese, say — and put together a put together a bouquet of movies and content that’s in high definition, brand new and aimed at specific markets,” Du Toit said.
“Let’s deliver relevant content to those groups. It’s not a mass-market deployment, it’s very specific, very aggressively priced and ultimately we will bundle that with our fibre-to-the-home solutions, so that will assist us to cross-sell. We will also look at zero-rating data…”
Vox is interested in targeting the Bangladeshi, Czech, Spanish, Portuguese and Indian communities, among others, with a focus on new content. “If you put a well-priced product in the market, you will see them turn away from DStv to our solution just because of the content.”
Du Toit said it has become easier and more affordable to produce content from international providers — buying for shorter time windows and limiting rights to one market.
The platform will not offer sports, at least not at launch. “Sport is unfortunately still a big issue,” he said. “Our video-on-demand product won’t have a sports channel. It will be purely focused on entertainment as a start. Ultimately, we will have some selected sports.”
Vox has no plans to offer a set-top box. Rather, the service will be offered as an application for smartphones, tablets and smart TVs. “We’d like all smart TVs to be pre-loaded with our app. That will come in time. Right now, the focus will be on the app,” he said.
The service, which doesn’t yet have a name, will be launched in the third or fourth quarter of 2018. – © 2018 NewsCentral Media
- For more on Vox’s plans, listen to TechCentral’s podcast interview with Jacques du Toit