iConnect October-November 2014
AFRICA COM 2014 INTERVIEW
OTT services are investing
in African content
Simbarashe Mabasha
Director, Afrikan Dust Media Group
In the second of a series of interviews taking the temperature of African
connected entertainment - in advance of this years AfricaCast - IP&TV News
catches up with Simbarashe Mabasha, Director at the Afrikan Dust Media
Group.
IP&TV News: Hi Simbarashe. In the year thats passed since AfricaCast
2013, what have been the most significant advances has OTT made in
the regional ecosystem?
The most significant advances in the past year have been the increase in Af-
ro-centric or Afro-focused Video-on-Demand services. The other significant
advance has been traditional broadcasters and telco companies entering the
OTT space with their own music and video streaming services.
How much of its progress has to do with the cloud? What opportunities
does TV in the cloud open up to African operators?
The cloud has decreased the barriers to entry so to speak. There are many
services with turnkey solutions that allow established players to enter the
market aggressively and quickly using cloud solutions. The cloud allows Af-
rican operators to offer more OTT services especially Video-on-Demand ser-
vices.
Has the explosion of home grown African content continued apace too?
There is an upward trajectory in terms of African content production. Pay
and Free-to-Air broadcasters have increased budgets. OTT services are also
investing in African content and thus African producers are making more
content.
And what about regional connectivity? What are the most pressing
issues here for the continent?
Regional connectivity continues to be an issue but that is changing with
the increase of fibre connections inland in the African continent. The
most pressing issues centre on cost of connectivity, which is going down
in some countries but not in others. There is a need for a concerted ef-
fort between governments, telcos, broadcasters and content makers to
form far reaching partnerships that are in the best interests of the con-
sumer.
What do you think is going to define African broadcasting in the
coming year, and how do you expect this will be reflected at this
years AfricaCast?
I think content will define African broadcasting. As content makers gain
more confidence and have more distribution options there will poten-
tially be more diverse content on the market that will garner different
audiences. The continued evolution of mobile content and mobile con-
tent distribution will initially complement traditional African broadcast-
ing and surpass it in the coming years. AfricaCast will bring together a
cross section of the relevant public and private players in African broad-
cast. Thus making it the best venue for informed and frank discussion
about African broadcast.
Simbarashe Mabasha will be appearing at this years AfricaCast, Africas premier
show on the future of broadcasting, which takes place on the 11th-13th November
2014 at the Cape Town Convention Centre, South Africa.
NUMERIS iConnect | October-November 2014