VideoAge International November 2018

4 November 2018 World oking for exclusive content and acquiring from the inde- pendents. When selling to a pan-African pay-TV network, the deal can be as broad as the entire continent — including adjacent ocean islands. As the majority of pay-TV networks broadcast across a number of nations, deals of- ten include multiple langua- ges and territories, as well as any or all on demand or digital streaming rights. Despite very low Internet penetration, poor broadband speeds, and lack of credit card penetration, VoD services are growing in popularity. SVoD is the most profitable sector with international players such as Netflix, Amazon, and iFlix, as well as regional services inclu- ding Showmax, Traceplay, and Nuvu. Similar to pan-African pay- TV, these services often buy re- gional rights, including several languages and territories. DISCOP Eyes Expanding TurkishTV B asic Lead, organizers of DISCOP Johannesburg, expect more than 1,500 participants at this year’s edi- tion, including over 400 buyers and over 200 global and regio- nal distributors, which is on par with last year’s numbers. In addition to organized meetings for production and acquisition executives, the three-day contentmarket offers several sidebar conferences, including DISCOMICS, which was developed in partnership with South Africa’s African Animation Network. This year, DISCOP’s Next Gen agenda focuses on Africa’s animation industry, but the conference portion also inclu- des panels on new mobile di- stribution models, blockchain technology disruption, and the relationship between content and music. The South African market is spotlighting Canada as its guest country. This announce- ment dovetailed with the re- cent launch of a dedicated incentive organized by the Ca- nada Media Fund and the Na- tional Film and Video Founda- distributors who buy for their home states, surrounding nations, or the entire continent. Rights for French-speaking Africa are usually included in a deal with a French distributor who then sub-distributes to the continent. Arabic rights are usually sold to Middle Eastern distributors who buy for all of the Middle East and North Africa. Outside of South Africa, there is a limited theatrical market for independent films. Companies such as France’s Vivendi and IMAX are investing in theaters in the hopes of raising ticket prices and bringing larger audiences to the cinema, but it will be a number of years before the market is developed enough to support meaningful revenue. On the television front, the main obstacles are low TV household penetration and the ongoing transition to digital television broadcast, which will allow a greater number of channels to broadcast at lower costs. Nonetheless, the increased number of TV channels is creating more demand for international programming. Emerging pan-African pay-TV networks like StarTimes, Zuku, and Econet’s Kwese TV are stirring up competition in a territory historically dominated by MultiChoice’s M-Net and Vivendi’s Canal+ International. While the established pay-TV networks have output deals with major U.S. studios, the new companies are lo- (Continued from Cover) (Continued on Page 6)