Netflix has this week officially launched in Africa. While most Kenyans on social media were elated about the news there is a certain group that has raised concern over the entrance of this multinational into the local market. This group entails local film makers and content producers who fear that the entrance of Netflix might jeopardize jobs for thousands working in the film industry. They pose the argument that Netflix will allow access to some of the best produced shows globally, on demand which might deviate the local audience from watching the locally produced shows.
They also argue that the favorable cost of the service might lead to some of the content buyers like DSTV making losses which will in turn reduce the budgets provided to make local content. Netflix currently offers 3 packages i.e. Basic ($7.99 – Ksh. 817), Standard ($9.99 – Ksh. 1,022) and Premium ($11.99 – Ksh. 1,226). That is peanuts compared to the recently increased prices of DSTV packages which had social media in an uproar late last year. The catch however is that Netflix requires a fiber connection for one to stream the shows. A fiber connection usually costs between ($30 – Ksh.3,000 to $100 – Ksh.10,000) depending on your service provider. A Netflix client should be ready to spend close to $50 – Ksh.5000 which includes the the monthly subscription for Netflix and the fibre connection.
This means basically means that Netflix will only be enjoyed by those willing to or are already spending more than Ksh.5,000 on entertainment. The rest of the populace will stick to their usual service providers like Go-TV that offer packages as low $6- Ksh. 600 which don’t require an Internet connection. As such local producers need not worry about losing their market as only a small margin (if any ) of their main audience will be affected. It remains to be seen whether DSTV will slash their already constrained production budgets. On the flip side some content producers see this as an opportunity to sell local content. Actually, according to the Chief Content Officer for Netflix Ted Sarandos there are plans to buy local content in the countries in which they have launched. Though the challenge would be in the quality of local content in comparison to shows aired on Netflix. This basically means that the ball is in the content producers court in regards to producing quality content. The clear winners here are the internet service providers (fiber and wireless) like Zuku as demand for their services is likely to up as well as the consumers who have a variety to choose from. Here some of the comments by film enthusiasts.
