PrideTV, Africa's LGBTQ video on demand (VOD) channel, has launched a second tier of streaming video content to cater to its audience. Titled 'Freemium', the new viewing option aims to coincide with the channel’s one-year anniversary.
"Our Freemium portal offers a no subscription, no commitment promise that simultaneously delivers a high-quality VOD viewing experience," says Joanne Raphael Katz, PrideTV’s spokesperson.
She says that the adoption of VOD technologies by the continent’s mobile and desktop Internet users has necessitated the adding of the PrideTV Freemium viewing option.
"There are now two tiers on the site," adds Katz, "In Freemium, we have gathered the best of the web content to offer the community more, free of charge. In Premium, we have a subscription-based service at an affordable $5.50 per month, with hundreds of titles to enjoy anytime, anywhere, and on any device."
Katz says subscriptions are in the thousands and continue to increase month by month. "We are very encouraged by the results. We have hardly touched the rest of the potential African base that is out there, so we forecast promising times ahead for PrideTV," she adds.
The prepaid and credit card payment options mean that the service can be cancelled at any time, aiming to enable consumers to budget better. Viewers' time is not diluted by commercials and they can avoid repetitions.
VOD aims to enable the brand new phenomenon of content cherrypicking. This refers to viewers being able to pick, choose, and subscribe to the video content that suits them without watching channels that were included as part of a Pay TV offering.
"PrideTV is Africa's flagship LGBTQ entertainment channel and has a responsibility to innovate in the LGBTQ viewing space. Our Freemium content is the latest example of PrideTV’s commitment to VOD LGBTQ innovation," says Katz.
Katz says PrideTV is exploring several technological developments, and is busy acquiring new content for the platform in both long and short form. "Short form is best suited to our mobile streamers, where we have 11 million smartphone users in South Africa and 300 million in Africa," she concludes.
For more information, visit www.prideTV.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.
New video on demand services in Africa provides a broad variety of content with a greater freedom in how that content is accessed. Read more in our article, Video on demand services are creating a new range of choices in Africa.