Battle royale for Nigerian multi-million dollar video streaming industry
The top two video streaming platforms in the world have locked horns for the soul of the lucrative Nigeria market. Joseph Ekeng writes.
As their core markets in other parts of the world get saturated, global video-streaming brands have turned their attention to Africa in their quest for growth. The streaming landscape on the continent is expanding fast and is expected to reach 15 million subscribers by 2026.
Netflix, the global industry leader and Amazon’s streaming platform, Prime Video, with over 200 million subscribers worldwide, desperately want to be part of this future.
But with over 210 million population and a burgeoning youth demographic, Nigeria appears to be a major priority market for streaming companies.
This is understandable given the fast growth of the media and entertainment industry in the country. A recent report by PwC forecasts that the fast-growing industry will earn $14.8bn in 2025, up from $7.7bn in 2021, riding on an 85% growth of its internet access segment
So it is no surprise that both Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video wants a bigger piece of the pie so they are entangled in a fierce battle for market leadership.
Both Netflix and Prime Video first launched in Nigeria in 2016. But the former quickly sprinted ahead to establish itself as the market leader, leaving Amazon’s Prime Video trailing behind.
Netflix has since made it clear that Nigeria remains a top growth priority for it.
However, in recent months, Netflix has faced an intense challenge from Amazon’s Prime Video, which has made clear its intention to give Netflix a run for its money.
To consolidate its hold on the number one position, Netflix has unfolded a number of marketing strategies and strategic partnerships. They include relentless marketing campaigns and partnerships with movie producers for authentic local content among others. Determined to close the gap on Netflix, Prime Video has unleashed a series of strategic marketing plans to drive subscription growth.
Firstly, it quickly launched discounted Amazon Prime membership, then, again, seven days of free streaming service and increased investments in local content production for Nigerian audiences. Not done, Amazon took to its social media platforms to announce that Nigerian customers can stream more than 20,000 original TV shows and movies within its ecosystem.
“The news signals our continued commitment to the Nigerian TV and Film industry, bringing the very best of authentic, homegrown stories to not only our customers in Nigeria but also Prime Video members around the world,” Mrs. Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, head of Nigerian Originals, Prime Video said.
The slew of strategies quickly drove visibility and growth for the platform and began to put pressure on Netflix.And just as people were beginning to wonder what was going on, Amazon pulled off a joker with the announcement that Nigerian subscribers could pay their subscription fees in local currency – the Naira.
It went one step further to reduce its services to N2,300 per month. That price contrasts with Netflix’s basic plan category of service which limits subscribers to watch on a single screen at a time, and is also limited to some phones or tablets he can have downloads on, but costs N2,900 per month.
The latest in Amazon’s rollercoaster of marketing gimmicks is its recent strategic partnership with MTN Nigeria.
The partnership allows MTN Nigeria to offer Prime Video Mobile Edition to its over 75 million subscribers in Nigeria.
Analysts believe that this is a potential game changer that could flip the table in favour of Amazon because it gives the company direct access to MTN’s teeming mobile subscription base.
The product is a single-device, mobile-only subscription which will give MTN customers access to Prime Video’s full catalogue of 9,000+ movies and 1,500+ TV shows.
To make the package even more attractive and easy to use, MTN makes it available with an affordable and dedicated data package for streaming and downloading.
Content boost for Nigeria
As the two streaming giants lurk horns, Nigerian content creators and movie producers have enjoined some traction in their trade. Netflix has done several deals with movie producers.
This includes a three-movie deal with Kunle Afolayan, a prominent director behind 2020’s Citation and other popular films.
On the other hand, Amazon has signed exclusive global licensing deals with two Nigerian film companies, including Inkblot Productions, which has produced two of the country’s biggest box office releases over the last decade.
Although local content creators often complain that what they get for their works is small compared to what their counterparts in other climes receive. But it is evident that the competition is paying off.
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