Viu starts streaming in South Africa
Details
Rebecca Hawkes
| 04 March 2019

PCCW and Vuclip’s over-the-top (OTT) video platform Viu is now available in South Africa, extending its geographical reach from its existing markets in Asia and the Middle East.

Delivered via an app, the platform offers both free and paid-for content. Subscriptions to the Viu Premium service are available at ZAR69 per month, ZAR20 per week, or ZAR5 per day.

To ensure local relevance, Viu has established partnerships with broadcasters e.tv and SABC and telco Vodacom in South Africa. Popular local shows such as Imbewu, Uzalo, Scandal, and SkeemSaam have been licensed to stream on-demand, in addition to Viu Originals and pan-African and Asian content already carried.

“We are excited to be bringing a truly ‘freemium’ video streaming service anchored on local content to South Africa. Through our partnerships with e.tv, SABC, and Vodacom, we have built an ecosystem that makes it easier for audiences to engage with our platform. The app is available in the IOS app store, Google Play and in the Huawei app gallery,” said Ryan Solovei, country manager, Viu South Africa.

Vodacom Group digital and fixed services officer Zunaid Mahomed said: “Vodacom entered into a strategic partnership with Vuclip over three years ago with the aim of providing a wide range of quality entertainment across various customer segments. Based on the success of Vuclip short form content as well as our Video Play service, we have made the strategic decision to enhance our video portfolio through the launch of Viu, to continue providing local and international premium content to our South African market. We look forward to a successful partnership with Viu.”

Viu claimed to have 30 million monthly active users across 16 Asian, Middle East and North African countries, with the release of over 900 episodes of original shows and more than 37.5 billion minutes of programming consumed in 2018.