Africa will have 12.96 million SVOD subscriptions by 2025, up from 2.75 million at end-2019, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. From the 10 million additions, South Africa will supply 3 million to take its total to 4.3 million, and Nigeria will add 2.1 million to total 2.73 million.
Netflix accounted for 45% of the region’s SVOD subscribers by end-2019. The company will retain its share by 2025 (5.70 million subscribers – up from 1.23 million in 2019). Disney+ is not expected to start in the territory until 2022, but it is supposed to have 2.71 million paying subscribers by 2025.
“Local player Showmax will add more than a million paying subscribers, partly due to the launch of its Pro platform and its lower prices for mobile subscribers. It will reach many more homes as a free extension for its pay TV subscribers,” added Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research.