Africa’s ‘first’ mobile TV subscription service launched by Vodacom

TV: On Demand — a new offering for Vodacom’s 3G subscribers, was launched today with a promise to bring popular television shows and music videos to the mobile screen.

TV:On Demand, owned and operated by London-based web video specialist the On Demand Group, allows Vodacom subscribers to watch the programme of their choice, on demand, as often as they want. This is all included in a single fee with no additional data charges.

The service launched with a library from On Demand Group’s studio and television partnerships providing popular series such as Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Entourage, and hundreds of music videos. Subscribers will be able to watch on their mobile phones whenever they want with complete control to pause, resume, and replay.

Victor Borges, General Manager of On Demand SA, said: “We’ve seen linear Mobile TV struggle in so many territories worldwide, so when Vodacom invited us to pitch for a new service we focused on choice, convenience and control. We looked at the existing Mobile TV services available, and we decided to bring a different, unique and compelling offer to the consumer.  By providing TV:On Demand we have given control and value back to the consumer.”

On Demand Group delivers annually 250 000 movies, TV programmes and promotions to 12 video service provider platforms, covering 10-million on-demand enabled homes and 100-million mobile subscribers in six languages including Arabic, English, French, German, Greek and Turkish.

TV:On Demand is pricing the service at R75 per month, or R20 per week. They offer users the first month free and every week they plan to launch new TV episodes. The company also offers “playlist creation” on hundreds of music videos.