Netflix, the biggest video streaming service, with over 195 million users in the world, has made reasonable gains in Africa.
Back in February 2020, Netflix’s first African original series, Queen Sono – about a spy from South Africa – was released.
The streaming site’s six-episode TV thriller stars South African Pearl Thusi as the eponymous secret agent.
Unfortunately, it recently announced that the series won’t be returning for another season because of the production challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2018, Netflix acquired the rights to the Nigerian feature film Lionheart, directed by Nollywood star Genevieve Nnaji. Across Africa, Netflix signing production deals to accommodate more African content on its platform.
However, if the latest proposal by The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), South Africa is implemented, it may slow down the continuously rising momentum of Netflix in South Africa specifically and Africa generally.
South Africa is Netflix’s biggest market with 152,000 subscribers. It has 1.4 million in Africa.
The DCDT says it plans to enforce local content quotas (30%) on streaming services such as Netflix.
The proposal is contained in the department’s white paper on Audio and Audio-visual Content Services policy framework. The department presented the framework to parliament.
In her presentation, the department’s chief director of broadcasting policy Collin Mashile said that local content should be ‘enabled’ by further policy interventions within the audiovisual broadcasting space.
“Where video-on-demand subscription services come and operate in South Africa, everything that they show to South Africans in terms of their catalogue – 30% of that catalogue must be South African content,” Mashile said.
“What this means is that we are trying to create opportunities for the production and creative industry sector.”
Mashile adds: “We were asked where we got the idea that South Africans are interested in this 30%,” he said. “The most popular shows in every country remain the local shows.”
The White Paper also broadens the definition of a “broadcasting service” to include online broadcasting services.
What this means is that Netflix and other streaming services would now be required to the payment of a license fee for the viewing of any “broadcasting services”.
It will definitely be difficult for Netflix to achieve 30% local content anytime soon. The imposition of this policy will force it to increase its subscription fees.
In fact, the streaming service recently announced the launch of two lower-cost subscription plans aimed at smartphone users which have been trialed in Egypt and South Africa. These mobile subscriptions have now launched in other African countries, such as Nigeria. This was aimed at making its services more affordable for Africans.
This proposal will make the lower-cost subscription unsustainable, especially in South Africa. Perhaps, South Africans should be ready for Netflix to pull out of the country if the government goes ahead with the proposed policy.
