The boom in local film and TV production sparked by the launch of major streaming video services over the past six years is about to gain further momentum.
This month, Disney+ joins Netflix, Showmax, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Britbox in an entertainment bonanza that is likely to see constant consumer churn between the streaming providers.
Already, market leader Netflix has reported its first decline in subscribers in 10 years, albeit a small loss about 200,000 globally in the first three months of the year.
However, its shares plunged more than 35% when the streaming giant warned that it expected to lose another 2-million customers over the next quarter.
The losses can be attributed to resistance to increased subscription fees and its withdrawal from Russia which cost it 700,000 subscribers.
However, the absence of once-routine robust growth can also be put down to more compelling offerings from such competitors as Disney+. It enticed viewers with the entire Marvel and Star Wars franchises, along with the classic Walt Disney slate of movies and series.
All this content will be available to South Africans from May 18, along with vast catalogues from Disney properties such as National Geographic and Fox, home of The Simpsons.
SA will be among 42 countries in which the service will launch in the coming weeks, helping to double its current 129-million subscribers globally.
According to Christine Service, senior vice-president and general manager of Walt Disney Africa, the company expects to grow its subscriber base to between 230-million and 260-million by the end of 2024.
"We also expect that to be our breakeven year," she said during a Disney+ showcase in SA this week.
Netflix has 221-million customers globally.
Service said South African subscribers would have access to more than 1,000 films, more than 1,500 series, and 200 exclusive originals, and the range would expand over the next 12 months.
As with Netflix and Showmax, it would work with local producers to ensure "relevant content" is available, with the aim of creating 60 local productions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by 2024.
Among material in development and due to air this year is a science-fiction series from Nigeria, Iwájú (The Future), made by a pan-African comic book company called Kugali, and set in Lagos.
