Econet chairman Strive Masisiyiwa has declared that
Econet's nippy media subsidiary, Kwesé, will launch 60 channels across no less
than 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Such a move would undoubtedly be a serious threat to
DStv's dominance in Africa's cable television market.
With smartphone users on the continent outnumbering
television owners by at least three to one, it's no wonder DStv's ShowMax is on
the prowl for mobile telco partners to help hack growth.
After all, relying too heavily on the mothership's
enviable stash of international licensed content to set it apart from Netflix,
Kwesé and Amazon Prime Video might prove to be its undoing.
This scenario serves to fuel speculation that we could soon see some major corporate consolidation involving a big media player and a large mobile network operator go down, a la AT&T merging with Time Warner.
Andile Masuku is a broadcaster and
entrepreneur based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the Executive Producer
at AfricanTechRoundup.com. Follow him on Twitter @MasukuAndile and The African
Tech Round-up @africanroundup.
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