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clrmoney
clrmoney
4/19/2017 10:49:05 AM
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Platinum
African Pay TV Service Econet
This is great for them and I wish them all the best. They say they have pay tv-sevice callled Econet with 20 million subscribers so they are a diverse country that has a lot to offer. 

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elizabethv
elizabethv
4/19/2017 12:47:55 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Language?
I actually am a little shocked that language isn't a bigger factor in creating a successful media TV service in Africa. According to the article age is a big factor, but Africa is a continent filled with a lot of different cultures and countries. They speak different languages. I would see language as being less a factor in Europe than in Africa, and yet it actually is a factor in Europe, at least to some extent. As far as the limited penetration that certainly speaks to the economic situation found in Africa, who has a lot more to overcome than just who has access to television. Though I think if they worked on bringing in jobs for people who might work in various telco industries, that would go a long way in solving the economic situation which would create a larger market for television services. 

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Adi
Adi
4/20/2017 6:10:24 AM
User Rank
Author
Re: Language?
elizabethtv - I think this might be a function of two things: the addressable market and the history of Africa. For people to subscribe to a pay-TV service, they have to have a certain level of discretionary income. So you are talking about people that are above a certain income threshold. Secondly, French and English are widely spoken in Africa, so services targetting those two languages can probably cover a sizable proportion of the addressable audience. 

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JohnBarnes
JohnBarnes
4/20/2017 10:23:44 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Once again, starting late means starting high on the ladder
As with so many other technologies, as Alvin Toffler liked to point out, when an area starts to develop, it starts at the highest level it can from the surrounding world. In this case, it seems likely that non-mobile TV will sputter along in Africa and then fade out, and the whole TV-ization of the continent is likely to be overwhelmingly via mobile -- just as some countries now have largely skipped broadcast and gone straight to cable.

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JohnBarnes
JohnBarnes
4/20/2017 10:27:52 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Any guesses about whether the orientation to sports is a smart or a risky move?
On the one hand, sports has driven so much television development all over the world. On the other, in the most developed countries, the youngest generation appears to be losing interest in sports.  So  is trying to get young people hooked on sports is a shrewd move onto a known development path, or a less-shrewd following of an obsolete model?

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dcawrey
dcawrey
4/21/2017 4:30:14 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Any guesses about whether the orientation to sports is a smart or a risky move?
In places like Africa, TV is going to leapfrog right over the traditional way we watch in places like the US. It's going to be mobile. It's going to be digital. It's going to be watch whereever and whenever. 

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DHagar
DHagar
4/21/2017 5:03:37 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Any guesses about whether the orientation to sports is a smart or a risky move?
@JohnBarnes, great question!  Plus, if they don't have teams they identify with, I think the attraction would be less.  We watch in the US and enjoy watching our favorite teams - from schools we attended and cities we have lived in.

I think the interests would be what's happening in other parts of the world, education, and of course the big draw - entertainment.

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srufolo1
srufolo1
4/21/2017 6:42:46 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Any guesses about whether the orientation to sports is a smart or a risky move?
@dcawrey  As the CEO pointed out, age is a big factor there. It appears the younger generation in Africa leapfrogged directly into digital and mobile. And, just as in the U.S., the older generation is content with what they have and reluctant to change, unless they have a little technology knowledge.

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JohnBarnes
JohnBarnes
4/21/2017 7:05:37 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Any guesses about whether the orientation to sports is a smart or a risky move?
DHagar,

That's my take as well. I think the younger generation will leapfrog in both the tech they prefer to use AND in what they want to watch with it (how they want to watch, as well). And you're right that people who grew up following a sport because of the experience of watching Dad's (or Grandma's) favorite team, to which they had some personal tie, is where many young sports fans come from. Manchester United and the Cinncinnatti Reds are both coming up on being 150 years old; there are numerous baseball, American football, and ice hockey rivalries going back before 1900. There's nothing like the recruitment channel for new teams and leagues now, and as we've discussed before, almost no one under 30 seems to be interested in watching a whole game anymore.

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srufolo1
srufolo1
4/21/2017 7:19:55 PM
User Rank
Platinum
Re: Any guesses about whether the orientation to sports is a smart or a risky move?
@DHagar  This is so true about sports fans. Even when the Super Bowl is on, people will watch even if they don't have a team they are truly rooting for, but they won't have the enthusiasm if say, in New York, there is no New York team playing. Sometimes you have to pick another team you will root for, but the interest is just not there.

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