The American pay-TV broadcaster Starz announced that it will soon be launching its video-on-demand (VOD) service, entitled Starz Play, internatinoally in Africa as well as on other continents, a move which will bring yet more new TV content to to viewers.
It's not yet clear whether Starz Play would be available in South Africa, although very likely, given that country has the most sophisticated TV market on the continent.
Starz Play would join a quickly getting crowded field of video-on-demand services who are trying to lure viewers with Times Media Group's VIDI and Altech's expensive decoder the Altech Node which recently commenced services, and with MobileTV promising to launch its new service TV4U on 1 February 2015.
They join MultiChoice's existing DStv Catch Up and DStv BoxOffice VOD services, which are starting to bring traditional, linear TV viewers more choices as over-the-top (OTT) video streaming services now start to be rolled out.
Starz Play will be made available in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America according to London's Financial Times on Sunday since the company wants to build an international business.
Like VIDI, Starz Play requires and makes use of Microsoft Silverlight.
Starz run several TV shows South African and African viewers have not yet seen and which hasn't been picked up by M-Net any of the TV channels on MultiChoice's DStv, On Digital Media's StarSat or Platco Digital's OpenView HD like risque drama Black Sails filmed in South Africa and renewed for a third season, Power, Outlander, Spartacus and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, The White Queen or Magic City.
