by Thinus Ferreira
Yet another subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service could possibly make its way to Africa and South Africa with ViacomCBS that announced on Thursday that it will be rebranding its CBS All Access streaming service in the United States within a year and start to expand it internationally.
If ViacomCBS makes a relaunched CBS All All Access available in South Africa, it will compete with the existing Netflix, MultiChoice's Showmax, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, VIU, Vodacom Video Play and some other smaller SVOD players.
Not yet launched in South Africa or Africa and with only silence from The Walt Disney Company about it and the continent, is its streaming service Disney+ that was rolled out in the United States, the United Kingdom, European countries, India and New Zealand.
WarnerMedia's HBO Max is launching on 25 May in the United States - also with silence from WarnerMedia as to possible future roll-out in South Africa or Africa.
CBS All Access Originals that are only on CBS All Access in the United States is currently sold through CBS Studios International, CBS Television Studios' international distribution arm, to pay-TV channels and streamers available in Africa and South Africa, for instance M-Net and Amazon Prime Video.
The Good Fight is on M-Net (DStv 101) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, with the latest Star Trek series, Star Trek Picard on Amazon Prime Video and the new The Twilight Zone on MultiChoice's own streamer Showmax.
Bob Bakish, ViacomCBS CEO, on Thursday told investors that CBS All Access will rebrand, expands its content offering, and expand internationally within the next year.
The rebranded service will add new and original as well as library content in the form of more shows and films from other ViacomCBS divisions like Paramount and starting with 100 films added from this week, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, BET and other ViacomCBS pay-TV channels.
"We believe audiences want their entertainment on demand and their news, sports and events live, and our expanded offering will be the service that gives them what they want, how they want it all in one place and then a great value," Bob Bakish said.
"Our experience makes clear that we can acquire new customers in a disciplined and economically efficient way while reducing churn and driving customer retention with a deep volume of entertainment news and sports."
Bob Bakish said ViacomCBS is interested in working with existing pay-TV operators in distributing its streaming platform.
"We are full speed ahead on streaming and seeing strong demand for our services today with a strategy to achieve accelerated growth domestically and internationally in the months and years to come."
In a separate press release about the addition of the 100 films from Paramount Pictures to All Access,Julie McNamara, CBS All Access programming boss, said "Expanding CBS All Access' library of films with these iconic titles from Paramount Pictures is just one of the many ways we're integrating the phenomenal catalog of IP available to us within the ViacomCBS family".
"The service is on a growth trajectory with two record-breaking months in March and April, and we look forward to bringing even more premium content and value to our subscribers in the coming months."
