by Thinus Ferreira
Netflix has gone free in Africa - specifically in Kenya - where users can watch as much as a quarter of the video streaming service, without ads, in a striking move that ups the ante for rivals like MultiChoice's Showmax.
On Tuesday Netflix unlocked its service in Kenya. Asked if this free plan will be rolled out in South Africa or anywhere else on the continent, the streamer told TVwithThinus that the free plan in Africa is currently only for Kenya and that Netflix's focus is currently on Kenya with no other plans around its free plan to share at this time.
Netflix's free plan in Kenya that will start rolling out in Kenya from today over the next few weeks will undoubtedly drive sampling of its service under new users, and likely convert some of those samplers to paying users.
With the free plan, users in Kenya can watch Netflix for as long as they want on android mobile phones, without paying a subscription fee.
The free plan in Kenya allows people to access most of Netflix's shows and films ads-free, with personalised recommendations and
parental controls.
Content that Netflix isn't offering for free under the free plan are indicated with a lock icon. When a Kenyan user clicks on locked content, they will be encouraged to upgrade to a paid Netflix plan.
Kenyan users of Netflix can now watch the South African series Blood & Water, Money Heist, the Nigeria series King of Boys: Return of the King and the British series Bridgerton under the free plan.
"At Netflix, we want everyone to be able to enjoy the suspense of Blood & Water, the romance of Bridgerton, and the adventure of Army of the Dead," says Cathy Conk, Netflix’s director of product innovation.
"Now we're giving
audiences in Kenya the chance to experience these stories for themselves - completely free of charge".
"If you've never watched Netflix before this is a great
way to experience our service. We hope it's a great match and that many of the
people who try our free plan love Netflix so much that over time they upgrade
to a full, paid subscription so you can enjoy our full catalogue on your TV or
laptop as well."
To sign-up for the free plan, subscribers must enter their email address, confirm they are 18 years or over and create a
password. To access Netflix's full catalogue on multiple devices, users must upgrade to
one of the service's paid plans.
Kenyan users watching Netflix on the free plan will not be included in Netflix's stated number of total paid users when it does its quarterly financial reports.
