PCCW Global quietly shutters its video streaming service, ONTAPtv.com, less than 3 years after it launched with big promises.

ONTAPtv.com has quietly shuttered its video streaming service with no word or explanation as to why, as it became the latest victim in South Africa's fiercely-contested subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) war where operators are all going after the same digital video eyeballs.

ONTAPtv.com that launched in September 2015 through PCCW Global, the Hong Kong telecom KHT's international operating division, and made big claims and promises lasted less than than 3 years.

ONTAPtv.com's website now simply says "We are currently reviewing the ONTAPtv.com service. Details to follow in due course."

When ONTAPtv.com launched with 2 500 movies and episodes of TV shows it said it would add new content regularly and made promises about branching out into original local productions.

ONTAPtv.com and PCCW Global didn't respond to media enquiries made the past two weeks about the ONTAPtv.com service and why it has been shut down.

ONTAPtv.com joins failed SVOD attempts like Altron's disastrous Altech Node and Tiso Blackstar's VIDI that tanked and MTN that shuttered VU after they all ran into trouble with a tepid uptake under users.

It leaves Discovery Digital's Digital Entertainment on Demand (DEOD), Cell C's black, PrideTV.co.za, Google Play Movies, Netflix with Netflix South Africa (and available across Africa), Amazon's Amazon Prime Video and Naspers' Showmax run under the MultiChoice umbrella (and available across Africa) to duke it out for the small but growing number of South African and African users who are willing to pay for video streaming, pay for data and have access to fast enough internet.  

Vodacom will be next to launch a new subscription video-on-demand entertainment service that will include Showmax as well as Netflix.

"Vodacom will launch a new content service in the coming weeks that will offer a variety of content, a Vodacom video service and access to certain third-party content," Vodacom spokesperson Byron Kennedy told TVwithThinus.

Vodacom said the new service will be competitively priced and will be supported through discounted data use options.

Vodacom's as yet unnamed VOD platform has been months in the making and follows the launch of Cell C's black VOD service that launched in November 2017 and that has seen impressive growth.

Naspers' video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service ShowMax turns one and changes logo to include colour; serves up 10 million 'views' the past year.

ShowMax, Naspers' video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service has turned one and has changed its logo that now also includes colour.

ShowMax says the logo change from the framed black and white logo used the past year, is to give the service more flexibility in terms of colours and usage.

The new logo - adopting a new small caps font and adding dark magenta and teal stripes - will be rolled out the next few weeks and replace the old ShowMax logo where its being used, for instance on apps on smart devices and MultiChoice's DStv Explora interface.

While ShowMax remains silent about its number of actual subscribers since it launched in August 2015, it says that it has achieved 10 million "views" over the past year.

ShowMax currently offers 600 movie titles and 365 TV series, still at the launch price of R99.

According to Morgan Stanley, ShowMax is expected to break even in 2021 when it reaches 800 000 subscribers.

ShowMax competes with Netflix in South Africa and across the rest of Africa since the global streaming service activated its service on the African continent in January 2016 - along with MTN's relaunched VU, the just-launched PrideTV, and PCCW Global's OnTapTV.com.

China's OnTAPTV.com that has been very quiet the past year in South Africa and doesn't communicate new content additions to its streaming service, will turn one year old on 16 September and is still available at the launch price of R89 per month.

PrideTV launches as South Africa's first gay video streaming service; 'to reverse the trend to restrict access by South African and African broadcasters'.

PrideTV has launched as South Africa's first gay video streaming service.

PrideTV.co.za charges R79 per month for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) films and TV shows, or R790 per year (meaning two months free).

PrideTV says the streaming service, now available in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, will reverse the trend to restrict access to LGBT themes by South African and African broadcasters where "homophobic and transphobic viewer complaints and repressive censorship laws across the continent, devastate diversity".

The service that launched with 200 content titles, requires a credit card with some current account and debit cards also accepted. People who don't have or don't want to use a card will be able to pay using cellphone airtime.

PrideTV says membership is a month-to-month subscription and subscribers can easily cancel anytime, online, 24 hours a day with no long-term contracts or cancellation fees.

PrideTV, owned by STS that took over Time Media Group's failed VIDI video-on-demand (VOD) service, says it's an "all-you-can-eat buffet to a library of movies and series" where users can stream TV shows and movies across multiple devices.

In the case of load shedding, users with an unlimited subscription, will have their series or movie saved to automatically pick up once connected to a power source.

PrideTV recommends a minimum of 1MB speed for stream viewing but says the higher the speed the better the experience and automatically creates a watch list so a user can go back and watch right from where they've left off, as long as the title is still within its licences window.

The service says it carries "comedies, sexy college boy thrillers, horrors, love stories, gripping dramas and doccies about LGBT issues and personalities".

New content will be loaded onto PrideTV on a regular basis, including big-screen classics, new independent releases and TV series, with selections from top producers and film makers that have won awards and festivals.

Now competing with Naspers' ShowMax, PCCW Global's ONTapTV.com and MTN's VU, PrideTV says its unique because "it is the most affordable VOD service currently in the marketplace where you can binge-watch marathon sessions of your favourite TV series and movies as and when you want".

About 65% of PrideTV's streaming content is aimed at gay males, with 35% having a lesbian and transgender interest.

"Traditional TV channels have historically offered only small smatterings of one-dimensional LGBT content that ironically reinforces stereotypes instead of shattering them. PrideTV reverses the trend to restrict access to LGBT themes by South African and African broadcasters," says PrideTV content manager Joanne Raphael Katz.

"We believe that there is a gap in the market. It's about time that the neglected LGBT community has a voice, with content that spans all the issues that people can relate to. We know that LGBT people are early adopters of technology, so we’re confident that they will join the online streaming revolution".

Alicia Antill, PrideTV marketing media officer says it plans to add local content and produce its own origianl content like talk shows and streaming live from events in future, with producers and filmmakers who can contact the service at info@pridetv.co.za.

"We want to create not just a movie site but also a lifestyle site for the LGBT community that works with and supports the community," says Alicia Antill.

Netflix CEO Ted: 'We're competing with Pokemon GO and Star Wars and Jurassic World. We're competing for attention in a really noisy world'.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has finally admitted what overwhelmed viewers realised a while ago, that there's just too much television - but he said it with a caveat: a lot of it is trash.

Ted Sarandos who spoke yesterday at America's Television Critics Association's press tour said "there are too many mediocre, safe shows on linear television."

Ted Sarandos said that the global streaming service - that's also available in South Africa since the beginning of 2016 along with rivals like Naspers' ShowMax and PCCW Global's ONTAPtv.com - isn't going to stop rolling out a growing number of original series and films.

Netflix will in fact start new series and new seasons even quicker to shrink the waiting time in-between.

"If you keep the shows great and people are loving them, why make less? It seems like a real arbitrary thing that there should only be X number of shows on TV. When people talk about Peak TV, they talk about it in an old media lens."

"That's not true any more. The viewer has total control as to when they want to watch shows and what they want to watch. It's almost infinite in terms of the possibilities to have somebody really passionately connect with a show."

"We're not just competing with Fresh Off the Boat, we're competing with Pokemon GO and Star Wars and Jurassic World. We're competing for a lot of attention in a really noisy world."

"At a time when the industry has a glut of series that fail to have an impact, we've been able to give fans what they want: adventurous storytelling with original voices," said Ted Sarandos.

While Netflix is struggling worldwide since its global roll-out in 130 countries at the beginning of the year and missed its latest global subscriber growth target, its total content budget will rise from $6 billion this year.

Netflix says quality and availability of broadband hampers uptake of the service in territories like South America and that every country is different and requires a specific strategy.

"We found out that everything we learned about Latin America wasn't helpful at all in Italy and nothing we learned in Mexico really helped us in Taiwan."

Netflix new Binge Scale reveals more about how people are binge-watching on video-on-demand (VOD) streaming services and how content influence their speed.

Netflix has revealed a new Binge Scale, an analysis of the type of shows that viewers binge-watch extremely quickly and which ones they take more time with, with thrillers and horror series that top the list when it comes to turning viewers into feeding frenzy TV zombies.

Netflix - available since January in South Africa and across Africa - has now analysed its global subscriber base, tracking how users in 190 countries watched the first seasons of more than 100 TV series over a 7 month period until the end of May, looking for broad patterns.

The data crunching, taken from between October 2015 and May 2016, revealed that people are either devouring or savouring them.

People quickly burn through thrillers, horror, science fiction shows and action adventure series. People still binge watch quickly, but take more time to watch historical dramas, political dramas and irreverent comedies.

Netflix postulates that viewers are able to go faster through shows that's more visceral and action-orientated, while people take slightly more time to process the intrigue, twists and dialogue of denser shows with more complex plots and denser narratives, as well as comedy shows where the jokes and in-jokes zing past quickly and viewers want to make sure they catch and get it all.

Netflix's research - that will likely be similar to trends seen by China's ONTAPtv.com from PCCW Global and Naspers' ShowMax who both compete for South African viewers in the video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service space - reveals that viewers, when they start to binge-watch, often finish a season of a show within as little as 5 days.

VOD watchers who are "devouring" shows will watch on average episodes of a show for more than 2 hours a day. Those savouring a show, will watch for less than 2 hours a day.

"As The Binge Scale indicates, the viewing experience of a series can range from the emotional to the thought-provoking," says Cindy Holland, the vice president of original content at Netflix.

"Netflix helps you to find a series to binge no matter your mood or occasion, and the freedom to watch that series at your own pace - whether that's to appreciate the drama of Bloodline or power through Orange is the New Black."

According to Netflix' research, shows people feed on like zombie viewers include Breaking Bad, Dexter, Bates Motel, American Horror Story, Hemlock Grove, Penny Dreadful, The Walking Dead, Z Nation and Scream.

Shows that people take more time with include The West Wing, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Summer Heights High, Homeland, House of Cards, The Good Wife and Arrested Development.

JustFlicks launches as a video-on-demand (VOD) service in South Africa at R1 per day, replacing Times Media Group's failed VIDI service.

JustFlicks has launched as a new subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in South Africa, taking over the failed VIDI streaming streaming the Times Media Group shut down earlier this year.

JustFlicks joins Netflix South Africa, Naspers' ShowMax, PCCW Global's ONTAPtv.com from China and MTN's VU offering video streaming services.

JustFlicks subscriptions start at R1 per day and fees are collected through a user's mobile phone operator.

JustFlicks, owned by Marble Gold 322 (Pty) Ltd and operated by STS that is a wireless application service provider (WASP), says users must have an internet connection speed of at least 1Mbps, although faster speed will mean a higher quality of video streaming.

JustFlicks offers 1 000 hours of library TV series and films and it plans to add 100 further titles per month. The service says it's available in South Africa only.

JustFlicks incorporates a green "play" symbol in its logo that's also prominent in its user interface.

The green reuleaux triangle is interestingly exactly the same colour and looks exactly like the one used by MultiChoice for its DStv BoxOffice VOD film service.

According to the latest research by Digital TV Research regarding so-called over-the-top (OTT) and VOD services, "subscription VOD packages in South Africa are expensive" and is further held back by pricey broadband packages and the slow roll-out of infrastructure.

Kagiso Media's loss-making Indian channel, Glow TV, abruptly shutting down on DStv, StarSat and OpenView HD on 30 June due to bad South African economy.

In a shocking move, Kagiso Media is abruptly shutting down its loss-making Glow TV channel for Indian viewers with Glow TV that will be snuffed out on midnight 30 June after failing to lure enough viewers and becoming a financially viable operation.

Glow TV says it is shutting down over the sharp fall of South Africa's rand and the negative impact it has on rising programming costs, as well as the bad South African economic climate that negatively impacted Glow TV.

Kagiso Media and Urban Brew Studios will not replace Glow TV with a new TV channel. 

Glow TV was Kagiso Media's first attempt at a free-to-air TV channel which it called "the logical next step for Kagiso Media". 

Glow TV that catered to Indian viewers and launched with big fanfare in 2013 will go dark on MultiChoice's DStv channel 167, Platco Digital's OpenView HD (OVHD) channel 108, and On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media SA's StarSat channel 570.

Some Glow TV programming was also made available on PCCW Global's streaming service ONTAPtv.com in the form of a Glow TV package.

The unexpected shuttering of Glow TV after two and a half years comes just a few months after Times Media's struggling VIDI video-on demand (VOD) streaming service was closed down, both failed ventures belonging to Tiso Blackstar.

Glow TV broadcasting eastern-inspired Indian soaps and dramas, was packaged and supplied by Urban Brew Studios, also responsible for the [ED], Dumisa and One Gospel channels on DStv.

Urban Brew Studios says Glow TV, a collaboration between Kagiso Media and Nolava Television, is shutting down because of the bad economic climate in South Africa and the higher cost of programming. 

The closure comes after a big schedule shake-up that was introduced in August 2015 but didn't yield a big enough bump in viewers, including offering different audio tracks, a prime time soap block, and children's programming on afternoons.

Last month Glow TV suddenly stopped broadcasting new episodes of its flagship soap Saras. Glow TV suddenly began rebroadcasting Saras from the first episode with no explanation to its viewers why, which is now obvious - it won't be wasting more money on new content for a channel closing down.

"Glow TV viewers have been supportive, loyal and dedicated," said Trish Taylor, Urban Brew Studios CEO, in a statement. "They are the ones most affected by our decision".

There's nothing from Naz Khan, who used to be Glow TV's channel manager. 

Also nothing about what will be happening to local content like the Pick n Pay sponsored, advertiser funded show Food for Living and whether that's getting repurposed to Urban Brew's other channels like [ED].

Glow TV says the channel "would like to thank its valued viewers, advertisers and the satellite platforms for their support since its inception".

Glow TV launched in October 2013, was added a a year later in October 2014 to MultiChoice's DStv and added to StarSat in January this year.

Mark Harris, Kagiso Media group CEO says shutting down the loss-making Glow TV is in the best interest of the group.

"We are in the business of making great television but we also have to make sure that the business models associated with channels and programming work for the broader group".

"We will continue to produce and supply our viewers and media partners with the best content and formats available," says Omar Essack, Kagiso Media deputy group CEO.

Editor's note: It's shocking and bad for Glow TV viewers losing their channel, and sad that Kagiso Media is dumping Glow TV.

It's content definitely had an audience, and a potentially even bigger audience.

Looking back, one thing I remember is that Glow TV was also one of those TV channels that never bothered to invite TV critics to its media launch event, or to even tell the relevant media beforehand, or even afterwards that it actually launched. 

After that, Glow TV never regularly bothered, or knew how, to properly keep media and TV critics informed of its programming. I never met anybody from Glow TV in over two and a half years of the channel's existence even once; never got a call once.

One has to wonder if Glow TV would have, could have, performed better or could have had a higher awareness under viewers if it actually made more effort and communicated better and more, and more regularly, about its actual programming.

If viewers and the media - for instance TV critics who write and talk and whose job it is to inform people about it - don't know about your channel and what's on it, where does a TV channel think its ratings and awareness and viewership is going to come from?

Everybody wants to launch a TV channel these days; few sustain it. And even fewer bother to actually involve the press, know the right relevant media, and use them to help create ongoing awareness.

You never bothered to get us to really care. Goodbye, Glow.

MTN and Discovery Digital's MTN VU video-on-demand service struggling; MTN admits the underperforming MTN VU isn't working as envisioned.

MTN and Discover Digital's video-on-demand service MTN VU is struggling and has been underperforming - the latest South African VOD service to admit that the roll-out of its streaming service is not yielding results and not working as envisioned.

After Altron's disastrous Altech Node abruptly shut down after a year and Times Media's VIDI tanked, MTN VU is the latest South African VOD service admitting trouble and a tepid uptake under users.

MTN VU, the rebranded service that originally launched as MTN FrontRow and quietly changed in December 2015, primarily competes in South Africa with Naspers' ShowMax, PCCW Global's ONTAPtv.com, and Netflix South Africa.

MTN announced its bad financial results today that included a profit plunge - the cellular operator continues to be hammered by ongoing major trouble in Nigeria and other problems and challenges capping a terrible year for the company it calls "one of the most difficult in its history".

MTN says MTN VU is performing below expectations which is troubling for the company. It signals yet another radical shake-up soon for its struggling video-on-demand service.

MTN meanwhile hopes to get a new CEO in the second part of 2016.

PCCW Global's OnTapTV.com video streaming service goes down without explanation; service unavailable today to users who couldn't access the service.

PCCW Global's OnTapTV.com subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) went down today with no word or explanation from the company as to what happened and why it occurred.

The streaming service's non availability in South Africa on Wednesday comes days after the cellphone operator MTN suffered a widespread data service outage between Sunday and Tuesday.

So far there's been no statement from OnTapTV.com about its service outage on Wednesday, why it happened, how it was fixed and what it's doing to prevent a recurrence.

In South Africa OnTapTV.com competes with the likes of Netflix South Africa, Naspers' ShowMax and MTN's VU.

JustWatch launches in South Africa as an online search engine to find the available streaming content on various video-on-demand services.

JustWatch has launched in South Africa as a search engine to help people to find streaming content that's available in South Africa legally from available subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) providers.

JustWatch that's already available in the United States, Germany, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland is now also in South Africa.

Locally JustWatch trawls at least one a day through the entire available content offerings of Netflix South Africa, Naspers' ShowMax, Apple's iTunes, DStv BoxOffice and Mubi.

The free JustWatch aggregates the libraries of these providers and users can even do searches according to various filters for movies or TV shows, specific genres, release year, price and rating.

GooglePlay, PCCW Global's OnTapTV.com and MTN's VU are not yet included and trawled by JustWatch but will likely be added soon.

"Our goal is to connect movie fans with their favourite content worldwide," says JustWatch.

"JustWatch is starting out as a web app optimised for tablets and smartphones. However, it also works on laptops and computers."

"Our business model is to help movie studios advertise to the right audience. Therefore we are building a fully-integrated adtech stack to be able to target those fans. Our goal is to make movie marketing a lot more efficient for advertisers and a lot less annoying and more valuable for users."

BREAKING. VIDI fails: Times Media Group's streaming service quietly shuts down as the next victim in South Africa's video-on-demand battle.

VIDI has become South Africa's second commercial video-on-demand (VOD) failure with the Times Media Group that has abruptly shut down the streaming service just a year and 4 months after it launched in September 2014.

There's been no announcement of the closure of the struggling VIDI, with the website saying VIDI is no longer available.

It leaves Naspers' ShowMax, China's PCCW Global and its OnTapTV.com, MTN's relaunched VU, as well as Netflix South Africa as the remaining subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) players who all arose quickly within the past year and already saw Altron's disastrous Altech Node crash and burn in October 2015.

In the same month last year, investor group Tiso Blackstar which has full ownership of the Times Media Group, announced that it is pulling out of VIDI and said that that the purple SVOD service that was launched with great fanfare hasn't been a success since it went commercial.

VIDI launched a marketing campaign offering a Ferrari 458 Spider in an attempt to get more people to try the video service - which at launch said that it would need 40 000 regular users to break even.

Both ShowMax and ONTAPtv.com at their respective launch events refused to say how many users and subscribers they would need to be viable and successful but both ShowMax and ONTAPtv.com said there won't be immediate pressure.

Tiso Blackstar attributed VIDI's failure to "weak market penetration and the slow pace of meaningful broadband growth in South Africa".

Compared to Netflix South Africa, ShowMax and OnTapTV.com, VIDI had the smallest number of film titles, the smallest number of TV titles, as well as the shortest trial period of just 7 days.

According to a recent study by research firm BMI-TechKnowledge, South African consumers have a very low awareness of VOD providers with only 18% of people knowing what and who video-on-demand players are.

According to the study there could be between 692 000 and 917 500 active video-on-demand (VOD) households by 2020 in South Africa.

MultiChoice with DStv and its BoxOffice service stands out with the highest awareness as the leading pay-TV service, with low levels of awareness of the pure-play VOD providers," according to the market research.

ONTAPtv.com adding local South African content and SABC library programming to its video-on-demand service in partnership with MMA and ReelAfrican.

ONTAPtv.com, the recently launched video-on-demand (VOD) service in South Africa, is adding new local content and some SABC library programming to its list of African titles.

The VOD player from China's PCCW Global is expanding its local content offering which is available on its African ONTAPtv package for R39 per month and has partnered with Maxum Media Accelerator (MMA) and ReelAfrican to bring additional SABC content to the service.

ONTAPtv.com will add the local comedy film Debt at the Funeral, and dramatic films like Second Chance, Frank Portrait, The Calling and River Zana in 2016.

ONTAPtv.com that launched in September also acquired 193 episodes of local South African drama series, films, gospel music videos and documentaries from ReelAfrican.

These include Jozi H, the first two seasons of Love Games, Adera and A Soweto Love Story, documentaries like the first season of Alexandra, the Miners Shot Down documentary film and Unhinged: Surviving Johannesburg.

"MMA and ReelAfrican are amongst a number of studio partnerships that we have in the pipeline to bring additional original first-class South African entertainment to watch anytime, anywhere, says Kgositsile Poonyane, ONTAPtv.com's head of consumer marketing.

"We are committed to continually improve our African content, as well as international content in line with feedback we are receiving from our customers," says Lindsay Servian, the head of ONTAPtv.com.

ONTAPtv.com as a VOD player is currently competing in South Africa with Naspers' ShowMax that launched a month earlier in August, as well as the struggling VIDI from The Times Media Group that's been struggling with poor uptake and consumer response since it launched at the end of 2014 and with Tiso Blackstar busy disinvesting from the VIDI business citing "weak market penetration".

Unsuccessful VIDI struggling with poor uptake of the Times Media Group's video-on-demand service; Tiso Blackstar pulling out of VIDI.

As quickly as it started South Africa's nascent video-on-demand (VOD) operators are coming under pressure largely due to a lack of fast and cheap broadband with VIDI from the Times Media Group (TMG) now struggling and under big pressure due to poor uptake.

Investor group Tiso Blackstar which has full ownership of the Times Media Group is pulling out of VIDI saying the purple video-on-demand service that was launched with great fanfare hasn't been a success since it went commercial exactly a year ago in September 2014.

VIDI recently launched a marketing campaign offering a Ferrari 458 Spider in an attempt to get more people to try the video service which at launch last year said that it would need 40 000 regular users to break even.

News of VIDI's poor uptake comes straight after the shuttering of the disastrous Altech Node. Altron similarly launched the Altech Node with big fanfare at the same time in September 2014, then struggled to offload the expensive flop a few months later but couldn't find any buyers.

Investment in the Altech Node gobbled up millions with a loss of R75 million for the six months to the end of August. "Increased competition in the video-on-demand (VOD) environment resulted in insufficient subscribers for the business to be viable," said Altron.

While the Altech Node is a gonner and with VIDI struggling with poor uptake, there's since been MTN's FrontRow VOD service, with Naspers' ShowMax that was launched in August this year, followed in mid-September by China's PCCW Global that launched its orange ONTAPtv.com service in South Africa as well.

Both ShowMax and ONTAPtv.com at their respective launch events refused to say how many users and subscribers they would need to be viable and successful but both ShowMax and ONTAPtv.com said there won't be immediate pressure.

ShowMax said within "a period" it will have to start showing results and Naspers said ShowMax will be unprofitable until at least 2017, while ONTAPtv.com said there won't be immediate pressure but that "the metric of success is measured in financial terms".

While Tiso Blackstar will exit the VIDI business within the next 12 months the VOD service struggling to gain traction is now busy "re-engineering the business" due to its "weak market penetration and the slow pace of meaningful broadband growth in South Africa". It's not clear what will happen to VIDI without Tiso Blackstar.

The burgeoning yet struggling VOD market in South Africa is happening before the arrival of Netflix which told TV with Thinus at the beginning of the year that it would definitely launch in South Africa before the end of 2016.

According to a just-released study by research firm BMI-TechKnowledge, South African consumers have a very low awareness of VOD providers with only 18% of people knowing what and who video-on-demand players are.

According to the study there could be between 692 000 and 917 500 active video-on-demand (VOD) households by 2020 in South Africa.

MultiChoice with DStv and its BoxOffice service stands out with the highest awareness as the leading pay-TV service, with low levels of awareness of the pure-play VOD providers," according to the market research.

ONTAPtv launches in South Africa as the latest video-on-demand service with 2 500 movies and episodes; will add exclusive local content.

ONTAPtv entered South Africa's fast-growing internet streaming video-on-demand (VOD) market with the launch of its new service offering streaming and downloads of shows and movies at the low entry point of R39 per month or R15 per movie.

The new service from Hong Kong's telecom HKT is done through its international operating division PCCW Global.

The launch of ONTAPtv is once again fast-upending the apple cart in South Africa's exploding VOD and SVOD market. It comes less than a month after the launch of Naspers' ShowMax, where it will also compete with Times Media Group's VIDI launched late last year, as well as MTN's FrontRow.

PCCW Global is introducing revolutionary features for the South African market with ONTAPtv in the suddenly, constantly one-upping game of brinkmanship of VOD players in South Africa - before the global giant Netflix has even launched.

The dramatic introduction of ShowMax and now ONTAPtv - both with slick interfaces, easy to use platforms and competitive prices for quality content is set to not just ferociously compete with each other within the VOD space and other competitors like VIDI, but also established satellite pay-TV operators like MultiChoice's DStv, On Digital Media's StarSat and the pay-TV broadcaster M-Net.

Like ShowMax, ONTAPtv has content from the vaults of the SABC archives, as well as from BBC Worldwide - indeed some of the same BBC Worldwide programming like Planet Earth also available on ShowMax.

ONTAPtv also has international content from Warner Bros, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) as well as Chinese and other African content.

PCCW Global is also bringing brand-new and exclusive South African drama content to ONTAPtv soon, according to the company - something that ShowMax at launch also said it would be doing.

ONTAPtv will bring projects of the Maxum Media Accelerator (MMA) to its service later this year.

"This partnership [to produce local content] demonstrates our commitment to the development of exciting local content, whilst helping to grown the South African film and entertainment industry," says Lindsay Servian, the head of ONTAPtv.com.

PWWC Global says ONTAPtv has 2 500 movies and episodes of TV shows and is constantly adding more and will be cycling content regularly. Viewers can watch ONTAPtv through streaming, but can also download the content and watch it later.

Users have 48 hours to watch downloaded content before it expires and where content exists in high definition (HD) that content can be downloaded and watched on a big TV set for example with a HDMI cable connected to a smartphone or tablet.

"Customers can even link their devices to TVs for a great viewing experience. This is a major VOD innovation in South Africa and will, we believe, greatly expand the number of customers who will now be able to enjoy the service, and at a highly affordable price," says Lindsay Servian.

PWWC Global says ONTAPtv offers "a revolutionary  offer "à la carte approach" to watching video-on-demand.

ONTAPtv customers can choose from a range of packages specifically tailored to their viewing needs. Users can pay additionally to add more packages within the mega-pack offering.

The ONTAPtv app is free to download through the Google Play and iOS App stores. A free subscription with limited access is also available.

ONTAPtv's packages available at launch include the Family Package (R69 per month) with international TV series and movie content suitable for children under age 16. The content is predominantly in English and some Afrikaans content is included in the package. Additional content will be added regularly.

The TV Series Package (R69 permonth) includes international TV series content suitable for viewers who are 16 and older. Like the Family Package the content is predominantly in English, with some Afrikaans content also included.

The Movie Package (R69 per month) includes international movies for all ages. The content is predominantly in English.

ONTAPtv's Mega Pack (R89 per month) is the flagship product and includes all content available in the Family Package, TV Series Package and the Movie Package.

For R79 per month an ONTAPtv user can get two of the Family Package, TV Series Package and Movie Package together.

"Specials" Packages include the African Package for R39 per month, the Chinese Package for R88 per month and the CSI FightSport Package for R69 per month.

Single movie rentals on ONTAPtv costs R15 permovie for an older blockbuster and R25 per movie for a new blockbuster.

In a partnership with AlwaysOn, ONTAPtv also did a deal for data use with specially priced data packages when ONTAPtv is used at AlwaysOn Wi-Fi locations in South Africa like at airports, restaurants, shopping malls, hospitals and other public spaces.

This include a 15GB package for R29, or a 50GB package for R59, both of which are valid for 30 days.