African internet TV pioneer, iROKO, today officially launches its global content distribution and licensing division, iROKO Global, at DISCOP. The dedicated team will license its extensive library of Nollywood films and TV series to both on and offline, across Pay TV, Internet TV, Inflight and YouTube channels.
i still don’t get why Jason will sack a large amount of his staff when he has revenue generating ideas…
I guess his mistake was employing them in the first place. By the way, his company is not there to cater for its staff. Like having revenue generating idea doesn’t mean he should keep staff he doesn’t need.
like you said, why did he employ them in the first place ?
Wait…WHAT??
A smart way of monetizing their library but a dangerous one for the SVOD part of their business. For sooner or later, their VC owners Tiger Global will ask themselves why burn cash on software and servers and low subscriber numbers when you can get rid of the wahala of the consumer arm and just focus on buying Nollywood licenses from Nigeria and distributing it overseas for a profit. In that scenario all you will need are media types and lawyers.
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Hope you know there’s always room fir correction of mistakes. Like I said, the company is not their for the staf but the staff is there for the company. Should he focus on ‘taking care’ of his staff at the detriment of IrokoTV?
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This is the way to go. IrokoTV is the archetype of a startup in permanent beta. Keep iterating @Jason_Igwe_Njoku
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@Oluwapelumi, I love this part.
The new venture is already generating seven-figure revenues for the company and follows on from the success of iROKO’s move into Linear TV, with the launch of two new TV channels on Africa’s StarTimes earlier this year. iROKO Global has already signed a number of deals with partners, including Star Times, Canal, Nollywood TV, Lebara, Vox Africa, Zuku, British Airways, Emirates, The Africa Channel, South African Airways and The Nollywood Channel.
It takes a different level of insight to understand the level of dynamism within IrokoTV. The type of dynamism which made Amazon a giant in retail and IT today.
It takes a ‘different level’ of praise singer to come up with words like that. May your ‘dynamism’ continue to grow from strength to strength!
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Sniding privately is allowed, but openly disparaging a genuine attribution is sowing malice.
I actually thought the exact same thing about the recent development with Iroko. Only difference is I didn’t post on Radar.
Jason is making exemplary leaps. He’s a crazy guy riding a mad wave. And deserves the mention.
@PapaOlabode you’re not one of the trouble makers on radar. Y U CONVERT?
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Apologies @Ndianabasi. I should have kept my snarky comment to myself and instead posted below. So here it goes…
To answer your question @87_chuks you’re right I’m no trouble maker. However my intention is to draw attention to what I will call ‘Deity & Demons’* strand that seems to afflict us. It’s either we deified or demonised people! There’s no middle ground with us.
Without any shadow of doubt, we need our ‘heroes’. The ecosystem is fragile and still developing, so it also makes sense that their best years is still ahead of them (hopefully). To ‘help’ them doesn’t mean we say they’re equivalent to Jeff Bezos. Neither does it mean dancing in glee because they’re cutting jobs. Or questioning/deriding their motive/work.
I personally can’t stand either as I feel they’re unnecessary. However even critics have their usefulness and value. It’s a free world and people can have divergent views/opinions. Think Daedalus to Icarus before the flight.
In regards to Radar discussions and keeping your opinions private, well a think piece was penned (see below) with some good points. Perhaps a good place to add your POVs to also enrich the conversation.
*hopefully one day, I will be able to do a post shedding more light why this is dangerous.
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Snides, not opinions.
Naturally am happy for Iroko, amidst the negative developments the past weeks/months, they can chalk this development against that tally. And everyone also sympathetic to their cause.
And for me I see that as 1 for all thriving startups in Nigeria. Simple and short. And I believe @ndianabasi too.
@PapaOlabode You almost had @tola neck in a post yesterday or so, cuz he started again with his ‘dooms day’ sermon on a thread that carried something on another recent layoff, I think dealdey?
Calling him out for being maliciously pessimistic for wanting to see every Nigerian startup fail.
Your point is however observed but its a ‘catch-nuance’ that would most likely derail a peaceful thread into something ugly-personal. Your point stands bit there wasn’t enough to make a case on this thread.
And concluding @Ndianabasi was ‘dietizing’ Jason cuz of the mention or hearty praise is taking words out of his mouth. I wouldn’t do that…
Hi @87_chuks. Thank you very much for having my back. I simply smiled off @PapaOlabode comments regarding my earlier posts and I have already accepted his apologies. 
Criticism is the simplest thing to do. One only needs a pen and a paper or one’s mouth or a computer and internet. On the contrary, it takes a courageous mind to brainstorm for new ideas, set new directions for a business, discover new traction channels for a startup, filter out the noise in the market, and take bold steps to achieving strategic objectives of a startup.
IrokoTV has two unique challenges: (1) The market for their product is still in its infancy, (2) The demand for their product isn’t as high as those of similar products from Hollywood.
(1) IrokoTV is a pioneer when it comes to online streaming of Nollywood movies. They basically created the market themselves and are struggling to create demand for their product. Currently, the market is still in its infancy due to several reasons: cheaper substitutes - AKA piracy, expensive broadband, slow adoption of online payments, and unawareness of the market regarding the existence of their product. They have invested heavily in technology, know-how, partnerships, and have an amazing philosophy/ambition, hence can definitely be said to have the combination of first-mover advantage and competitive advantage over any new competition who might enter the space in the coming years. Considering all these, I can only wonder the heights IrokoTV will achieve when the online streaming market is fully developed in Nigeria. I won’t be surprised if IrokoTV has an entire monopoly of the market and benefit from the perks of running as a monopoly. By then, critics of monopoly will not remember how much IrokoTV struggled to become what it has become.
(2) As at today, Nollywood isn’t as cool as Hollywood. Streaming Nollywood movies might not generate as much revenue as expected but let’s, for one moment, imagine that Nollywood movies becomes nearly as cool as Hollywood in the next ten years and IrokoTV has already become the de facto source for streaming of Nollywood movies to everyone around the world. Imagine the kind of monopoly IrokoTV will become.
Some businesses are fortunate to be in matured markets. Having understood that the Nigerian tech market is still growing in so many ways, It will be unfair for me to unnecessary crticise a businessman or startup which is struggling to survive in a market such as ours or any other developing market for that matter.
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My ‘snides’ are my opinions. I own them and don’t make excuses for them.
Btw, Tola had ‘his’ views, like I said even critics add value. I just didn’t agree with his overall points. And with the way he was expressing his points. So if I disagree with Tola on a specific issue, it doesn’t mean its personal.
In terms of derailing a peaceful thread, that’s of course not my intention at all ( & I hope it the thread doesn’t go in flames). But if my overall point is too ‘nuance’ and maybe you’re right that this is not the place, then that’s fine. That’s for another day.
Finally on my opinion (or snides if you like) on the Radar is terrible thread… I said below quote. So @87_chuks just because someone doesn’t see the world exactly as you (I) see it, doesn’t mean they’re less valuable. As far as I know dissenters or people who don’t tow the line of your (my) world view are welcomed in Radar…you can prove me wrong.
I actually meant this thread. Your reply to tola.
I don’t suffer critics. Am not one for taking criticism without critical value. And believe me as caustic as tola may come off at times, especially as regards certain doing-business-in-africa realities, he makes points worth their onions most times. I can’t say the same for every critical character on radar.
But for all its critical value, the whole meaning was lost on this thread here;
… When Oo and tola, for a while, derailed an otherwise beautiful thread.
Lol, you and I are derailing the thread! Not cool …not cool at all 
Touche!!!
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When do you think the market will be developed, 10, 20, 30 years?
IrokoTV should stick to outside Africa which has the bandwidth and income for online streaming. Serving that market would help them build a brand and enough cashflow to eventually take on giants like Multichoice when the African market matures. They gain nothing from focusing on African consumers now other than burning cash. Irokotv served out of London or New York is still available in Lagos. They only need a lagos lawyers to negotiate content licenses in Nigeria.
Iroko should see the upsurge in distribution outside Africa as a reminder of the formula that made them successful in the first place. There is unmet demand for formal Nollywood content outside Africa and Multichoice is not going to serve this market any soon. Iroko can fill the gap by licensing to media outfits in Europe, North America and the Caribbean and profitably sell on the consumer side.
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