I must say I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel with their focus on Africa.
In Kenya, where I come from, yes Nigerian movies are taking over, but they are available for free on all the biggest free to air stations, or for twenty shillings(USD 0.2) DVD in the streets. 10-in-one.
There is just no scarcity of Nigerian content within Kenya to justify paying for irokotv as a standalone. I suspect the situation is the same across other African countries.
Irokotv charmed the tech world because it had discovered the scarcity of Nigerian movies in the diaspora and was filling that gap with a simple solution. Switching to Africa seems like a solution in search of a problem. An attempt to force growth due to the pressure of an extremely
high valuation that has set absurd expectations for the company. What do you guys think?
I love this line. IrokoTV isn’t alone in this dilemma of forced growth in order to justify the heavy investments they’ve received. My opinion on this matter is that, we may never see the opportunity in their own perspective. Maybe there is an opportunity. Maybe there are more problems than opportunities. Maybe IrokoTV has got enough money in the bank to single-handedly tackle piracy in Kenya. Maybe they can influence the government to take piracy more seriously. Maybe they can educate Kenyans and make them to begin paying for intellectual properties. Maybe…
Fellows abroad have stopped paying so you look towards Africans to pay? People at irokotv should start monitoring their heart rate because they are in for major frustration here
Why will Africans pay, is YouTube non existent here? When I open my YouTube page the most popular Nigerian videos (being viewed in Nigeria) are ALWAYS Yoruba movies.
Nigerians don’t even pay for music, why will they pay for movies. Truth is the diaspora market is the market you should target.
I know that with tens of millions of dollars in the bank, it would only take an idiot to sink irokotv. The sort of money they have raised can last several lifetimes in Africa. Nowhere have I insinuated that irokotv will die. I’m just saying expecting Africans to pay for movies online is a wrong move.
I wish we could do a small survey here of whether Radar readers would pay for movies online, I’m even 99% sure you yourself akindolu, you have never even considered buying a movie online yet you are here encouraging Jason to enter that business. Who is the malicious one in such a situation?
Sometimes rich people have so many ass kissers around them till they feel invincible. If only they had a few people around them to stand up to them and remind them that they are only human. Look at Jay Z. I’m sure right now he is wishing he had someone around him to be frank and tell him what a stupid idea Tidal was before he sunk 50 million dollars into it. I’ll be that frank person for Jason. I have seen so many start-ups in the East African region try to sell content to their fellow Africans. Africans are extremely cheap, and rightly so. We are after all, a poor continent. Given this fact, Africans are just not going to spend money on top of buying bundles on something that is as freely abundant as Nigerian movies. We all know it, but we encourage Jason since he is a god in some people’s eyes
I just want to reiterate my earlier point that we (outsiders) can never perceive the opportunities in the entertainment business better than the players themselves including @Jason_Igwe_Njoku . I’ve come to realise something about business: no matter what you are selling, there is a customer for you. While you think, no one is subscribing for their services, that very minute someone just paid for a three-year subscription. At least, I can say that I was a subscriber for IrokoTV services (yet to do so this year).
PS: This reminds me. I’m looking for ways to consume the free internet Swift gives me between 12am and 6am. So I might just renew my subscription this weekend
Meanwhile, while some of you are prophesying doomsday for IrokoTV, one of their movies “Love Regardless” generated about 567 comments. Where do you think all these comments come from? Correct me, but I think it’s their pay subscribers. Obviously, IrokoTV no longer offers free streaming on select movies unlike before. The first comment was submitted 6 months ago and the comments are still coming in till date.
Can’t wait to enjoy Belinda Effah’s movies once again
You are assuming that I have just pulled assumptions out of my ass. But the truth is I’m very active in the tech scene in Kenya. A lot of start-ups have trusted me with a deep dive into their analytics. I’ve investigated enough Kenyan start-ups to have a very good feel of which sectors of the tech industry are currently working and which are not. I can tell you for sure selling music/movies online in Kenya is not working right now, despite heavily funded start-ups making valiant attempts. Anyway, I’ve made my point now. I’ll leave this thread alone.
I just noticed some trend on this thread and around the forum which tends to lean towards intellectual arrogance. It’s okay to have your point of view just as I have mine, but we shouldn’t try to forcefully end conversations. You can simply read and avoid replying.
Africans in Diaspora generated those comments. No one said Iroko was dying. I and @MistaMajani said the pivot to Africa is chasing shadows. The overseas subscribers aren’t going anywhere Cuz they barely have options. We have 50 naira CDs and Africa Magic for the mummies and gramdmas.
