Molotov, an OTT distribution platform that can be made available on all screens and connected devices, is making a major push into French-speaking Africa, adjusting its offering to the needs of a heavily mobile phone-dependent viewership.
Molotov has attracted 13.2 million users in France and brought together nearly 180 publishers and services on its platform. It is now offering regional versions of its platform in seven new markets in French-speaking Africa.
Côte d'Ivoire was launched three weeks ago and already aggregates tens of thousands of paying subscribers. Senegal will follow this month, with Cameroon in February, Burkina Faso in March, Tunisia in April, and then Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo, before a rollout in the rest of French-speaking Africa.
This region mainly views its content on smartphones and tablets. Therefore Molotov has optimized its applications to take into account regional specifics such as low data rates, unstable connections and low-performance terminals.
The monetization of paid offers relies on payment solutions provided by Digital Virgo and in particular its no-credit-card-needed, per-day-payment system, provided directly by local mobile operators. Digital Virgo, a global provider of monetization solutions operating in more than 40 countries with 120 telco partners, brings its expertise in African markets and local marketing to this partnership; it has local branches and 130 employees on the continent.
At launch in the new markets, the line-up consists of fifteen local linear channels, catch-up and on-demand content. Agreements with regional publishers have been reached in order to provide 30 channels by spring 2021.
A free ad-supported video-on-demand service called Mango will enrich these offerings with films, documentaries, TV shows and kid’s content.
Elsewhere, notably in Europe, South America and Asia, discussions are underway with local partners to launch regional versions of Molotov.