The popularity of a Nollywood movie streaming website called iROKOtv.com has surged, as the founders of the service say its subscriber base has hit 500000 since its launch six months ago.

iROKOtv showcases Nigerian and Ghanaian-made films, and its founders say that over 9.3 million hours video have been watched already.

Jason Njoku, chief executive officer and founder of iROKO Partners, said, "We are a relatively young start-up and are super excited to have built up such momentum in such a short space of time.

“We love what we do, we love Nollywood movies. The iROKOtv team uploads movies onto the site every single week, so our fans, who we know have a voracious appetite for all things Nollywood, have a constant stream of awesome content at their fingertips,” he added.

The company says its largest markets are in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany,with more viewers in London than in Lagos.

However, from 1 July, 2012 users of the site are going to be asked to pay a monthly $5 subscription service fee to retain access to the website.