On-demand solutions specialist, Discover Digital, has acquired a 74% stake in technical service and TV production company EFX Productions.

Stephen Watson, Managing Director of Discover Digital, says the acquisition enhances Discover Digital's own production capacity. "Now we are able to film and produce events, live stream across multiple channels, handle all the post-production highlights, near-live clippings and short-from clips, manage advertising and graphics, and archive and monetise the content. We are very excited that we can now offer total turnkey production solutions. This also expands the potential for us to develop more of our own original productions for our digital entertainment on-demand service, DEOD, and its multiple niche sports channels and news service."

According to a statement issued, EFX Productions, a local company, has been in the television industry for over 10 years, working with staging companies, transmission service providers and creative directors to film and produce coverage of sporting events and concerts, as well as TV series and documentaries.

Its facilities include a high-definition outside broadcast (OB) van and flight case solutions for event recordings and outside broadcasts.

Watson says EFX Productions is a highly professional and reliable production company that uses innovative and streamlined processes to offer services more cost-effectively. "Because EFX is an entrepreneurial business, just like Discover Digital, we see a good cultural fit between the two companies."

"We have worked with EFX through our involvement in the SuperGP championship over the past four years. They stood out for us in that they were always able to produce great quality content in highly pressured environments, at an affordable price. For niche sports and school sports that do not have big production budgets and are looking at live streaming and video on demand (VOD) as a channel to get their content out to fans, production costs are always a big inhibitor. Discover Digital is focused on providing services for niche sports, schools and varsity sports that want to live-stream events, potentially moving through to curating that content and giving them a platform on DEOD or on their own VOD applications," he added.

"We are also doing more and more work with individual sports entities who want their own branded VOD services, where we create their dedicated applications and they curate their own content. We have the ability to deliver all the VOD technology applications, and by acquiring a stake in EFX, we now have the ability to provide production solutions too," says Watson.

The companies explain that under the partnership, EFX Productions CC will become EFX Productions Pty Ltd. headed by its founder, Brendan Marsay. Discover Digital will invest in additional equipment for the EFX business, which will now also have an expanded service offering, including enhanced VOD and streaming platforms.

Says Marsay: "Partnering with Discover Digital was the next logical step in the evolution of EFX Productions. As an entrepreneur and business owner, I find there are not enough hours in the day to grow past a certain point. Discover Digital came on board with a wealth of business management experience, and has the resources to effectively administrate and guide the company's growth. EFX is also able to fulfil a role in Discover Digital's business model, which would have otherwise been an expensive out-cost. More importantly, the owners of both businesses share a combined vision, and I am excited about the future prospects for both of us."

In May this year Watson outlined plans to expand the SVOD Digital Entertainment on Demand (DEOD) operation to the rest of Africa, with Zambia and Zimbabwe as initial target regions.

"Our disruptive new model breaks the traditional broadcast and pay-TV mould by letting viewers choose the channel category packages they want and what subscription models they prefer...we also offer short-term Premium subscriptions that give viewers access just for a weekend at R49 or just a week at R69, as well as special interest channels and VOD bouquets for kids and music lovers as well as faith and inspiration-related programming," Watson explained.