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iROKOtv launches $2.50 monthly subscription plan

By , Editor, ITWeb Africa
Africa , 04 Aug 2014

iROKOtv launches $2.50 monthly subscription plan

Nigerian Nollywood streaming service iROKOtv.com is branching out to include Hollywood, Bollywood, Korean and Telenovela television series and movies as part of its offering.

For $2.50 per month, English speaking African users are planned to have unlimited access to over 10,000 hours of content, says the company in a statement.

The move to launch the subscription service comes after iROKOtv co-founder and chief executive officer Jason Njoku said in April this year that he was “dismantling” what had predominantly become a “multi-million dollar freemium service with 95% free and 5% paid for at $5 (for three month subscriptions).”

But the company’s move to launch its international content package also comes about as it targets becoming one of Africa’s top five pay TV providers.

Currently, iROKOtv.com says that it is Africa’s 11th largest pay-TV provider.

Africa’s biggest pay-TV provider is Naspers owned MultiChoice, whose satellite and terrestrial television services reach over 8 million homes on the continent.

“We see the web and mobile platform almost as equal to DTH and DTT platforms in the next few years and our focus is on achieving this in Africa, supplying the 800-million strong population of Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) with the best content on the planet, be it from Nollywood, Hollywood or Bollywood,” says Njoku in a statement.

iROKOtv says it has the world’s largest online catalogue of Nollywood movies, with over 5,000 films.

“At present, the platform attracts viewers per month from 178 countries around the world and has offices in Lagos, New York and Johannesburg,” says iROKOtv in a statement.

iROKOtv has further received $25 million international venture capital investment from Tiger Global, Kinnevik and RISE Capital over five rounds.

But while iROKO says it is valued at over $50Mn, officials from iROKOtv last year said that the service is only planning to be profitable in 2015.

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