Kwesé has announced the launch of video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service in Kenya. Known as Kwesé Play, the Econet subsidiary says the service is the centrepiece in its new Kenyan broadcasting strategy and a first in Kenya.
The new VoD service will deliver the fastest streaming services in Africa, offering diverse VOD content from global video-on-demand providers including Roku, Netflix, Kwesé iflix, YouTube, TED and RedBull TV.
“Kwesé Play will offer the ultimate entertainment experience for viewers looking for diversity and choice,” said Kennedy Ojung’a General Manager at Kwesé.
The launch by Kwesé comes as VOD services and the streaming of content over the internet grow in popularity across Africa, with urban consumers shifting rapidly towards over-the-top (OTT) services.
“Broadcast consumption habits are shifting throughout Africa, as they are worldwide, driving our own change in emphasis, with traditional pay TV losing position and on-demand services moving to the fore as a consumer choice,” said Ojung’a.
This shift is also what made Kwesé to discontinue some channels on satellite lasy month to make way for the digital offering. The broadcast network now has 15 channels on satellite, which subscribers pay a flat rate of Sh 580 (inc VAT) per year. It also has the free-to-air Kwesé Free Sports, which has been Kwese’s core product since its inception, Kwesé’s recently launched Kwesé iflix, and now the streaming service Kwesé Play.
Using fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) high-speed internet connectivity, the company says Kwesé Play will leverage its existing relationships with leading mobile network operators in Kenya and across Africa to deliver seamless viewing on home fixed broadband networks.
“We aim to provide the best in VOD content using superior data networks to deliver our world-class content. Having signed strategic partnerships with the best in IPTV hardware, the best in international content as well as leading internet service providers Kwesé Play offers viewers world-class programming through FTTH infrastructure,” said Ojung’a.
The Kwesé Play device will be available from Monday, 10th December 2018 for online pre-orders on Jumia for Sh 6,000 inclusive of VAT. The Roku certified device will have a warranty of two-year and a complimentary 12-month subscription to Kwesé iflix.
