Demand Africa set to launch streaming premium African content to the world
The Africa Channel, Inc is set to launch its new streaming video venture -- Demand Africa (DA) -- on October 1.
At launch, the subscription (SVOD) service will offer hundreds (300+) hours of streaming original and acquired lifestyle content, before expanding in the following months to include hundreds of additional hours of scripted TV series and movies.
In addition to premium HD streaming video, Demand Africa will feature free access to short form video series and an online lifestyle blog community highlighting content across the African diaspora on www.demandafrica.com.
DA's goal is to make modern Africa's influence and culture more accessible throughout the world. The platform will serve as a global destination to connect viewers to the continent and introduce them to new voices reflective of Africa's rich and diverse culture.
Demand Africa will be available on the web, iOS, Android and via Roku, Apple TV and Amazon-- with video distribution technology provided by Brightcove Inc., the leading provider of cloud services for video.
"Our goal was to find an end-to-end service to host and deploy Demand Africa globally across all major platforms," said Dean Cates, Director of Digital Marketing and Strategy, TAC and DA. "Brightcove's Video Cloud and OTT Flow applications provided us with an intuitive solution to get us up and running quickly while maintaining a consistent and engaging, best in class, experience for our viewers."
By end of Q1 2018, it is projected that Demand Africa will be streaming more than 500 hours of curated content with access to more than 113 million viewers in the U.S. alone.
"Demand Africa's mission, like our principal cable offering The Africa Channel, is to demystify modern Africa and its people for our viewers," said Narendra Reddy, EVP/General Manager, TAC. "Demand Africa is a digital platform where programming multicultural content is our principal focus and not a sub-category or an initiative."
Reddy said Demand Africa is targeted to a "globally aware audience with a passion for travel, lifestyles and an interest in new cultures."
