Why Vodacom shut down Video Play
Vodacom says its shutdown of Video Play is because several subscription-based services have rolled out to South Africa in recent years, and it plans to offer bundles for some of these on its VodaPay super app.
The operator quietly pulled the plug on Video Play on 1 July 2022.
A user told MyBroadband that they had received a notification within the Video Play app informing them Vodacom would discontinue the service after 30 June 2022.
Vodacom had also removed the Video Play app from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, while the website for the service had gone dark.
After MyBroadband queried the apparent shutdown of the service, Vodacom confirmed it was no longer available.
In subsequent feedback regarding its reasons for shutting it down, a Vodacom spokesperson explained the operator started scaling down Video Play in 2021.
“It was a deliberate gradual decline in users as we implemented our new strategy, which included a move away from content acquisitions,” they stated.
They said that when Vodacom launched Video Play in 2018, the adoption of video streaming services in South Africa was not as high, with many such services not yet launched locally at the time.
“The landscape has since evolved with many partners launching their services in South Africa, giving our customers access to a wide range of quality content which drove our change in strategy,” the spokesperson said.
The infographic below shows some of the most well-known streaming services available in South Africa.
Netflix, Showmax, and Amazon Prime Video launched in South Africa before Video Play, while the remaining services entered the market after Vodacom’s entry.
Vodacom said that instead of being an upfront purchaser of content, it wanted to become an enabler for consumers to access the growing video and content streaming services available on the market.
It aims to do this through an add-to-bill option and its VodaPay “super app”, where it provides various third-party content services from more than 90 merchants.
“This will enable customers to access a wide range of quality subscription video-on-demand services through the VodaPay app via an all-in-one lifestyle marketplace,” Vodacom said.
“This will see Vodacom move to a subscription service model which will offer our customers a variety of subscription bundles for the large variety of local and global entertainment services through our lifestyle app, VodaPay.”
“We are currently constructing the entertainment section on VodaPay, with lots of exciting capabilities soon to launch,” the spokesperson said.
“Customers can expect a lot of new features to keep them entertained.”
As it stands, Vodacom offers third-party content, including Showmax and Apple Music, through direct carrier billing, allowing customers to pay for the services through their bill or from their airtime balance.
What happened to the 869,000 subscribers?
While an increased focus on VodaPay makes sense, the disappearance of Video Play remains curious, given that Vodacom had previously reported impressive growth for the service.
In its financial results for the 2018/2019 year, the operator said it had amassed 869,000 active users.
That would have meant the service was likely ahead of Netflix, widely considered to be the most popular paid-for streaming service in the country.
Vodacom did not state why Video Play couldn’t co-exist alongside the VodaPay subscription offerings.
The spokesperson said the service had no subscribers when Vodacom shut it down because it had been transitioned to a free model.
MyBroadband also asked whether the service was a financial success, but Vodacom could not offer an answer to this.
“We do not report profitability for our products separately, but Video Play did achieve its strategic objective during its lifespan giving Vodacom customers access to local and international content,” the spokesperson said.
Now read: Goodbye TV Licence — South Africans say no to paying for SABC
Loading ...