Video On Demand As The New Haven For Billions For Nollywood Films

There might be a rush to set up as many Video on Demand (VoD) platforms for Nollywood and other entertainment content if a recent report by Ericson Consumer Lab that most moviegoers are now relying on content streamed online rather than stocking DVD’s is anything to be considered.
Last week, the company in its first ever television and media report projected that Nigerians would have spent about N54 billion on Video on Demand (VoD) streaming by the end of 2015,

The company based its projection on the discovery that from a possible population of about 100 million people living in the country, about 27 million people representing 27 percent of that population streamed videos and relied on VoD—a system that allows consumers to select and watch abridged movies and entertainment content of their choice and on the spot on personal computers, tablets, smart phones and on television, using chrome.
Therefore they estimated that if 27 million Nigerians yearly subscribed annually to two of the

Njoku. PHOTO: Gistus

leading streaming platforms in Nigeria—iROKOtv and Ibakatv and indeed other VoD platforms at an average of N2,000 yearly average revenue per user, then the consumers would have spent about N54 billion at the end of the year.

Infact, Ericson in the report asserted that the amount realizable would have been a lot more if the right support infrastructures including slow pace of download and uninterrupted data service from telecommunication companies were in place. Most consumers have complained about the high cost of watching video content online and they blame it on the inflexible data plan and the slow pace of downloads which impacts on the data needed to view online content. According to the report ‘the figure should have been higher but for the poor data service from telecommunications companies in the country. Only 27 per cent of Nigerians stream videos for now because of the inflexible data plans and slow download speeds’’.

Nevertheless, the company projects that the figure will rise above N54bn next year since TV and video content consumption was no longer tied to the traditional TV screen. Managing

Opa Williams

Director of Ericsson Nigeria Mr. Johan Jemdahl stated that figure would rise as changing consumer needs were fast creating a new TV and video experience and landscape in Nigeria.

Filmmaker and Chairman of the Audio Visual Rights Society (AVRS) Mahmood Ali-Balogun is excited at the development even though he lamented the fact that what eventual comes to the filmmaker or content owners from the huge revenue derivable from online streaming of content is ‘mere pittance’’. According to Ali-Balogun ‘’what the real owner of the content get is mere pittance. In some cases, your movies are streamed without your knowledge and people make a lot of money off you. So I would have been more excited if all this revenue they are declaring has translated into real revenue for the man or woman who owns the content. At the moment it is those who own the platforms like Iroko and Ibaka that are making all the billions and driving posh cars while the real content owner lives in penury. They pay you about a thousand dollars for your content which is just about two hundred and twenty thousand naira by our exchange rate and they make so much from it and even resell to other platforms in Europe and America at an

Zik Zulu-Okafor. Photo: nollywoodmindspace

amount that is twice what they offered you. So the are the ones who made the N54bn not the filmmaker. And they will continue to reap heavily where they did not sow as long as we don’t have structures that will put their activities in check’’.

In his own reaction President of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) Zik Zulu Okafor said he was gladdened by the news of the huge video streaming revenue. ‘’What it says is that we can begin now to look differently at the worth of Nollywood if that is just online spend by Nigerians alone’’. But like Ali-Balogun, the AMP President whose tenure as President is due in November lamented that so much money is being made by pirates and owners of online platforms from a ‘trade that its core practitioners still grapple with daily survival’’. Okafor described as ‘a shame’ the situation where the ‘Nollywood industry remains largely without structures’’

Popular actor and producer Emeka Ossai and Notable film producer and humour merchant Opa Williams shared similar sentiments. They decried the situation where those who own the streaming platform makes so much money while the content owner is paid so little for his content. Although they both agreed that the findings of the report would enable content owners to reposition and redouble their efforts, they think that the business should be done in such a way that it will benefit the content owners. ‘’If the report is saying that streaming is the thing, then local content producers must be prepared to key into this reality and they must be prepared to end the occupationally slavery where owners of the platforms pay them peanuts and perpetually milk the financial returns’’ Opa said adding that ‘’until practitioners are able to forget the gastric juice economy and plough the futuristic seed, we will continue to eat crumbs. Content owners must realize that content is perpetual’’.

Ali-Balogun agrees with Opa and stated that it is in realization that content owners can enjoy revenue in perpetuity for their contents that the Federal government licensed the AVRS as Nigeria’s sole approved collective management organization for cinematograph films. The AVRS Chairman believes that with time, the issue of content providers perpetually ‘milking content owners’ will be resolved ‘’The AVRS is a structure that is licensed to use every means at its disposal to collect and distribute to its members revenue that had been hitherto inaccessible by right owners including online platforms. However right owner need to fill the membership application form which empowers the Society to represent them and ensure that the royalties get to them as and when due” he said.

But that will be in the long run. In the immediate, President of Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP) and Vice President of the Federation of International Film Producers (FIAP) Alex Eyengho admonished content owners to get a good deal from content providers and to be mindful of the kind of contract they sign with content providers. He also canvassed for more investment in that sector especially by practitioners who have or have the capacity of offering quality content online. ‘’Practitioners like Tunde Kelani have started a streaming service online for the streaming of indigenous content—www.tundekelanitv. Others can follow suit and make monies for themselves and their colleagues instead of allowing people to reap majorly from where they did not sow’’. But importantly, Eyengho who is on his last lap on the board of FIAP strongly advised against selling contents to content providers for peanuts. He said ‘they must stop giving out their content to these platforms for peanuts. They should get a good bargain and be mindful of the contracts they enter into. Most of them sign contracts that permits reselling of their works without their consent and that is not right. Best is for them to engage a lawyer to help interprete contracts so that they can be aware of the hidden clauses and eventually partake in the huge revenue that has been declared’.

On their part, the content providers have always maintained that they pay the agreed sum to content owners and that they always insist on a contract for any deal. ‘’We only offer them what we can afford. Don’t forget we are in business and not charity. So if we make an offer and you don’t like it we look for what to buy within our limits. We don’t force anyone to sell to us. It is your choice and your bargaining power’’ a content provider who didn’t want to be named said.