South African digital entertainment company Discover Digital has concluded its first sports content deal in anticipation of the launch of Internet television in South Africa later this year.
The company has acquired the streaming, download and electronic sell through (EST) rights to South Africa’s premier national motorcycle racing category, the Monster Energy SuperGP Champions Trophy.
The acquisition comes on the back of Discover Digital’s development and agency partnership with Ireland’s Digisoft.tv announced in November 2013.
Discover Digital has spent two years researching and developing a bespoke over-the-top (OTT) Internet television solution for the African market. It will offer customers both transactional video on demand (TVoD) and subscription video on demand (SVoD) services through local telecommunications networks and Internet service providers.
Gary Buskin, a Discover Digital executive, says that the acquisition is a major milestone for the company as the first local sports content acquisition.
“We have the capability to stream live content, which will open up a whole new market for sports rights holders looking to increase their audience reach beyond the traditional broadcast space. The deal forms part of our strategy to build a strong international and national sports portfolio for our customers.”
Buskin says the success of businesses like Netflix in the USA bodes well for a similar service to be available in Africa.
“The advancement of internet television is inevitable and sports content will form an important part of any operator’s content catalogue,” he says.
Sivile Mabandla, chairman on Monster Energy SuperGP Champions Trophy rights holder GAS Sports’, comments: “Broadcast coverage over the internet provides us with the ability to reach a new audience in Africa, over and above our existing television broadcast plans. We are delighted to venture into this new media sector with Discover Digital.”
