By Gitahi Ngunyi
The entry of pay TV giant StarTimes into mobile video streaming is set turn the tables in Kenya’s mobile entertainment market.
Kenya’s video streaming market has been a preserve of two dominant players, Multichoice Africa through DSTV Mobile and Royal Media Services through VIUSASA.
But both Multichoice and Royal Media have not made headway because of their pricing models which are considered expensive.
VIUSASA was recently forced to cut it download Tariffs by 50 percent while DSTV had to be subsidized by Safaricom to stream the World Cup.
However, StarTimes ON seems to have discovered the right pricing as well as content variety, factors that may ultimately turn the scales to its favour in the price sensitive market.
Launched yesterday, StarTimes can accessed at a cost of Sh30 per day, Sh120 weekly and Sh240 monthly.
The launch of StarTimes ON has seen the previous StarTimes App version being upgraded thereby enabling subscribers to access Live TV, VOD and short videos covering various content genres including news, sports, movies, series, music, entertainment, documentary, kids, religion among others.
“Currently, there are over 150 channels in over 10 languages available on StarTimes ON online platform. More excellent international and local channels will be online and diverse and rich content will be the core of StarTimes ON service,” said Japhet Akhulia, StarTimes Marketing and PR Director.
Some of the premium international channels available on StarTimes ON include Fox News, BBC World News, France 24, Bloomberg, AMC Movies, Fox Life, Passions TV, Baby TV and National Geographic among others.
StarTimes ON will also provide access to over 40 StarTimes self-owned channels, with the incorporation of hundreds of program hours each day. Users will have access to ST Novela Plus, ST Nollywwod Plus, ST Dadin Kowa, ST World Football, ST Sport Premium among others.
“StarTimes ON subscribers can now access live, replays and key highlights of the premium content at their convenience including multiple sports matches such as the Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, UEFA Europa League as well as other boxing, rugby, basketball and cricket matches,” added Mr. Akhulia.
The StarTimes ON is compatible to the Android and iOS systems is now available for download on Google Play and Apple App Store. The APP will feature Standard Definition (SD), High Definition (HD) and Ultra High Definition (UHD) content.
The app is designed to be user friendly under 2G/ 3G or 4G networks.
