{"id":187733,"date":"2021-05-02T15:50:14","date_gmt":"2021-05-02T13:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-africas-romcom-revolution-and-how-it-reimagines-joburg\/"},"modified":"2021-05-02T15:50:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T13:50:14","slug":"south-africas-romcom-revolution-and-how-it-reimagines-joburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africas-romcom-revolution-and-how-it-reimagines-joburg\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s romcom revolution and how it reimagines Joburg"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Netflix went live<\/a> in South Africa on 6 January 2016. The arrival of the subscription-based content streaming service was a game changer for the country\u2019s film and television industry, as it had been for other countries.<\/p>\n

At about the same time \u2013 in 2015 and 2016 \u2013 there was another turning point for South Africa\u2019s film industry: the arrival of a new, commercially successful genre, the black romantic comedy. <\/p>\n

For the first time, the country\u2019s black filmmakers were able to make an impact at the box office \u2013 and go on to licence their films to streaming platforms.<\/p>\n

In South Africa, Netflix signalled the turn to streaming for watching films and television series. Despite a recent slowing of subscriber growth, Netflix has over 200 million<\/a> paid subscribers worldwide. These numbers \u2013 and the way streaming services are reshaping content production, distribution and consumption \u2013 represent the most radical change in the film industry in recent years. <\/p>\n

On the African continent, this expansion has had to face the challenges of lack of affordability, uneven connectivity and the cost of data. These keep Netflix beyond the reach of the majority of the population. According to data<\/a>, in 2020 Netflix still had only 1.4 million subscribers across the continent. Still, in a growing number of African countries, content acquisition and production for online streaming is a fast growing<\/a> industry. <\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just about Netflix. South Africa-based Multichoice \u2013 owner of digital satellite television service DStv and online subscription video on demand service Showmax \u2013 has put up an effective fight for this market. Before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, Multichoice was planning to produce 52 local movies and 29 dramas in 2020. <\/p>\n

The company claimed that DStv and Showmax doubled South African users between 2018 and 2019 and are now locally bigger<\/a> than Netflix \u2013 though it did not disclose the exact numbers. <\/p>\n