Netflix has always been the streaming site most Nigerians are aware of, hence the phrase “Netflix n Chill”. Its services have been around in Nigeria for a while, but Amazon recently launched its Prime Video service in the country and this is in direct competition with Netflix.
Just like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video is a video streaming platform that gives users access to loads of videos such as movies, series, and more. But, this service comes at a cost, a subscription. Before now, there has been no option for Netflix in Nigeria but that has changed with the arrival of Prime Video.
With the Prime Video service launched in Nigeria three months ago, Nigerians no longer need a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access the platform and they no longer have to pay the fees in USD, but in Naira.
Amazon Prime Video launched in Africa in 2016 as part of its global push across more than 200 countries worldwide, bringing some serious competition to Netflix’s global plan launched that same year. However, versions of the service available in the region have never featured the local-language interfaces, subtitling, and original content offerings typical in more developed markets.
In August 2022, Amazon launched in Nigeria after a series of planning and investment. The platform would showcase Nigerian movies (Nollywood content) while incorporating Prime Video content from foreign countries. It currently has over 20,000 pieces of content such as original movies and TV shows as reported in August. Ever since then, it has been in competition with the global streaming giant, Netflix, which arrived 6 years ago in 2016, when it first became available to Nigeria and 129 other countries around the world. The streaming giant swiftly began to acquire rights to local films, mostly through licensing, enabling Nigerian filmmakers to resurrect their films which had previously been released in theatres.
The arrival of these streaming platforms has helped some Nollywood filmmakers gain from their works. For many years, the Nigerian film business relied on home video distribution, plagued by piracy issues that made filmmakers unable to draw in even 5 percent of movie goers. Kunle Afolayan and some other filmmakers brought back films deserving of the silver screens to the Nollywood audience, beginning with his 2014 crime thriller ‘October 1’.
Other movies like Ayo Makun’s ‘30 Days in Atlanta’ (2014), its sequel, ‘A Trip to Jamaica’ (2016), and Kemi Adetiba’s ‘The Wedding Party (2016) followed suit and ushered in a new genre of Nigerian blockbusters, which paved the way for filmmakers to confidently debut more films to the cinemas. From 2014 to 2019, the process became simple, from the production of the movies to nationwide distribution to heavy marketing.
Due to the rapid expansion of the film industry, this formula created a demand for accurate box office revenue collection, which started in 2018. ‘King of Boys’ (2018, N231.7 million), ‘Chief Daddy’ (2018, N387.5 million), ‘Merry Men 2’ (2019, N233.9 million), ‘Sugar Rush’ (2019, N287 million), and ‘Living in Bondage – Breaking Free’ (2018, N168.8 million) are a few examples of previous blockbusters that performed well financially.
Netflix had been the only streaming platform available to Nigerians since then, until Amazon Prime Video came in and brought about the competition with blockbuster movies such as ‘Gangs of Lagos, a local original crime action movie that features the story of three friends’ as they navigate the streets of Isale- Eko in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial city, and LOL: Last One Laughing Naija’ which will launch later this year.
This means Nigerians can as well be hooked on the platform for as long as they want to. There will always be content to watch even though the content may not be entirely Nollywood. The reason for this is that Prime Video has already launched in some parts of Africa and now has over 600,000 subscribers.
Prime Video Nigeria attests that subscription costs as low as N2,300 per month, after a 7-day trial. This low subscription rate is more likely to draw Nigerians to Prime Video Nigeria because it costs as low as $6.
Unlike Netflix, whose Standard Subscription Plan costs $13 (N3,600) per month. They stated that the standard subscription plan, unlike the basic subscription plan, allows customers to view Videos on several screens. “One of the best advantages this subscription plan has is that it supports High Definition (HD), allowing you to elevate your viewing experience,” Netflix said.
However, Prime Video and other streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Canal+, and Showmax are vying for Africa’s 2026-projected 15 million video-on-demand subscribers. According to Digital TV Research, an analytics firm, Prime Video has 600,000 subscribers in Africa and might add 1.5 million new subscribers compared to Netflix’s 3 million subscribers in the next four years.
To gain more market share amid a streaming war for African content and eyeballs, Prime Video has been collaborating with filmmakers and content creators in Nigeria, regarding the production of original and licensed content. The past couple of months has seen the service make strategic moves, such as closing theatrical outlet agreements with Anthill Studios, Inkblot Productions, and Evoke Studios, hiring Insight Publicist as its creative agency, and recruiting senior executives like Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, head of Nigerian Local Originals, to develop original video content in Nigeria, Africa’s largest film industry.
“We’re delighted to be increasing our investment in Prime Video for customers in Nigeria, making it a truly localised experience,” said Josh McIvor, director of International Expansion, at Prime Video.
“From local payment and a full-scale local marketing campaign to more local content specifically for Nigerian customers, our investment in Nigeria is a significant step towards our broader expansion plans in Africa and our ambition to be the most local of global streaming services,” he said.
Many Nigerians seeing how low Prime Video Prices are, feel it’s a no-brainer to go for the cheaper and more stable streaming site because of how the economy is going. Kemisola Adebayo, a movie lover, said that she’d be paying N2,300 on steady and watching the movies there. “I watched Lord of the Rings (Rings of Power) on Prime Video and I enjoyed it so much, it brought back old memories of the first sequel,” she said.
Kingsley Oti, a student, said it depends on the movie he wants to watch. “I have both apps on my phone and I also connect them on my devices, including my TV. I watch some on Netflix and some on Prime Video. Most of my Nigerian movies are the ones I watch on Netflix, whereas I watch my Hollywood movies and most series, on Prime Video,” he said.
With all being said, irrespective of Netflix and its years in Nigeria, the rate at which Prime Video is catching up on them, as well as gaining ground in the Nigerian markets, it is just a matter of time before it takes over.
-Benprince Ezeh
08068599879
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