As South Africans tighten their belts, they are constantly looking for more cost-efficient ways to spend their money. The rise of streaming services in South Africa has created an opportunity for people to get more bang for their buck, and they are certainly making use of it.
Earlier in February, ITWeb reported that First National Bank had released figures relating to its customers’ streaming habits, and these show a marked trend to making use of these popular entertainment services.
FNB revealed that its customers had spent almost R500 million in gift card and subscription services relating to streaming services over the past 12 months. This includes spending on streaming services like Netflix, Spotify and Showmax.
With Statista forecasting a streaming revenue of R637 million in the country this year, it’s clear that South Africans are getting a taste for streaming content, with these services showing consistent growth. FNB also reports a month-on-month increase in the number of customers who use streaming services.
Traditional television subscriptions are starting to make way for streaming, which provides users with much greater flexibility in terms of what they have access to, and are also significantly more affordable than other satellite television alternatives.
Chief executive of FNB Retail, Raj Makanjee, says that this flexibility, together with its affordability, have led consumers to opt-in for streaming services.
“The increasing use of content-on-demand platforms is not surprising as consumers are constantly looking for ways to stretch every rand and manage their money a lot better,” says Makanjee.
“The flexibility of content-on-demand platforms allows families to customise their own experience and playlists, with the convenience to consume content as and when they want to. In some cases, families can create secondary profiles for various family members. This can be of great convenience and a cost-saving for families that have children in varsities or other parts of the country.”
As data becomes more affordable, the expectation is that streaming will become even more popular among South Africans looking for multimedia entertainment.
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