Pana TV maintains that they have the funds to deliver the sort of superior content for which they want to be known. Ogbonna says, “Half of a Yellow Sun” is a great quality movie. We thought it had a home at Pana TV and we aggressively went after it.”
He also discusses the film’s ban by the censorship board in Nigeria. He says his team is working on securing the rights to having the film streamed in Nigeria despite its ban in theaters.
The company’s also planning a major marketing blitz this summer. According to Ogbonna, “We live in a world now when little else matters but success. People tend not to remember the hard work that you put into something. What they remember is whether you succeeded or you failed.”
For other startups looking to get into the Video On Demand business in Nigeria, Ogbonna talks about the challenges.
“It’s a difficult business. We haven’t turned the corner, but we hope we can soon be talked about in the same breath as Netflix. The challenge is getting the right content because of the fragmented nature of chasing after content in Nigeria,’ he says. “You also have to understand the market base and your target audience and also to recognize that even now when the Internet is global most Africans still can’t stream content online because of the restrictions on bandwidth.”
Pana TV charges a $4.99 subscription fee in order to view all their content.