French music video network Trace TV has acquired the pan-African video-on-demand (VOD) service Buni.tv, ahead of launching its own digital platform Trace Play later this year.
byron allenPart of the Restless Global studio, Buni.tv was launched in 2012 and has grown to become one of Africa’s largest VOD services.
“Trace and Buni.tv share the same strategic vision in that we believe that VOD is the future of television. We also share the same analysis that the success of any VOD service in Africa will depend on whether it can source and offer high quality original African content,” said Olivier Laouchez, CEO, Trace.
The deal includes the pay-TV and VOD rights to Nigerian comedy Ogas at the Top and Kenyan political satire The XYZ Show, from Buni.tv’s production arm, Buni Media.
Buni.tv’s existing subscribers will be able to access all the African and international content on Trace Play when the service launches later in 2016. The latter will deliver original and curated content related to urban and black culture via the Web and iOS and Android devices.
Marie Lora-Mungai, CEO, Buni.tv, said: “We are excited by [Trace’s] ongoing expansion into film and scripted television as well as into VOD with Trace Play, which is central to their ambition to become the first studio focused on black urban cultures across Africa, the Caribbean, and large diaspora markets.
“As pioneers of VOD on the African market, we’re looking forward to sharing Buni.tv’s experience with them as they enter this new phase of growth.”
Lora-Mungai will join Trace to consult on its content development strategy for Africa.
Arkena is developing an end-to-end over-the-top (OTT) platform to support the Trace Play subscription VOD (SVOD) service.
Today at 7:03 am
