Many film makers in the world face a great challenge when it comes to producing high budget movies and TV shows but never get return profit because of piracy. Nowadays few people attend movie premiers in theater or cinemas because the internet has made it possible to download any movie through torrent or you tube. In the U.S Netflix and HBO have an online video streaming service that enables them earn millions from the movies.
However, Netflix still faces a great challenge when it comes to piracy. Netflix’s futuristic fantasy “Sense8” — the sci-fi series from the Wachowski siblings — has been plundered by pirates more than half a million times in less than three days after its release. The piracy figures once again show that widespread digital distribution is no protection against Internet piracy. In Kenya many people have watched the series because some of the scenes have been done in Kenya. The number at which people pirate movies posses a great challenge in the film industry hence its really hard for it to grow.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will launch an online video streaming service in China in about two months, hoping to emulate the U.S.’s Netflix Inc and HBO. The service will be called ‘TBO’, or Tmall Box Office, with content bought from China and other countries, as well as in-house productions, Alibaba’s Patrick Liu told reporters in Shanghai. Reuters reports.
TBO will launch into a competitive online video market in China, where companies are spending billions of dollars to buy media content to attract enough viewers to become dominant. Alibaba’s new service will go up against the likes of Tencent Holdings Ltd, Baidu Inc’s iQiyi, Sohu.com Inc and Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp Beijing. “Our mission, the mission of all of Alibaba, is to redefine home entertainment,” said Liu. “Our goal is to become like HBO in the United States, to become like Netflix in the United States.”
However, unlike the majority of domestic rivals, about 90 percent of TBO’s content will be paid for, either by monthly subscription or on a show-by-show basis, Liu said. The remaining 10 percent would be free. Netflix itself is also considering an entry into China, a notoriously difficult task for foreign Internet companies.
Kenyan film makers can emulate Alibaba to start video streaming instead of placing full dependance on the few media houses that are available in Kenya. TV shows get minimal airplay from the stations hence leading to many low budget movies being produced.
