If you live in South Africa and can’t be bothered to pay those kings of the streaming world every month, you’re left with very little choice to keep your TV’s pixels moving at night. Unless you’re playing a real-life version of Sea of Thieves, you’ll have to make do with the basics like SABC+, RugbyPass TV, or Freevision Play — a brand-new (and free) streaming service catering for South Africans unveiled yesterday.
Coming from Sentech, a state-owned broadcasting company, Freevision Play is described as a “ground-breaking over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platform,” that offers a “wide array of local and community TV and radio channels” entirely for free, according to a report from TechCentral. All you need to bring to the table is an active internet connection and a screen to watch it on. A TV, laptop, tablet, or smartphone will do.
Not particularly over-the-top
“Freevision Play is a home providing an all-in-one streaming experience of current affairs, entertainment, sports, info-and-edutainment, live! and on demand. Keep up with your favourite TV channels and tune in to your loved radio stations from any internet-enabled device at no subscription cost, no decoder and with no hassle,” the app’s description reads.
Sound like something you (and your wallet) can get behind? You can access the new service through its website — freevisionplay.co.za — right now, or download the service’s dedicated Android and iOS mobile apps. A TV app is also available.
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Freevision Play is open to all South Africans, although it’s currently a barebones operation — something to be expected a mere day after launch. It features only a few channels and radio stations such as SowetoTV, Faith, and CapeTownTV among others, all of which are capped at a 1080p resolution. The service is (nearly) ad-free, and does not require an account to start watching.
It’s not expected to remain that way forever. Sentech said in a statement that it offers broadcasters a way to “expand their viewership, engage with their audience more effectively, and generate additional revenue through advertising.” Sentech takes care of all the “up-front investment” costs, which could be a massive barrier to entry for smaller broadcasters.
“It creates a multi-tenant platform, giving viewers and listeners a diverse range of choices while providing broadcasters with new audiences and viewers,” the broadcaster continued.
