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Google Play opens online movie shop

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins, ITWeb digital and innovation contributor.
Johannesburg, 19 Feb 2016
Google Play Movies is a video streaming service with a pay-per-view model, rather than a monthly subscription.
Google Play Movies is a video streaming service with a pay-per-view model, rather than a monthly subscription.

Google Play Movies, a modern interpretation of the old-school video shop, was opened to South African customers this week.

The service allows viewers to rent or purchase movies to watch on their phones, tablets, computers and smart TVs. Prices start at R19.99 a movie on a pay-per-view basis.

There is no per-month subscription fee, like other popular video-on-demand (VOD) platforms. The only requirement to rent a movie is a Google account.

Full-length movies are available from all the major Hollywood studios, including new releases. Local content is not yet available but Google says it hopes to make them available soon.

Users will have 30 days to watch the movie, and 48 hours to finish watching once they have hit the 'play' button.

Google Play Movies is available from a variety of sources. For Android devices, there will be a 'Movies' option in the Play Store. iOS users will have to download the Google Play Movies app from the Apple App Store. Web users will be able to access the service at play.google.com/. It is also available on smart TVs using Android TV or Chromecast.

Google Play Movies does not offer TV series in SA at the moment, although they are available in other markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and US.

The company says South African customers can either pay with a credit card or a Google Play voucher. Telkom mobile users also have the option to pay with airtime.

Google Play Movies addresses a gap in the South African VOD market left by the recently shut down Times Media Group-owned VIDI.

"VIDI will be missed," said Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, at the time. "Not because so many people used it, but because it offered something different ? a R15 a day option for people who only wanted to use it occasionally."

Last year, Naspers launched streaming service ShowMax at R99pm and last month international VOD service Netflix launched in 130 countries worldwide - including South Africa.

An estimated one million South African households have the bandwidth speed to stream videos, as was reported last year, but this number is expected to swell in coming years as fibre-optic Internet providers race to roll out new services.

Faster Internet speeds globally are expected to increase VOD subscribers to 200 million by 2020, from around 83 million last year, according to statistics portal Statista.

This week, Berlin-based company JustWatch launched a streaming search engine in South Africa. It allows users to search for a movie or TV series on a single Web site that aggregates results from all streaming services. The service currently searches Netflix, ShowMax, DSTV's BoxOffice, iTunes and Mubi ? with Google Play to follow soon.

Last year, Google launched its music streaming service, Google Play Music, in South Africa for R59.99 a month.

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