The world in 90 seconds (or less) and on your phone - this is the new promise of former online video hosting site Zoopy. Shifting its focus to mobile entertainment, the company is taking a gamble in the changing South African mobile market.
“Until now, we've been an online platform first and a mobile service second. We're turning this on its head and positioning Zoopy as a mobile video platform, with a mobi site, apps for the major platforms, and a Web site,” explains Zoopy CEO Jason Elk.
The new format is essentially a mobile video tabloid, featuring international and local infotainment. As such, Zoopy is doing away with all user-generated content (UGC).
Elk contextualises the move in terms of the country's 98% mobile penetration rate, and the 20 million South Africans who own Web-capable phones.
Elk is confident the shift towards smartphones is pushing mobile entertainment as a major growth sector in the industry. According to Elk, the future is also “bright” for file size, cost and video quality.
“As mobile network operators move to 4G, entry-level speeds will be redefined and users at the top-end will experience super-fast Internet. As data usage increases, costs will naturally come down as we've already seen locally in 2010.”
All change
The results of the latest Mobility 2011 research project appear to validate Elk's view. The research showed mobile Internet usage is rapidly increasing, with a current 39% of urban South Africans and 27% of rural users browsing the Internet on their phones.
As data usage increases, costs will naturally come down as we've already seen locally in 2010.
Zoopy CEO Jason Elk
Use of Internet browsing capabilities is also predicted to increase from 28% to 39% in the coming year, and while mobile TV usage is currently at a low 2%, 48% of the current mobile market says they intend to make use of such services in the coming year.
This could be said to speak to a broader trend of mobile users looking to use their devices for entertainment purposes.
“Their timing is perfect if one considers the current take-up of mobile features by South African mobile users and the steady decline in data costs,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx.
Competitor's view
Tristan Owen, MD of video hosting competitor MyVideo.co.za, says it is a bold move on Zoopy's part.
“The growth and adoption of mobile entertainment does suggest a potentially lucrative market; however, these figures can be misleading as ringtones, mobile games and entertainment applications all fall under 'mobile entertainment' and are generally the most popular content items in SA,” explains Owen.
“It remains to be seen if a large enough segment or critical mass of SA users are ready to interact with mobile video and more importantly, afford the data charges the networks charge to download video content.”
Owen also notes that producing mobile content is a difficult formula to master. “But if they can produce quality content and, more importantly, content that South Africans want, then there is no reason why they won't do well,” says Owen.
MyVideo is not looking to change its current strategy. “MyVideo has offered video hosting and video management to select clients since its inception in 2007. This has been one of the more successful divisions within the company and will continue to be a focus for us moving forward.”
Zoopy says in a statement that the online video hosting market is saturated and dominated by global giants making it difficult for smaller competitors, but MyVideo is not concerned.
“YouTube will always remain a popular favourite and I believe this can only mean good things for the local online industry, not only from an awareness point of view, but also for the opportunities the local version presents for integration with our platform and our related production, management and syndication services,” says Owen.
“There will always be opportunities outside of YouTube and the opportunities for integration, alongside differentiation, are just as exciting.”
Owen adds that MyVideo will re-launch its current platform, including its mobile component, in the coming months.
The UGC factor
The decision to remove UGC from Zoopy was not taken lightly. Elk explains that monetising other people's content is extremely difficult across the globe. Even Google is still struggling to make YouTube profitable, despite the site's mass appeal.
“As a platform, you're always juggling content ownership and flexibility on the one side and hosting/delivery costs and revenue opportunities on the other,” notes Elk.
“You're also swamped with spam, offensive content and enormous quantities of low-quality uploads that very quickly start to dilute the viewing experience for the visitor.”
According to Zoopy, the numbers have shown that in the past users have gravitated more towards Zoopy TV videos rather than UGC on the site.
Some Zoopy users remain unconvinced. A TV journalism graduate, who used Zoopy extensively throughout her course as the platform on which to post and share content with classmates, says: “For me the appeal of Zoopy was in the fact that there was user-generated content. It gave users the ability to interact and create their own space. Now that it's gone mobile, I wonder if it isn't losing what made it successful to begin with. I also wonder if people will actually watch those mobile videos considering the data charges and time it takes to load a mobile video.”
Zoopy remains confident of its decision, and Elk says the move will ultimately benefit Zoopy users.
“In the end, this is the beginning of an exciting year for us all. The year that will be remembered as mobile's coming of age,” says Elk.
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