NEWS: Launch of VIDI, first South African online streaming service

Times Media Group (TMG), has launched VIDI, South Africa's first online streaming service to offer both a monthly subscription option and/or an instant rental option across one platform.

There is no programme scheduling but rather instant access to thousands of hours of entertainment, allowing viewers to watch their favourite TV series and movies as and when they want.

Multi-platform media

Viewers have two options: Unlimited Subscription to a library of movies and award-winning TV series for only R149 per month. Sign up is easy with the first month on subscription offered as a trial period. Viewers do not require a dish or a decoder and they can cancel their subscription anytime, as there are no contracts. Viewers also have the option to Instantly Rent the latest releases just off the circuit for R27 and a selection of premier library titles from as little as R15.

Viewers can watch content on multiple devices that can stream content, including PC, Mac, laptop, Apple and Android tablets and smartphones. It is not only an advert-free and schedule-free platform, but is also adaptive to internet speeds and can work from slow or fast internet connections.

Andrew Bonamour, CEO for TMG, says, "This represents a significant step in the group's evolution to a multi-platform media and entertainment company. It reflects a new entrepreneurial and innovative mindset for the group that we believe will bring long term growth and sustainability.

"It builds on the recent diversification of the company into a range of high growth broadcast and content assets in South Africa and in West and East Africa."

The R149 a month subscription offer allows for unlimited viewing of a library of more than 1000 hours of television series and over 100 movies and is constantly growing. There is also a Kids Playzone, with a large selection of children's content from TV series to the latest movie releases.

The Instant Rental Service offers a mix of 72 of the latest blockbusters just off the cinema circuit as well as select library titles, with new titles added every month, ranging from R15-R27 a title.

Recent films available

Andrew Gill, MD of Broadcast and Content at TMG, adds, "We have secured some of the best available content from the biggest names in the industry. We will be constantly refreshing our offering with new and exciting films and series,"

Highlights include all seasons of this year's top Emmy-winner Breaking Bad, an ABC branded block including popular titles such as Greys Anatomy, Cougar Town, Brothers and Sisters and Missing, as well as the all-seasons 10th Anniversary special of Lost, which premiered in the US 10 years ago this September. It will also be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the classic, Friends in November.

Other TV titles include the popular and most viewed online series Supernatural and the teen drama mystery-thriller Pretty Little Liars. Movie fare over the following months includes the Oscar-winning drama's Twelve Years a Slave and American Hustle, the acclaimed Gravity, blockbusters Divergent and Need For Speed and the recent Maleficent and The Lego Movie.

To celebrate its arrival, it is offering a 30-day trial membership so that South Africans can experience what it has to offer and how easy, affordable and accessible it is. Users will need a credit card to sign up, though certain current account/debit cards are accepted, depending on the bank. Once signed up, users can watch instantly on any device and can connect that device to a television via a HDMI cable for immediate big screen entertainment. A minimum internet speed of 1MB is required, but the higher the speed, the better the experience. For more information, go to www.vidi.co.za.

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