A large part of the world is going through a time when television and internet video services are waging increasing competition, causing television to lose strength and audience in many bands.
Some broadcasters are already realizing this trend and allying themselves with digital platforms, such as the Brazilian TV Globo, which has its own streaming service, Globoplay, with original productions that are leveraged on open TV, with the display of special episodes and constant commercials.
Here in Angola, we can already see TVs losing some of their audience. In 2019, after a long period of increase, the number of subscribers to satellite television operators in the country decreased. There were almost 180 thousand less customers than in 2018, according to INACOM figures, the Angolan Institute of Communications. The rise in prices is one of the main factors that contributed to this.
Even if the global trend is the migration or coexistence of TV with Streaming services in Angola, this movement would still be very limited due to the percentage of residents with internet access. There are just over 6 million, which corresponds to approximately 20% of the country's population. This number is growing considerably, but the percentage is still low compared to that of other countries where streaming is consolidated.
However, a document released by the Government of Angola has great expectations to change this scenario: the ICT White Paper (Information and Communication Technologies). The book brings perspectives for the communications sector in the country, with the planning elaborated until the year 2022. The Government expects that by then the number of internet users will grow 85% in the country.
In addition to planning for the expansion of internet networks, the ICT White Paper also has exclusive deliberations for TV. The main one is the implementation of Digital Terrestrial Television that works with external antenna and will greatly improve the quality of television services in the country and open up a new range of possibilities for broadcasters, improving public television service and making it more democratic.
With the increase in the number of Internet users and the improvement in television services, we can be close to the moment when the Angolan population will adopt streaming with the same determination that they love television. However, this movement needs to be very well planned so that we continue to consume national content, otherwise we may experience a crisis in the audiovisual sector.
Thinking about it, the essential thing is that national TV stations adopt a style of using streaming as an ally. In addition, projects of Angolan own productions, such as the streaming service tellas, are essential so that this migration to the virtual does not end the Angolan productions.
