Safaricom Raids Digital Video Market With BAZE

Safaricom on 28th May unveiled BAZE, a mobile video-on-demand service that offerslocal and regional short-form videos. The content which includes comedy, drama, lifestyle and music, among others, will be accessed through a short code.

“Our goal is to delight our customers by availing a carefully curated collection of video content across their favourite genres. BAZE will place the entertainment Kenyans want at their fingertips, giving users freedom, choice and control over the content they consume,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Chief Customer Officer at Safaricom.

The service will offer customers an affordable subscription plan, proving a new revenue stream for Safaricom as competition in voice and data grows. Customers have the freedom to choose from two subscription plans – an all-day pass at Ksh10 and an all-day pass with 200MB data at Ksh20.

BAZE will also provide content creators an additional platform to share their stories with Kenyans while increasing their earnings by monetizing their content. It will compete against other services in the market including Viusasa, a local production by Royal Media Services, Kalabars by Creatives Garage and foreign brands such as Netflix and Showmax.

“As we launch BAZE, we are also pleased to announce that the platform will host new content not seen anywhere including a brand-new Kenyan action drama, Mission to Rescue which will be available exclusively on BAZE for three months before being unveiled anywhere else,” says Ms Mulinge.

The launch of BAZE is part of Safaricom’s strategy to grow Kenya’s creative industry. Last year, Safaricom marked 20 years of transforming lives in the creative industry through the Safari Ya Wasanii series, which showcased its role in growing music and other forms of art in the country.

The BAZE service can be accessed through *544*55# or www.baze.co.ke.

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