South African operator, Cell C is pulling the plug on Black, the ill-fated video-on-demand platform in which it invested well north of ZAR1-billion since its launch just two years ago, TechCentral reported. Cell C said the move follows a review of the company’s product portfolio and decision to redirect expenditure to revenue-generating initiatives. It said it will decommission its streaming content service, Black, on 31 December. The company noted however that content will remain part of Cell C’s broader strategy.
The company said Cell C will not accept any new registrations on the Black service and will refund customers for outright movie purchases. The news comes less than three months after Cell C stopped broadcasting linear channels on Black as the struggling mobile operator continued a major review of costs in its business, leaving only video-on-demand services. The channels disappeared from the platform at the start of September. Black continued to provide on-demand movies, series and other content.
