Platform Power
Platforms create opportunities and dependencies. The challenge is to build African industries able to control production, distribution, rights, archives and data.
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Platforms, Streaming and New Popular Industries
The shift from DVD to streaming is not only a change of format. It transforms visibility, rights, remuneration, film length, audience data, production standards and power relations between local producers and platforms. Platforms can offer international visibility and diasporic access, but they also introduce new dependencies.
Lesson goal
Understand how streaming changes visibility, rights, remuneration, audience data and power relations.
Module
Popular Industries, Video Film and Nollywood
Course progress
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Lesson player area
Platform-era comparison between DVD/VCD circulation and streaming circulation.
0:00-0:20
From Disc to Platform
Compare DVD/VCD circulation with streaming distribution and platform discoverability.
0:20-0:40
Rights, Data and Algorithms
Study contracts, remuneration, data control, algorithmic visibility and global competition.
0:40-1:00
Opportunities and Dependencies
Discuss international visibility, diaspora access, premium-content pressure and archival fragility.
Lesson reading
Key concepts and examples
StreamingRightsAudience dataAlgorithmsDiaspora accessDigital archives
Compare a platform release to a festival-first release and a community screening path.
Ask which professional profiles matter most at each stage.
Case study and prompts
Case study: describe how a film might build presence differently through broadcaster, streamer or community route.
Discussion prompt
What kind of industry signals should Unga surface to make discovery smarter for users?
Exercise prompt
Compare a DVD/VCD film and a platform film according to production cost, audience, rights, visibility, technical standards and archival risk.
Practice
Apply this lesson
Work through the exercises and complementary resources after reading the lesson.
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Quiz
Check your understanding
Answer 1 questions, review explanations and continue when ready.
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