• Sony has announced an expansion of its Sony LIV platform to more countries.
• South Africa is among those countries and locals can now access over 40 000 hours of original Indian content.
• Sony LIV costs R84.99 per month or R649.99 per year.

On Tuesday, Sony announced that it was expanding the reach of Sony LIV, its video-on-demand streaming service that features original content from India.

The platform boasts over 40 000 hours of content and now folks in South Africa, Mauritius, Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago can access the platform. The expansion comes as Sony tries to connect the Indian community globally while also potentially reaching new audiences.

Sony LIV costs R84.99 per month or you can pay R649.99 for a year of access. This subscription gives you access to the entire slate of content on Sony LIV, the ability to download episodes and potentially sport.

We say “potentially” because when it comes to broadcast rights for sports, MultiChoice and SuperSport have a stranglehold on the market.

In a press release Sony says, “Sony LIV keeps its viewers entertained throughout the year with live cricket, football, tennis, basketball, racing and fight sports. The platform has been offering its subscribers a host of premium international tournaments like the UEFA Champions League, Roland Garros, The US Open, Australian Open, Davis Cup, Bundesliga, WWE, FA Cup, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), UEFA Europa League, The Ashes, All ATP 1000 Masters tournaments, Roshn Saudi Pro League to name a few. The platform also has rights to key cricket bilateral series from Pakistan Cricket Board, Sri Lanka Cricket, and England and Wales Cricket Board.”

A brief browsing session on the website for Sony LIV didn’t reveal any dedicated section for sport streaming but we’ll keep an eye on this. With Showmax seemingly abandoning sports streaming, it could be a marquee feature for Sony LIV.

“We are thrilled to announce the expansion of our services in South Africa, Mauritius, Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago. These continents are home to a significant population of the Indian diaspora and with an accelerated digital adoption amongst consumers in the market, there is an increasing appetite for digital entertainment that is both culturally rich and has a wide appeal. Leveraging this, Sony LIV aims to offer an inclusive and seamless viewing experience to the users,” head of growth and monetisation at Sony LIV, Manish Aggarwal said in a statement.

In addition to the Indian content, viewers can also expect to find Hollywood blockbusters including The Whale, Everything Everywhere All At Once and, erm, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.

You can sign up for Sony LIV for free over on the website here but you will need to pay for a subscription to watch that content.