Online Reporter
Mbulelo Mpofu, [email protected]
THE entertainment industry is no longer fighting the pirate who sits in a back room copying DVDs.
The new pirate is digital, fast-moving and increasingly sophisticated.
A football match can be illegally streamed to thousands of viewers while it is still being played. A television programme can be ripped, uploaded and redistributed across multiple platforms within minutes. A subscription service can be cloned, credentials resold and content redistributed across borders before the legitimate rights holder has even identified the breach.
That changing landscape is forcing Africa’s entertainment industry to confront an uncomfortable reality: content piracy is no longer simply a copyright problem — it is becoming an industry-shaping force.
According to MultiChoice Zimbabwe head of public relations and corporate affairs Gerald Ngonyamo, the battle against piracy is increasingly about the future of the creative economy itself.
“For Africa’s growing entertainment industry, that makes piracy more than a legal or enforcement challenge. It is increasingly shaping the economics, technology and future of the creative sector,” he said.
The challenge is particularly significant as African audiences increasingly shift from traditional television to smartphones, social media, streaming platforms and other digital services.
This is where the experience of DStv and its Partners Against Piracy (PAP) initiative offers important lessons — including for Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited’s Zimpapers Television
Network (ZTN), which is preparing to migrate from its traditional linear television model to a digital Over-the-Top (OTT) platform.
The audience is changing – and piracy is changing with it. The days when piracy largely meant buying a copied DVD from a street vendor are increasingly giving way to instant digital consumption. Illegal streams and downloads can therefore compete with legitimate services on the same terms that legitimate platforms compete among themselves — convenience, accessibility, affordability and immediacy.
In such an environment, piracy can influence what gets made, as behind every television programme, documentary, film or series is an investment decision.
Producers spend money because they expect audiences and legitimate platforms to generate enough value to justify that investment. When pirated copies divert audiences and revenue away from legitimate channels, the consequences can eventually reach the commissioning table.
MultiChoice has warned that piracy undermines the creative ecosystem that enables local content and employment to reach African households. In addition, the cost of piracy extends far beyond the star on screen. When viewers see a television programme, they tend to associate it with the actors, presenters or personalities appearing in front of the camera.
But an entertainment production is an ecosystem.
There are writers, producers, directors, camera operators, sound engineers, editors, lighting technicians, make-up artistes, stylists, production assistants, drivers, set designers and numerous other workers behind every production. Piracy consequently does not only affect a broadcaster or rights holder. This human cost has been highlighted by the PAP initiative and the MultiChoice Talent
Factory, including through a campaign produced by young South African filmmakers that placed the people behind the screen at the centre of the anti-piracy conversation.
In such a scenario, broadcasters have become technology companies. Perhaps one of the biggest changes brought by piracy is the technological arms race surrounding content protection. The broadcaster of yesterday could focus primarily on producing and transmitting programmes. The digital broadcaster must also think like a cybersecurity company.
Perhaps no media product has highlighted the urgency of digital piracy than live sport.
Few forms of entertainment demonstrate the changing piracy landscape more clearly than live sport. A film can be watched tomorrow. A football match, boxing bout or major sporting event is valuable because it is happening now.
That makes live sport particularly attractive to illegal streaming operations.
With this in mind, it is clear that the fight against piracy is becoming a collective effort. Piracy does not respect national borders. The person uploading content can be in one country, the server hosting it in another, the payment mechanism in a third and the audience scattered across several other countries. That makes isolated enforcement increasingly difficult. This is why PAP is built around collaboration between broadcasters, content creators, regulators, law enforcement agencies and technology companies. The scale of the response illustrates the challenge.
MultiChoice reported more than 155 anti-piracy raids, 4 351 illegal networks shut down and 107 arrests across Africa in 2025. PAP has also expanded its partnerships across the continent, while
MultiChoice has worked with authorities in different countries on enforcement, public awareness and strengthening intellectual-property protection. ([MultiChoice][5])
Zimbabwe has not been left outside the conversation.
In 2024, the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe partnered with MultiChoice Zimbabwe for an anti-piracy workshop amid concerns over piracy affecting films, television, music, software, literary works and other creative content.
For ZTN, the implication is clear: moving to OTT should also mean building relationships with regulators, rights organisations, technology partners, advertisers, payment providers and law enforcement agencies. Digital protection cannot be the responsibility of the platform alone. Ultimately, the future of African storytelling is at stake
Perhaps the most profound impact of piracy is also the most difficult to quantify. It is the story that never gets commissioned. The documentary that never gets made. The young filmmaker who cannot secure another production. The actor who loses an opportunity. The technical crew that goes without work.
Africa has enormous storytelling potential. Its entertainment industries can create jobs, develop talent, build businesses and carry African narratives to global audiences.
Ngonyamo argued that this is why piracy must be viewed within the broader context of the creative economy.
“Within the bigger picture, content piracy has evolved from a copyright problem into an industry-shaping force,” he said.
“It is changing audience behaviour, putting pressure on commissioning decisions, challenging the economics of local production and accelerating investment in content-protection technology.”
This is where ZTN’s impending transition becomes particularly significant.
Last week, Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited announced a major strategic restructuring programme aimed at transitioning the media group towards a digital-first organisation.
Board chairperson Doreen Sibanda said rapid technological advancement and changing media consumption patterns were among the drivers behind the overhaul, with the restructuring intended to secure the company’s long-term competitiveness and financial sustainability.
As part of the restructuring, ZTN is expected to migrate away from its traditional linear television model to a digital OTT platform. The move potentially opens a much wider distribution window for Zimbabwean content.
But it also changes the nature of the risks. In linear television, content is transmitted through a relatively controlled broadcast environment. In OTT, content travels through the internet, where it can be recorded, screen-captured, redistributed, mirrored, downloaded and potentially monetised by third parties.
Ultimately, the economy will determine how Zimbabwean stories are discovered, consumed, monetised, protected and eventually exported to audiences beyond the country’s borders.
The PAP experience demonstrates that the battle against piracy is therefore also a battle over the value of African creativity.
As Africa moves deeper into the digital entertainment age, the winners will not necessarily be those who produce the most content, but those who can build sustainable systems around that content — systems that allow audiences to access it easily, creators to be paid fairly and platforms to protect what they have invested in.
For ZTN, the move from the television screen to the digital stream is more than a technological upgrade.
It is a new chapter in the business of storytelling.
And in that chapter, content protection will be as important as content production. – Follow on X @MbuleloMpofu
