As the operations of Netflix and Prime Video in Nigeria remain slowed down, with Showmax on its way out of the market completely, producers and other stakeholders now view local streaming platforms as the latest way to distribute films after their cinema runs as these homegrown platforms also solve the issue of “geoblocking” that now comes with international streamers.
On the other side of the film business are the paying audience members, who consider (and prioritize) other factors like affordability, accessibility, and strong digital libraries when deciding on their loyalty.
To better understand how the Nigerian audience really feels about these fledgling local streamers, we spoke to subscribers of the three major ones—KAVA, EbonyLife ON Plus, and Circuits TV—about their user experiences.
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Kava’s Cinema Pipeline Advantage
“I use Kava often enough,” film enthusiast Olanna tells us, “and I believe it has a strong film library, if you’re looking for Nollywood content. Stronger than what Netflix or Prime can boast of. For Prime specifically, it can sometimes be difficult to track their new uploads so, even if they have a lot of Nigerian films, they’re hard to find. Kava, however, has more recent uploads, specifically cinema films. And yes, it is worth the price. They upload 3-4 Nigerian films per month, so it’s definitely worth it.”
Kava, which launched less than a year ago, is the only homegrown streamer Olanna has tried. The Inkblot Studios and Filmhouse Group-owned platform has a subscription fee of ₦3,000 per month, and it is the most popular local streamer among our six interviewees.
Growth Pains and UX Frictions
Following its launch in August, 2025, Kava also won the loyalty of customer support professional Chimuanya Dike. “I got to know about Kava last year, when I saw the announcement of a particular cinema movie that was launching there,” she shares warmly. “I enjoyed their free trial period for about two weeks or a month before I decided to pay. I decided to go with Kava because I saw most of the cinema movies from last year streaming on the platform; which makes sense because it is owned by one of the major film distributors in the country, FilmOne Entertainment. Also, the colour and streaming experience is clean on Kava. It is actually stable. But when they first launched, there were some bugs. This year, I no longer see those issues.”
Chimuanya talks about Kava like it is an evolving experience, trying to solve Nigeria’s inherent film distribution problems from the inside out; our own or tiwa n’ tiwa, as she calls it. For her, the selling point wasn’t just the access the streamer gave her to major cinema films like Queen Lateefah, Alakada: Bad and Boujee, and Labake Olododo, but Kava’s dedication to this perceived vision through visible improvements in viewer experience. Still, there is much room for growth. “Back when I was experiencing issues, there was no channel I could report to, so I just had to find my way around it because of my bit of technical background and patience. At some point, I couldn’t make payments with my Opay card and I had to stop streaming until I used my Mastercard.”
I also experienced this particular problem with my Visa card, while trying to subscribe to Kava, so I understand clearly when she adds, “I would like it if they don’t just focus on advertising the movies streaming but make more educational videos or adverts on how to use their app properly, what type of card to use for payments, and who to contact when there are any issues. There should be more of a community spirit around Kava itself as a product.”
Quantity vs Quality
However, lawyer and cinephile Anjola has mixed feelings. “To find a really good film on that Kava na by connection, but I don’t think it’s so much of a dent on them per se. Personally, I think Kava is definitely for anyone who is really into Nollywood films. They are doing a good job of putting together a library of Nollywood films. However, the quality of the films and their streaming performance could definitely be better.”
Similar sentiments come from Mary, a mod in the CINEMATICS community on X (formerly Twitter), who has used both Kava and the Imade Bibowei-Osuobeni-led cinema and Transactional Video-On-Demand platform, Circuits TV. “I would choose Kava over Circuits TV for now, because they have almost every recent Nollywood movie. For quantity, I would choose Kava.”
“But Kava has its own fair share of issues,” she continues. “For example, it was difficult to watch Summer Rain. I had to use the website. The video quality is good, at least on my phone. However, Kava and Circuits TV are birds of a feather. It’s just that Kava is worth the price more, because they have more movies.”
Circuits TV and the Archive Strategy
Mary is more critical of Circuits TV (the oldest of the bunch, which launched around the news of Netflix’s “exit” in late 2024). “Circuits TV has some good movies like June, Sylvia, 93 Days, Who’s the Boss, and Seven Doors. But there has been no new Nollywood title on the platform in a long time. I think the last one I saw was King of Thieves.”
“Also, you can’t watch a full movie on the app without it glitching,” she further explains. “I have seen people complaining about it too. I had to leave the app to use the website, not that it solved anything but it was better than the app. But yes, Circuits TV is affordable. But I mean, it has to be because they don’t really have any updated content for it to be expensive. The platform is not the subscription type. You rent movies per day, per 48 hours or per week.”
Personally, I found Circuit TV’s free tier fairly stable when I streamed Blessing Oke Akamba’s The Other Woman. I suspect the bugs may have been fixed and wonder if network issues may have contributed to some users’ experiences.
EbonyLife ON Plus as an Ecosystem Play
Like the others, Mary is not subscribed to Mo Abudu’s EbonyLife ON Plus (the youngest amongst the three). “How many platforms can one subscribe to in this economy? I am just a girl please,” she laments. So far, she has tried Kava, StarTimes On App, Netflix, Prime Video and Circuits TV. “You will be paying for multiple platforms monthly, buy data and still have to sit through some mediocre movies. But when you complain, someone will tell you to ‘go and produce your own.’ Anyways, that one is an entirely different conversation.”
“I may subscribe to EbonyLife ON Plus because I want to see Ajosepo,” she speculates. “Maybe when they release Blood Sisters Season 2.”
However, Seun has a different opinion of Mo Abudu’s streaming and lifestyle platform, which was launched in November, 2025.
“I like how classy EbonyLife ON Plus projects are. I like how well put together they are and the good English they speak. The platform is also very affordable, though, it’s hard to compare when you aren’t really aware of the rest.”
EbonyLife ON Plus, which goes for ₦1,500 monthly and ₦12,000 annually, is the content creator’s first and only experience with any Nigerian streamer. What sealed the deal for him was the overall quality of the platform itself. However, on the downside, their video library is not as large as that of Kava and Circuits, since it majorly consists of EbonyLife and Mo Abudu-led content. “If you put out a lot of quality, you won’t have much quantity,” the platform’s champion defends. “I know where to go if I want some not so ‘tush’ content.”
“I also like the trainings they give. I know some people who have done the trainings,” Seun adds, referring to programs like the EbonyLife Creative Academy which actively trains industry professionals in various areas of acting and filmmaking. “I would recommend EbonyLife ON Plus for people like my mom, my sister, and maybe some of my guys who don’t just watch but appreciate films.”
Fragmentation, Not Dominance
It was difficult to find someone who had used all three platforms, until we spoke to Rhodes Scholar and Spotify product manager Ewerechukwu Asaka.
“I started with Circuits first because I think it launched earliest and gave me access to certain films from the diaspora perspective. I tried EbonyLife ON for a bit to see what it offered, but Kava is definitely what I use most regularly now,” she says, admitting that an early-bird discount was a major reason why she joined the platform at the time. “But beyond that, they’ve invested in exclusive cinema releases that I genuinely wanted to watch: Red Circle, Farmer’s Bride, Reel Love. Those drew me in and kept me subscribed.”
Ewere goes on to offer a balanced view of each streamer’s digital library. “Kava has the exclusive releases and a solid catalogue of classics like The Wedding Party and various short films, and they update fairly regularly. Circuits also has a strong collection of older films that are harder to find elsewhere: Tatu, Slow Country, Confusion Na Wa. It’s genuinely good that they’re giving those films a home. But in terms of recent updates, I haven’t seen much new content aside from Ageshinkole.”
“EbonyLife ON, though, has gone beyond just films. They’ve got talk shows and programming in other languages too. Their catalogue updates more regularly, which makes sense because they’re relatively newer and still building momentum. What really works for me, though, is that they’ve preserved the EbonyLife classics and legacy shows—The Spot, The Men’s Corner—that I grew up watching. They’re hard to find elsewhere, and EbonyLife ON has them. They’ve also got exclusives like Ajosepo (outside of EL studios) and the entire EbonyLife Vintage collection. So if I’m being honest,” she decides, “I’d give it to EbonyLife ON for sheer diversity and range. You’re not just watching films; you’re accessing a broader ecosystem of Nigerian content that’s not really available elsewhere.”
The Discoverability Problem
Like most of our responders, Ewere thinks all three platforms are somewhat similar. “There’s not much to distinguish them functionally, though I’ll say Kava feels the most stable and delivers consistently good video quality across the board,” she states. “Where they all struggle is discoverability and personalization. Right now, they feel more like video archives than actual platforms. Only EbonyLife ON actually lets you create multiple profiles, which is a basic feature that should honestly be standard. The genre classifications and categorization still feel underdeveloped, like a work in progress. You almost have to know what you’re going in to watch; the platforms don’t really guide you.”
“I did have a few friction points signing up to EbonyLife ON.” She echoes a familiar problem, “My payment didn’t register immediately, and initially I could only see trailers, not full content. That got resolved, but it was frustrating at first. That said, there’s a real opportunity here for all three to improve their user experience and make discovery less of a hassle.”
Like Mary, Ewere can’t pick one platform that feels most worth the price. But she has different reasons. “I don’t think any single platform comes out on top, really,” she says. “It’s genuinely difficult to choose just one based purely on value. It depends what you’re after. They all have different strengths.”
Pricing Experiments vs Real Value
“Circuits TV has been the most experimental with pricing models. They’ve tried rentals, trials, flexi plans, pay-per-watch options, and even a free tier. That’s genuinely smart—it’s more accessible to different user types. EbonyLife ON is working on similar things: discounts, rewards programmes, and telco partnerships. But honestly, it still feels like work in progress because I haven’t been able to properly use those benefits. Still, they offer content beyond just films, and Kava has a solid cinema-to-streaming catalogue,” she adds.
No Clear Winner—Yet
Ultimately, of the three, Ewere can only recommend one local streamer, and it’s the most popular choice. “I’d recommend Kava, especially if you want a regularly updated catalogue of cinema releases and you’re based outside Nigeria. That’s where it really shines, with international access to films that would otherwise be gatekept. The obvious limitation, though, is catalogue size. Kava is solid, but not large enough to be my sole streaming platform.”
“You’d definitely have to wait between releases, and for someone searching for variety, you’d eventually need a second subscription. But if cinema releases are your priority, Kava delivers on that promise consistently.”
At the core, Kava’s edge seems to be in its ability to meet the average Nollywood audience’s need to see recent cinema releases, especially if they miss their cinema run; this makes the streamer more popular and less of a niche platform compared to Circuits and EbonyLife ON Plus. However, that advantage can quickly be lost if more effort is not made to connect with subscribers and build an active community with better marketing, clearer communication on how to use the app, and effective customer support.
These interviews took place from January 30th to March 11th 2026.
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