MultiChoice takes African stories to the world
In the opening speech at MIPAfrica earlier this week, Nomsa Philiso, CEO of General Entertainment at MultiChoice Group, confirmed that more African films and TV series are being broadcast globally than ever before.
“There’s a good chance that Africa’s film industry is about to have its own global moment,” says Philiso. “We’ve already seen that happen with Afrobeats, Amapiano and African music as a whole.”
Philiso cited a string of breakthroughs for African content last year. For instance:
• Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story won the Audience Award at Tribeca
• Two Sides was nominated as Best Sports Documentary at the iEmmys
• Catch Me A Killer became the first South African series in competition at Series Mania and won a British Production Designer’s Guild award
• Wyfie was nominated at the Global Production Awards and for Best TV Series at Seoul
• Spinners became the first African series at Canneseries and beat the Emmy-winning final season ofSuccession to be named Best Foreign Series at Shanghai’s Magnolia Awards
MultiChoice has also been taking African stories to the world through their sales arm, MultiChoice Studios, and partnerships with distributors like Abacus, AMC, Fremantle, StudioCanal and The Exchange, who are repping MIPAfrica’s opening film, The Fix.
After Reyka opened the Monte-Carlo Television Festival and earned International Emmy nominations for Best Drama and Best Actress for Kim Engelbrecht in 2022, Fremantle sold the first series of the crime drama to over 150 territories, including BritBox North America, CANAL+, Channel4 (UK), HBO LatAm, and Sky Italia. Launched in February 2024, Season 2 moves the crime scenes from the cane fields to the Durban harbour, the largest port in Africa, with Fremantle again doing brisk sales.
There are many more examples
•The Real Housewives of Durban has now screened on the likes of hayu, Peacock and Bravo, the original home of the franchise
• In January 2024, Devil’s Peak sold to Tubi for North America
• In February 2024, Abacus sold Catch Me A Killer to the likes of Britbox North America, UKTV and SBS Australia
• In May 2024, Fremantle sold White Lies to the likes of Sundance Now in North America, with the Natalie Dormer-led crime drama reaching #3 on STAN in Australia and recently adding Channel4 (UK)
• In July, Spinners charted at #6 during its primetime run on CANAL+ in France, having also sold to the likes of Globo Brasil. Season 2 is currently in development.
• Acorn TV has just sold Berlinale Series Market Selects title Recipes for Love and Murder to UKTV’s Alibi Channel – with the murder mystery now available in 95 countries, including in Japan on the NHK-owned Mystery Channel.
Philiso emphasised that while international reach is important, MultiChoice’s primary goal remains producing content for its core audience across Africa. “Like everyone else, Africans want to hear their own languages and see themselves reflected in what they watch,” she says. “On Showmax, 9/10 of the most watched shows since its relaunch in February have been local. It took a massive show like House of the Dragon to make a dent.”
MultiChoice is Africa’s largest content producer, with a presence in 50 of Africa’s 54 countries, telling stories in 45 languages. Recent highlights include Shaka iLembe, the most Googled TV series in South Africa last year, and Big Brother Naija, which generated 1.8 billion votes last year. East African content is also thriving, with Showmax Originals Pepeta and The Real Housewives of Nairobi taking home the Viewers’ Choice and Best TV Show prizes respectively at the 2024 Kalasha Awards.
“As it stands, as MultiChoice, we have over 84 000 hours of local content to showcase on the world stage,” says Philiso. “We’ve been buying content from all the global giants for decades, but increasingly these relationships are becoming reciprocal as demand for African content grows. Our scale and proven track record makes us an ideal partner in Africa for anyone as excited as we are about diversifying the global content mix.”
