It is part of MultiChoice's long-standing regional strategy of combining local content acquisition, local production, and international production partnerships to develop local content.
Pan-African pay-TV operator MultiChoice has launched two new TV channels – Maningue Magic and Kwenda Magic – for audiences in Mozambique and Angola respectively.
The new Portuguese-language channels will show dramas, telenovelas, local versions of hit reality shows, comedies, dubbed international content and homegrown music on DStv and GOtv platforms.
Over the past 18 months, MultiChoice has grown its local content offering through several channel launches including Pearl Magic Prime, Akwaaba Magic and Abol TV in Uganda, Ghana, and Ethiopia, as well as investing in international co-productions like Reyka and ongoing local productions like Big Brother Naija.
The group produced an additional 2,692 hours of local content in 2021, up 41% year-on-year. According to the company, the combined MultiChoice local content library is now approaching 66,000 hours and represents 45% of total general entertainment content spend.
Maningue Magic content includes telenovela Maida, Mozambican music show Estação do Boss, dating show Date My Family Moçambique, original drama The Influencer, celebrity-focused Top+, and fashion, arts and lifestyle show Txunado. Kwenda Magic features shows including Angolan telenovela O Rio, drama Makongo, and sitcom Salão de Beleza.
Speaking about MultiChoice’s hyperlocalisation strategy, MultiChoice Africa CEO Fhulufhelo Badugela said: “When we develop local channels or produce local content, we aim to create a platform that reflects local culture, so audiences see themselves represented in the content they watch. Localisation goes beyond simply duplicating popular formats in a different language or with a different cast. It’s about incorporating a country’s social, gender and religious conventions, as well pop-culture trends like music, influencers and celebrities into stories. This is what makes our hyperlocal strategy unique and exciting.”
Joao Ribeiro, Channel Head for both Kwenda Magic and Maningue Magic, said: “These channel launches are an exciting milestone for MultiChoice, and our hyperlocal strategy. MultiChoice’s mission is to showcase Africa’s diverse, rich culture through our continent’s deep storytelling history. To have two new 24-hour channels in local languages, featuring locally produced content, provides an incredibly powerful platform to do this. Until now, independent producers had few outlets for their work and had to act on many levels, struggling to get budgets, and to have their content shown. With our channels requiring content 24 hours a day, we can now invite local producers to pitch ideas, to commission and develop projects, and to pay fair, market-related rates for work.”
Ribeiro added: “By investing in the industry, we are creating opportunities for local talent, telling local stories, and adding to the stability of the industry. We are committed to growing the industry in countries where we operate, and to deliver content that resonates with our viewers. In the months MultiChoice has spent setting up the channel, broadcast professionals in both countries have been exposed to many new opportunities. Content workers now have more options and are less likely to leave the sector due to a shortage of work. We are commissioning work from established producers as well as smaller companies across the continent while also creating opportunities for alumni of the MultiChoice Talent Factory.”
