MultiChoice Kenya on Friday hosted its first annual content showcase and unveiled new shows that DStv and GOtv subscribers can look forward to in the coming weeks.
The showcase, hosted in Nairobi under the theme A Never Ending Story of Value, highlighted the commitment by Multichoice Kenya to grow its investment in local content industry in Kenya, as it redefines the video entertainment industry.
Brand De Villiers, MultiChoice Africa CEO, speaking at the showcase, said MultiChoice Group has heavily invested in Kenya over the past 25 years.
“Our contribution has been one of creating shared value in the broadcasting sector in the country,” De Villiers. “We have not only invested in the best local and international content, but also established long-term partnerships through the value chain which has helped grow and develop communities and families across Kenya.”
As Kenya’s most loved storyteller, MultiChoice Kenya has invested in creating platforms for sharing local stories as well as development of local content and talent to ensure the video entertainment industry thrives.
MultiChoice Kenya Managing Director Nancy Matimu said the business had pumped a total of Sh 58 billion ($573.8 million) in direct and indirect investment to the Kenyan GDP over four years between 1st April 2015 and 31st March 2019. One- quarter of this investment was channeled towards supporting the local entertainment sector.
“This contribution can largely be seen in the society and especially in our local creative industry,” Ms Matimu said. “Over the past five years, we have put in Sh13.8 billion ($138 million), which has been spent on Maisha Magic channels and infrastructure investments to ensure we can offer premium high-quality local entertainment for our customers.
This has created an impact on over 200,000 families through jobs created in productions, acquisition and commissioning of local shows. This amounts to a total of Sh8.17 billion ($81.7 million) in GDP uplift from employment. “Local content is a key differentiator for us, and we intend to continue producing more of it for our various markets,” said Ms Matimu.
MultiChoice Kenya also announced the addition of four new channels set to launch on the DStv platform from 14th September, 2020. The channels will offer viewers more content and provide more choice and variety for lovers of movies, novellas and for kids.
TLNovelas: An English-dubbed Mexican telenovela pop-up channel which lands on DStv on Monday 14th September 2020 and will be available on DStv Premium, Compact Plus and Compact packages on channel 133.
A new channel KIX will be available on DStv Channel 114 for Premium, Compact Plus & Compact customers. This channel promises to bring viewers all the best scenes from all-time favourites such as Jackie Chan to Bruce Lee.
Timeless Drama Channel will offer a unique genre of high-budget English-dubbed series from Turkish producers set in the background of beautiful Istanbul or Anatolia, focusing on riveting stories full of emotion and passion that are tightly woven around Turkish values, symbols and culture with unique soundtracks. TVN will be an explosion in K-Pop and K-drama offering Korean content. It will be available to DStv subscribers upon launch.
For kids, a new pop-up channel called ZooMoo will launch on 1st October, 2020. The channel will have content with a unique mix of live action wildlife combined with animation, puppets – child-friendly factual programs, profiling animals, their habitats, what they eat, etc. Accompanied by the free ZooMoo App, which kids can download on their devices, this channel will offer a complete multi-screen environment, synchronized on a real-time basis with the channel.
“Bringing top-quality international content to African screens is a key part of our mandate. We are constantly reviewing our content to offer our audiences a fresh and exciting slate every so often. The launch of these four channels is testament to the fact that we are always searching far and wide to extend the largest portfolio of content that we offer on our platforms,” said Ms Matimu.
Besides, Multichoice Kenya continues to deliver the best local and international sporting content including the best and biggest leagues such as Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the UEFA championships, golf, cricket, basketball, athletics, Tennis, Formula 1, WWE, UFC and many other feature sporting events.
Multichoice Kenya has also dedicated resources and the best expertise to ensure it continuously improves the way in which customers interact with the business via self-service platforms including the MyDStv and MyGOtv apps, *423# service, Kadipay and self-service on Whatsapp.
