African Allure

This article originally appeared in the MIPCOM 2014 issue of TV MEA.

Distributors are finding demand for a cross section of genres from buyers across the African continent.

From the scorching desert of the north to the snow-covered mountains of the south, Africa’s media industry is as diverse as the continent’s terrain.

The majority of the 54 countries in Africa still face political and economic obstacles, but an increasing number of them, led by South Africa, have established television markets and growing economies. And not just in free TV—the growth of disposable income is also fueling the development of pay TV.

The second-largest continent on the planet is also broadly divided into large language and cultural swaths, with Arabic, English, French and Portuguese among the numerous languages spoken across the continent. All of this adds up to lots of challenges—but mostly opportunities—for companies selling TV and film product to Africa.

The region’s annual TV content wholesale business is valued at more than $500 million—twice as much as four years ago. These figures come from Basic Lead, the company that organizes DISCOP Africa, the annual market where much of the continent’s annual buying and selling of TV programming is conducted. This year’s market, which will unite more than 2,000 delegates from some 90 countries, is slated to take place November 5 to 7 in Johannesburg.

HOT SPOTS
South Africa has the most advanced media industry in Africa, but distributors are spotting numerous other promising countries. “We’re seeing new platforms emerging throughout the continent as economies continue to grow and adapt,” says Michael Lolato, the senior VP of international distribution at GRB Entertainment, which represents a large slate of reality and factual programming, plus an increasing number of scripted titles. Lolato has been noticing growth in Angola, Mozambique and parts of East Africa.

Electus International, the company that sells The Hero, Candid Camera and many other shows around the world, mainly conducts business with pan-African and South African outlets, including M-Net, e.tv, SABC and Discovery. “However, there are new opportunities slowly opening up in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria,” says John Pollak, the president of Electus International. “Additionally, there are new channels emerging that are not only buying for a specific country, but for a territory group that speaks the same language and shares a strong cultural identity. We see this as a great opportunity, as these buying groups can pool resources to license top-tier content that in the past would not be as available to them.”

The Filipino distributor GMA Worldwide “continues to explore all possible African markets regardless of where they are in the standings,” says Roxanne Barcelona, the company’s VP. “We always aim to build relationships with new partners while reinforcing our ties with our current clients year after year.”

Televisa Internacional, the distribution arm of the world’s largest Spanish-language content producer, is active in nearly all of the key markets in English-, French-, Portuguese- and Arabic-speaking Africa, according to Douglas Welch, its sales director for Africa, who is seeing an increased demand for the company’s content in both free- and pay-TV arenas.

Broadcasters in Portuguese-speaking countries—including Mozambique’s Soico Televisão (STV) and Angola’s Televisão Pública (TPA)—are the most regular African partners for the commercial arm of the Brazilian broadcaster Globo, which produces content in Portuguese. “More recently, Globo has also seen interest from new players such as TCV, a public channel in Cape Verde, and also in French-speaking Africa, where we have Côte Ouest Audiovisuel as a big partner,” says Raphael Corrêa Netto, Globo’s executive director of international business. He adds that the company has licensed its productions in Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon and Congo, among other markets.

“Our biggest clients are the English pay-TV channels, which cover most of the continent, and they have their big audiences in countries like Kenya or Uganda,” says Berta Orozco, sales executive for Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East at Colombia’s Caracol TV Internacional. “We also have very good clients in free TV in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.” She notes that the company has new clients located in Tanzania, Namibia and Zambia. “The market for telenovelas is always increasing,” she adds.

While the demand for content is strong, the logistics of selling to African broadcasters can be daunting. “A constant challenge for GMA Worldwide is providing quality English-dubbed material versions of our titles,” says Barcelona. “It is demanding work, but it helps expand our library and also helps us grow as a company.”

FORMAT FIX
One of the main obstacles frequently faced by Electus is producing local adaptations of formats using African broadcasters’ limited budgets. The best way to approach this is by carefully choosing the right partners to collaborate with. “Working with strong channels and smart producers allows us to intelligently and systematically bring African versions of our shows to life,” says Pollak.

For Globo, “the main challenge is to develop a product with high production quality, which allows people to identify with it and create connections with the story being told,” says Corrêa Netto.

A new complication facing the majority of the players in the African television industry is the 2015 deadline to shut off analog terrestrial television signals. There is some concern that not every country will be ready for the impending switchover, which is mandated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). And if analog signals are discontinued before everyone is fully prepared to go digital, many viewers in the region could find themselves unable to watch TV.

“A major technological switch like the analog/digital changeover is a challenge in any market,” says GRB’s Lolato. “While there are many benefits to the change and the mandated deadline, should the switch happen before the adequate preparation is in place, broadcasters risk seeing a negative impact in advertising revenue and/or subscription revenue if a high number of viewers lose access to tele­vision during that time.”

But if executed successfully, the digital switchover will signify a big step forward for African TV. “This is a very exciting time to be working in the television industry in Africa,” says Televisa’s Welch. “While the transition currently taking place may at times seem like a difficult hurdle to overcome, it also represents a wealth of new opportunities for the region and the television industry as a whole.”

THE POWER OF NOVELAS
Televisa is a major worldwide supplier of telenovelas. What audience doesn’t love intrigue, passion and romance? African viewers respond to the universal themes in Latin American novelas just as enthusiastically as audiences in other countries do.

“While the response to our latest releases, such as Lo que la vida me robó (What Life Took from Me) and Corazón Indomable (Wild at Heart), has been extremely favorable, there continues to be a demand for our classic hits, such as Rubí and Marimar, throughout the region,” says Televisa’s Welch. Many of Televisa’s novelas deal with universal emotions, but, as Welch notes, they “also stress the importance of family, loyalty and hard work; themes that really hit home with African audiences.”

FAMILY APPEAL
Caracol’s Orozco agrees. “Telenovelas are very much appreciated in Africa. Most of ours are family-oriented, and this is a concept that suits Africa’s channels. We also have some productions that have a touch of humor; this is new to telenovelas, especially in Africa.” The company’s most successful titles in the region include Made in Cartagena and Love Her to Death.

Globo has also done brisk business in the region. Among its best-selling telenovelas in Africa are Trail of Lies, Side by Side, Tangled Hearts and Brave Woman—all four were picked up by STV in Mozambique. Brave Woman is also headed to TPA in Angola and TCV in Cape Verde. Globo’s shows, in addition to appealing to broadcast clients in Africa, are doing well on Globo’s own channel, TV Globo Internacional, which reaches more than 200,000 subscribers on the continent.

“The audience in Africa, as well as around the world, is looking for quality content that deals with universal themes such as love, revenge and family,” says Corrêa Netto. “Globo is recognized internationally for producing telenovelas with these characteristics, so we trust that our stories are capable of creating a dialogue with the public, regardless of its culture, through engaging narratives and great talent in the cast.”

Electus International has observed that American programming is in demand among the major channels in the region. “Unlike a lot of other markets, big prime-time entertainment series from the U.S. have continued to rate with access and prime-time audiences in Africa,” says Pollak. “The U.S. version of TNT’s The Hero launched in January and performed well for M-Net, which also aired ABC’s Bet on Your Baby and launched NBC’s Food Fighters this year.”

Increasingly, Pollak has noticed that networks across the continent are willing to make their own local versions of formats. “Even though finished tape is still the most sought-after form of content because of the higher costs and risks associated with producing an original series, broadcasters are getting more aggressive about producing locally,” he says. “We have been approached several times by broadcasters interested in adapting our brand-friendly series such as Bet on Your Baby and Food Fighters. Thanks to our deep relationships with brands and retailers, and our knowledge and experience in working with local producers, we are able to both license the finished tape and have in-depth conversations about local series at the same time.”

African channels are also looking to fill their schedules with other types of programming. “We’ve been seeing tremendous interest throughout the region for scripted content, character-driven docu-soaps and factual series that feature engaging characters and high stakes,” says GRB’s Lolato. The company has been enjoying success in Africa with the scripted series The Haves and the Have Nots and Love Thy Neighbor. “Family-driven celebrity docu-soaps like Braxton Family Values, Tamar & Vince and The Houstons have also been incredibly popular,” adds Lolato. “We are also seeing an uptake of some of our grittier ‘real-life’ series such as Police Women of Dallas as well as automotive and racing programs.”

For GMA Worldwide, family, romance and fantasy drama series dubbed into English have been the most widely requested types of programming in Africa. Titles recently sold in the region include Dyesebel, Dangerous Love and Until Forever.

The general consensus among distributors selling programming into Africa is that the future of the continent’s television business is bright, with plenty of opportunities just around the corner.

WHAT’S NEXT?
“Africa is a dynamic, changing and rapidly expanding marketplace, with many creative people launching amazing new original series and formats,” says GRB’s Lolato. “I believe that we will soon see Africa as the launching point for new original scripted dramas, comedies and never-before-seen formats. In addition, I think Africa will soon be a tremendous resource for co-production opportunities with networks and producers worldwide.”

Caracol’s Orozco notes that while ready-made telenovelas will continue to thrive across the continent, some producers have shown they are capable of developing high-quality local content for the region. “In this way, I see a chance for collaboration,” she says. “We have the know-how and good scripts, and, in fact, we have received some interest for the adaptation of our productions [recently], although nothing has been closed so far. Nevertheless, I reckon there is a good opportunity for Latin American drama formats in Africa.”

Hopes are high among distributors that the digital switchover in Africa goes smoothly so that viewers on the continent can continue to stay informed and entertained by the wide variety of programming that’s currently available to them.