BBC Studios Expands African Footprint

BBC Studios has licensed over 800 hours of content to clients across Africa, first striking an agreement with the Seychelles Broadcasting Company.

The first-ever agreement between BBC Studios and the Seychelles Broadcasting Company will see over 150 hours of BBC Studios content air on SBC1 and SBC2 channels. Titles in the mixed comedy and drama package include seasons one through three of The Durrells, a family drama set on the Greek island of Corfu; seasons one and two of the award-winning relationship drama Doctor Foster; and seasons one through three of the comedy series Still Open All Hours starring David Jason (Only Fools and Horses).

In Kenya, BBC Studios signed its largest package deal to date with the Kenyan free-to-air broadcaster MediaMax Network Limited for its K24 and Kameme TV channels. The natural-history, children’s and lifestyle package includes the BAFTA-winning Planet Earth II, Junior Masterchef (seasons two and three) and MI High (seasons one through seven). Meanwhile, Standard Media picked up documentaries such as Icons, Bang on Budget and The Secret Life of the Farm for KTN Home.

A mixed-genre package was brokered via Vubiquity for SVOD providers across 22 African markets (Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia), including Cell C’s Black, Vodacom, Deod and MTN. The package consisting of over 250 hours of content includes seasons one through eight of the popular dramas Call The Midwife and Death in Paradise, the comedy sketch show Famalam (seasons one and two) and the BAFTA-winning preschool series Sarah & Duck.

In South Africa, the SVOD service Showmax has licensed over 230 hours of premium drama, children’s and factual content, including Les Miserables starring Dominic West and David Oyelowo, the landmark science series The Planets and the BAFTA-winning preschool series Hey Duggee. Titles making their territory premiere in the market include the relationship drama Trigonometry and the spy thriller Summer of Rockets.

The pay-TV channel MNET picked up a music and documentary package that will see MNET become the new broadcast home in Africa for the Glastonbury music festival, while SABC3 will be taking 18 hours of natural-history content, including Animals with Cameras, Spy in the Wild and Earth’s Greatest Seasons.

Salim Mukaddam, senior VP for CEMA at BBC Studios, said: “We are pleased to be bringing content to East Africa with SBC and KTN so more homes than ever before will have access to our world-class programming across the genres of natural history, premium drama, children’s and lifestyle, and can become part of the global conversation and excitement around them.”