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Cape Town – MultiChoice is adding Telemundo (DStv 118), South America's telenovela TV channel to the DStv bouquet from Monday 12 August following a carriage agreement between MultiChoice and Universal Networks International (UNI).
The telenovela channel has not previously been available outside of Latin America as a satellite pay-TV channel but will now be shown in Africa. Telemundo is a channel division under NBCUniversal International Television.
Telemundo will show Spanish language telenovelas such as Aurora, Precious Rose, My Heart Beats for Lola and Behind Closed Doors only, but will be dubbed into English for South Africa and Southern Africa on DStv, and will be dubbed into Portuguese on DStv in Mozambique and Angola.
South American telenovelas made its entry into the South African TV market two years ago when the FOX channel launched on On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV platform.
FOX has since gained carriage on DStv as well. SABC2 also has a weekday South American telenovela slot which recently got extended to include an omnibus airing over weekends.
The purely telenovela Telemundo channel – soap serialised TV drama but with a limited number of episodes usually running a year or two years and capped by a definite end - is MultiChoice's first foray into such a specific channel in this genre since the Soap channel on DStv was tried and ended.
'Help to drive multi-channel TV'
MultiChoice, when it ended the Soap Channel a few years after it was started in 1997, said viewers suffered viewing fatigued and struggled to keep up with multiple soaps running with multiple new episodes per week.
The Telemundo channel on DStv will only show telenovelas and none of the other programming shown on Telemundo across South American countries. Telemundo will be available on the DStv Premium, DStv Compact, DStv Access and DStv Family bouquets.
"We are particularly excited to bring Telemundo to Africa," says Colin McLeod, the managing director for emerging markets for UNI.
"We believe we can help to drive multi-channel television to an even broader market - for those who traditionally only want to watch free TV, Telemundo will give them a great reason to want DStv."
MultiChoice says DStv subscribers will for the first time be able to enjoy "the best telenovelas available worldwide in English".
"Our customers are already enjoying the entertainment on offer on the 5 Universal Networks International channels available on DStv. Telemundo is a great addition which further strengthens our partnership with Universal Networks International," says Collins Khumalo, the CEO of MultiChoice South Africa.
The telenovela channel has not previously been available outside of Latin America as a satellite pay-TV channel but will now be shown in Africa. Telemundo is a channel division under NBCUniversal International Television.
Telemundo will show Spanish language telenovelas such as Aurora, Precious Rose, My Heart Beats for Lola and Behind Closed Doors only, but will be dubbed into English for South Africa and Southern Africa on DStv, and will be dubbed into Portuguese on DStv in Mozambique and Angola.
South American telenovelas made its entry into the South African TV market two years ago when the FOX channel launched on On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV platform.
FOX has since gained carriage on DStv as well. SABC2 also has a weekday South American telenovela slot which recently got extended to include an omnibus airing over weekends.
The purely telenovela Telemundo channel – soap serialised TV drama but with a limited number of episodes usually running a year or two years and capped by a definite end - is MultiChoice's first foray into such a specific channel in this genre since the Soap channel on DStv was tried and ended.
'Help to drive multi-channel TV'
MultiChoice, when it ended the Soap Channel a few years after it was started in 1997, said viewers suffered viewing fatigued and struggled to keep up with multiple soaps running with multiple new episodes per week.
The Telemundo channel on DStv will only show telenovelas and none of the other programming shown on Telemundo across South American countries. Telemundo will be available on the DStv Premium, DStv Compact, DStv Access and DStv Family bouquets.
"We are particularly excited to bring Telemundo to Africa," says Colin McLeod, the managing director for emerging markets for UNI.
"We believe we can help to drive multi-channel television to an even broader market - for those who traditionally only want to watch free TV, Telemundo will give them a great reason to want DStv."
MultiChoice says DStv subscribers will for the first time be able to enjoy "the best telenovelas available worldwide in English".
"Our customers are already enjoying the entertainment on offer on the 5 Universal Networks International channels available on DStv. Telemundo is a great addition which further strengthens our partnership with Universal Networks International," says Collins Khumalo, the CEO of MultiChoice South Africa.
