Pan-African entertainment company MultiChoice has further expanded its hyperlocal offering with the launch this week of two television channels, namely Maningue Magic and Kwenda Magic for audiences in Mozambique and Angola respectively.
The new Portuguese-language channels went live on DStv and GOtv on Monday, January 17, with focus on homegrown dramas, telenovelas, music, hilarious comedies and a slew of local versions of international hit reality shows.
As Joao Ribeiro, channel head for both Kwenda Magic and Maningue Magic explalined, the launch of the two TV channels hinges on MultiChoice’s multi-pronged, hybrid approach combining local content acquisition and development through international production partnerships.
“These channel launches are an exciting milestone for MultiChoice, and our hyperlocal strategy,” Ribeiro said, adding that the group’s mission is to showcase Africa’s diverse, rich culture through its 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.”
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 hit international co-productions like Reyka and ongoing local productions like the ever-popular ‘Big Brother Naija‘.
The launch of the two TV channels is indicative of how local content remains a core part of the MultiChoice”s differentiation strategy, just as it continues to be committed to invest and grow industries in countries where it operates.
In 2021 alone, the group produced an additional 2 692 hours of local content (41% YoY growth). Its combined local content library is now approaching 66 000 hours and represents 45% of total general entertainment content spend.
“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,” added Ribeiro.
Serious about showcasing the best of local culture as citizens best know it, some of the highlights on Maningue Magic include the telenovela ‘Maida‘, about a naïve teenager who leaves the countryside for the big city; proudly Mozambican music show ‘Estação do Boss‘; ‘Date My Family Moçambique‘, a local version of the hit reality dating show and ‘The Influencer‘, a Mozambican original series telling the story of a girl pursuing a dream to be an digital influencer who end on a network of drugs and prostitution.
On Kwenda Magic, flagship shows include ‘O Rio‘, an Angolan adaptation of the popular South African telenovela ‘The River‘ on 1Magic. Other must-see shows on the channel include ‘Makongo‘, a new drama about a young man’s life in Luanda; and ‘Salão de Beleza‘, a sitcom about a Luanda establishment and its diverse, dramatic customers.
