.png)
pdate: We were incredibly saddened to hear the news of Aletta Alberts passing, she was a fantastic leader at MultiChoice and an African television pioneer. She will be truly missed.
In this episode of ‘Inside Content - the TV Industry Podcast’, I speak with Aletta Alberts, Executive Head of Content, Strategy and Third Party Channels at MultiChoice. Aletta is a media content strategist and innovator and has over 30 years’ experience in the competitive African television market.
One of the key highlights of the episode was discussing MultiChoice's focus on local content. Aletta explains that it is a common misconception that Africa is just one homogenous place but the reality is that every country has different requirements and TV content needs. "Africa wants local content... for the longest time, people have not seen a reflection of themselves'. With 22 local channels across the continent (more recently 3 new channels in Ghana, Ethiopia and Uganda), MultiChoice are now seeing the power of local content.
With Covid-19 having a profound impact on the industry and TV productions, Aletta discusses sourcing new content for their first original lifestyle channel called Honey. She explains how they licensed content found on Youtube of Nigerian weddings and worked with producers across the continent to overcome production barriers during the pandemic.
With more TV streaming services launching globally, Aletta discusses how they are looking to take a super aggregator approach in South Africa.
Other topics discussed included some of the biggest barriers in the African TV market including internet connectivity, affordability, subscription churn and piracy.
Here is a breakdown of what we discussed in the episode:
- [01:50] How important is local TV content in Africa?
- [03:15 ]What is MultiChoice’s local content strategy?
- [05:10] How do you curate your content for your TV channels, is it via In-house production or content acquisition?
- [05:44] How has Covid-19 impacted your TV productions?
- [06:28] Can you tell us about any innovative TV shows you have produced during Covid-19?
- [08:39] Is MultiChoice's investment in local TV content providing a return on investment??
- [09:44] How are MultiChoice adapting their local TV content for different countries?
- [11:27] How have you sourced different TV content during Covid-19?
- [13:55] With more OTT streaming services launching globally, do you plan to take a super aggregator approach?
- [16:53] Is TV content piracy still a big issue in Africa?
- [18:16] STV and ETV don’t do much online, do you think that is going to change?
- [19:52] What do you think the role of Telcos will be in Africa for bringing TV content to the wider audience?
- [26:23] With Premium Free launching, do you think services like this are likely to be successful?
- [29:18] What is the future for MultiChoice and where will the developments be?
.svg)
