Charl Blignaut
A decade ago, when South African pay channel M-Net was launched, the company had already attracted its fair share of critics. There were those who complained that the Hollywood-crazy, sport-obsessed, money-making television service was not really interested in an African broadcasting agenda and was not intending to invest in much local television production. There were even those who predicted that South Africans would never cough up the requisite fees to keep the service afloat – after all, most South Africans don’t even manage to pay their nominal SABC-TV licences.
M-Net has, of course, proved many of those critics wrong. Today the company is financially secure and it has increasingly begun to cast its gaze northward. It is now only a matter of time before M-Net -partly thanks to its positioning on the most widespread satellite service in Africa, MultiChoice DStv, and its inclusion on the original digital service C-Band – will have colonised the upper end of the African TV market. And with that expansion comes a series of longer-term programming initiatives aimed at capturing a truly African audience.
Although South African viewership of M-Net is enormous compared with any other African country, inroads are steadily being made. While most Africans have until now only seen M-Net in upmarket hotels and presidential palaces, slowly even that is changing.
Like any good pan-African expansion strategy, M-Net has devoted a great deal of time and energy since 1994 to establishing a North African base in Cairo, Egypt. The company can now spearhead its development from each end of the continent. Just last month M-Net launched its Face of Africa modelling competition in Egypt and this week was involved in staging a massive Christian Dior fashion extravaganza there. It is intent on bringing glamour to the people – and it’s paying off.
Still, any broadcaster will tell you that Egypt isn’t ideal for showing morally progressive (Hollywood) material. Its state regulators preview the M-Net line-up and are not shy to censor even the most modest sex scene. The real area of expansion is Nigeria, where M-Net is developing a deal to show its material on the public broadcaster – a plan central to M-Net’s agenda.
Ninety percent of the programming on the M- Net Africa channel is exactly the same as what we watch in South Africa, with programmes like Front Row, Carte Blanche and Rock Down Africa attracting the most viewers.
What is clear is that self-generated programming is extremely popular and, along these lines, M-Net has taken an active decision to expand its African content. The flagship project has been the M-Net African Film Awards and development programmes for African film-makers. Although some members of the film industry claim M-Net’s African film initiative is mere lip-service, one can’t deny the impact that the project has had, garnering an ever-increasing number of entries. The films are then distributed throughout the continent.
Another project that points the way forward for M-Net is Channel O, South Africa’s first 24-hour music show with a distinct African flavour. Available on satellite and C-Band, Channel O has already picked up significant viewership in 44 countries. The next step for the Channel is to offer it free to all public broadcasters across the continent, essentially an aggressive marketing strategy. That means the SABC will probably also be offered a slice of the cake.
M-Net will continue looking out for projects that can further its African agenda – such as the newly-formed Kora All Africa Music Awards. Initially a venture developed in association with the SABC, the Koras could end up on M-Net. Behind the scenes negotiations are apparently quite advanced. The Koras are the perfect venture for M-Net: a celebration of popular African music with a unifying message and the ability to transcend the diverse languages and cultures of the continent.