Glow TV first free-to-air channel in SA

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Glow TV first free-to-air channel in SA --

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:34

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Kagiso Media, a major player in radio and internet media in South Africa, has added television to its portfolio with the launch of Glow TV, a new free-to-air channel on the OpenView HD satellite bouquet.

Glow TV curates the best eastern-inspired content from around the world in English and other languages, including Hindi, Portuguese as well as various Indian dialects. If programming is in any language other than English, the programme is either dubbed into English or has English subtitles. Glow TV s line-up includes movies, food and lifestyle, soap operas, comedy, travel, variety and reality shows.

Some of the programme offerings on Glow TV are The Kumars at No. 42; Koffee with Karan, a talk show where the host interviews various major movie celebrities such as Shah Rukh Khan; and a cooking show with world-renowned chef, Sanjeev Kapoor. A number of highly rated soap operas, movies, as well as reality and game show formats will also screen on Glow TV.

Urban Brew Studios, Kagiso Media s majority-owned subsidiary, will be producing original local content for the channel. Urban Brew currently packages the Dumisa and One Gospel channels and manages community channels Soweto TV, Bay TV and 1KZN, on behalf of the community which holds the licenses.

Mzi Malunga, the CEO of Urban Brew, says: Urban Brew has been creating content for all of South Africa s broadcasters for over 25 years. We ve been responsible for shows like Khumbul ekaya and Zabalaza, as well as Inkaba, YoTV and 3Talk, and we ve also created the One Gospel TV channel featuring one of Africa s most popular music formats. We re also one of the largest independent producers of programming in indigenous languages.

Adds Malunga: We re excited to be a key partner of Glow TV. We are collaborating to produce local content in the new year and we re excited with the concepts that are currently in the pipeline. The Urban Brew team has been working closely with the team at Kagiso Media to ensure a successful channel launch.

Comments Mark Harris, Kagiso Media s CEO: It s the logical next step for Kagiso Media. We ve been successful in other media channels with Jacaranda and East Coast Radio and online with Howzit MSN. We ve created very successful African language TV channels for our partners, but this is the first time we re making an investment in creating our own channel.

Our goal is to provide content through multiple platforms and on multiple devices, providing a diverse suite of media assets and a rich bouquet of content to advertisers and consumers. We are confident that our strategy will deliver long term value for our shareholders and stakeholders.

Glow TV is the product of cooperation between Kagiso Media and Nolava Television, which is run by CEO, AB Moosa. Nolava brings its relationships with top content providers and its experience in content sourcing to the venture.

Adds Harris: We are excited about the potential of becoming a channel player on TV. South Africans have had very little choice with only four channels available free. This is about to change and we d like to play our part in offering new entertainment options.

Glow TV is the first channel in the country to offer eastern-inspired content for all South Africans on a free-to-air platform where viewers pay once and watch free, forever.

Kagiso Media hopes to work with several platform providers across Africa as it rolls out its television channel strategy.

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