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LONDON — Telemundo is set to launch in Africa this summer.
NBCUniversal‘s Universal Networks International said on Tuesday that the pay TV version of the broadcast network will, for the first time, become available outside of Latin America with its introduction in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa on Aug. 12. It already reaches 21 countries in Latin America and will now add 48 African countries.
The African version of Telemundo will exclusively air telenovelas on Multichoice’s digital pay TV satellite platform DStv, using the tag line “Telemundo Feel the Passion.” It will fully dub Spanish-language programming into English for South Africa and most other countries, and into Portuguese for Angola and Mozambique.
“With the launch of Telemundo Africa, the region sees the birth of the first pay TV Latin American channel in the English language,” said Marcos Santana, president of Telemundo International.
Belinda Menendez, president of international television distribution and Universal Networks International, said the Africa launch will allow the company to build “our presence in this dynamic pay TV market.” She added, “We are constantly being approached by our platform partners to help them to reach a broader and more diverse demographic, and we are confident that the unique content on Telemundo will attract new viewers in a multi-channel environment.”
The telenovelas set to air on Telemundo in Africa will cover “a wide range of themes for the whole family to enjoy, including traditional romance stories, mystery, action and adventure stories, and stories based on real-life events with high-quality production values and featuring top talent,” the company said.
“Our original telenovelas are successfully syndicated in over 100 countries around the world,” Santana said. “We know that there is a huge appetite for top-quality telenovelas the world over, and are looking forward to building a fan base for this unique genre across Africa.”
Telemundo becomes the fifth network brand from Universal Networks International to launch in Africa, after Universal Channel, E! Entertainment Television, The Style Network and movie channel Studio Universal. NBCUniversal also operates CNBC channels across the continent.
Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
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