OUTtv Leaps To Africa This Fall
September 4, 2018
OUTtv Leaps To Africa This Fall
World’s First LGBTQI+ TV Network coming to South Africa
VANCOUVER, BC and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – September 4, 2018 – OUTtv, the world’s first LGBTQI+ television network today announced the launch of OUTtv South Africa. In partnership with MultiChoice, OUTtv South Africa, will broadcast as a pop-up channel on DStv channel 198 from 4 October until 4 November 2018.
Aimed primarily at South Africa’s large and vibrant LGBTQI+ community and allies, OUTtv SA will offer a fun and passionate mix of movies, drama, lifestyle, comedy, reality, music and travel shows that appeal to the LGBTQI+ community, as well as a broader progressive audience. OUTtv’s expansion into South Africa, follows a year of tremendous growth for the network that includes the launch of OUTtv in New Zealand through TVNZ’s OnDemand platform and year-on-year growth of OUTtvGo subscriptions and monthly streams in Canada.
More than 80% of the content on the channel will be South African premieres, providing DStv Premium and Compact Plus customers with fresh and original content. The channel will include a diverse mix of programming including RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, Big Freedia Queen of Bounce, Deep Water, Wentworth, Degrassi: The Next Generation and Hey Qween! as well as OUTtv original series Knock Knock Ghost, Sex & Violence, Shadowlands, The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula and Don’t Quit Your Gay Job.
A selection of the shows will also be available to these customers on DStv Catch Up on their decoders, and on DStv Now online and on the app. Customers with a connected Explora will also be able to stream or download the content, and the channel will be streaming on DStv Now.
Warren-Lee Whitcher, Managing Director of OUTtv SA said, “It is with a sense of great pride that we find ourselves, after a journey of 5 years, at the point of being able to bring a world-class entertainment product to South Africans. And also, meaningfully drive and promote inclusion and the celebration of diversity within the countries television landscape. The OUTtv SA TV channel is the perfect first step on our mission of bringing our great quality and diverse content to South African audiences.”
Yolisa Phahle, CEO for General Entertainment for MultiChoice said, “At MultiChoice we celebrate diversity and are committed to providing a platform that allows multiple voices to be heard. We look forward to offering this pop-up to our customers in South Africa.”
Brad Danks, CEO of OUTtv Network said, “We are delighted to introduce OUTtv to South Africa and to share our original programming with a bigger audience. We also look forward to continuing OUTtv’s international expansion and welcome the opportunity to forge new partnerships to build on our efforts in South Africa, New Zealand and Canada.
About OUTtv South Africa
A fully empowered South African broadcast and media group founded by seasoned industry executives with strong entrepreneurial credentials. OUTtv SA has established global relationships across the broadcasting and integrated media value-chain to ensure the delivery of industry-leading services within its operational markets. www.outtv.za.com
About MultiChoice South Africa
MultiChoice is South Africa’s leading multi-channel digital satellite and pay-television destination, and has been operating for almost 25 years. Our philosophy is simple: we aim to enrich lives. We do this by offering great entertainment into the daily lives of our customers, and also ensuring we positively impact the communities in which we operate. MultiChoice is wholly owned by MIH Holdings Proprietary Limited, a subsidiary of Naspers Limited. Forming part of the MultiChoice South Africa Group are M-Net, SuperSport, DStv Media Sales, DStv Digital Media. Over 5.7 million South Africans invite us into their homes every day through our DStv service. With a sporting offering that is unrivalled, blockbuster movies, children’s entertainment, independent news channels and the most awarded series, as well as the best of local content, it’s not surprising that DStv continues to grow its customer base every year. And we deliver this content through a range of different platforms – from our flagship Explora decoder to our DStv Now app. The additional services we offer such as streaming live television and Catch Up on DStv Now app, our DStv Catch Up and BoxOffice service, puts our offering amongst the best on demand providers in the world.
About OUTtv
OUTtv is the world’s first LGBTQ+ television network and the leading LGBTQ+ streaming service with over 2,000 hours of content. OUTtv offers a compelling mix of drama, comedy, reality, talk and award-winning movies. Their original programming includes Sex & Violence, Knock Knock Ghost, Don’t Quit Your Gay Job, Fabulocity, the award-winning Outspoken documentary series, along with competition shows such as The Whole Package and The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula. OUTtv is also the broadcaster of international hit series that include RuPaul’s Drag Race, Untucked and Neighbours along with classic series such as Absolutely Fabulous and Queer as Folk. OUTtvGo, OUTtv’s Canadian streaming service, offers the most complete on-demand library of LGBTQ+ content in the world. Subscribers can stream their favorite series, movies and documentaries via iOS and Android devices, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and via all browsers for $3.99 a month. Internationally, OUTtv is available in New Zealand and Australia. To learn more about OUTtv visit OUTtv.ca or OUTtvGo.com.