New channel to expose southern African movies
M-Net has announced the launch of a new channel, Zambezi Magic on DStv channel 160, which is the new home for southern African movies.
Dubbed the home to southern African TV entertainment, the latest addition kicks off from July 1.
Malawi and other southern African countries, who have been crying over the dominance of West African movie content, now have a dedicated channel.
For years, millions of African on the continent have been watching content from mainly Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.
But the new channel will treat DStv Premium, Compact Plus and Compact subscribers in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi and Swaziland to a variety of quality programming from the southern tip of Africa.
“This channel is tailor-made with the southern African viewer in mind and will offer the most sought-after archive content that has so far, not been available outside of South Africa. We’re bringing our southern African viewers content they have been asking for and most importantly, the channel will also build regional entertainment brands by showcasing entertainment productions from the various Southern African countries,” said Zambezi Magic channel head Addiel Dzinoreva in a statement released by MultiChoice Africa.
Zambezi Magic will entertain viewers with riveting plots on award-winning soapies such as Generations, Muvhango, Isidingo, Zone 14 and Jacob’s Cross while getting a healthy dose of critically-acclaimed edutainment TV series, Intersexions and Yizo Yizo that explore various societal issues and have sparked debates around issues like the HIV and Aids epidemic.
Fans of lifestyle shows will be spoilt for choice by the quality entertainment lined-up on Zambezi Magic. Viewers will learn how to create scrumptious meals alongside the vivacious Siba Mtongana, the host of Cooking with Siba and watch as long-lost family and friends are reunited on the heart-warming Khumbul’ekhaya show dubbed, the truth and reconciliation of the soul. Sitcoms such as Stokvel, City Ses’La, The Coconuts, Kota Life Crisis, Skwizas and It’s For Life will tickle viewers’ funny bones with their cheeky humour and dialogues packed with a razor-sharp wit.
According to MultiChoice Malawi sales and marketing manager Chimwemwe Nyirenda, in the long run, there will be many more local shows from southern African countries added to the channel.
On his part, Malawian filmmaker Shemu Joyah has welcomed the channel, saying it gives Malawi a platform to shine on the international stage.
“People have been watching content from Nigeria a lot and this channel presents a chance to Malawi and other southern African countries to showcase what they have. While this is an opportunity, it is also a challenge to us as this does not mean that the channel will just show anything for the sake of it and compromise quality.
“I would therefore, urge content producers from Malawi to be conscious of quality and set standards for their production to be beamed. In the same vein they should be mindful of competition from other countries who also want the same space. All in all, this is a good opportunity which can lead to other more opportunities is used accordingly,” explained Joyah.
