38 / 136
Penny: Ahee and Meet the Ranakas), as well
as returning seasons of Saints & Sinners
and Utatakho. Our Perfect Wedding is the
channel’s highest-rated show, followed by
Isibaya. A new drama, Imposter, premiered
in October 2017.
A rebrand of VUZU AMP, 1Magic, launched
as a more strategic content proposition, and
new original productions (flagship telenovela
The River, dating reality Kheto’Mthadayo and
drama UnMarried) have assisted in growing
viewership for the channel.
The first-ever DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice
Awards were successfully staged, with
positive feedback from across the industry.
Over 1m votes were cast by the public for
their favourite talent across television, sport
and music. The show yielded a rating of 8.19.
kykNET maintained its number-one position
in the premium Afrikaans market. Show
highlights include the new drama by Paul
C Venter, Knapsekêrels, the last Boer Soek
’n Vrou episodes, Binnelanders (with a
compelling storyline about domestic abuse),
Ons Sprokies Bruilof (the Afrikaans version
of Our Perfect Wedding), Bravo! and Kwêla,
and a number of Afrikaans music specials.
kykNET also launched an original film-trivia
game show, FliekNET Foendies, which is
performing very well.
Local content
We are particularly focused on building the
local-content industry and continue to invest
significantly in original productions and local
stories. In the review period we invested
R4,8bn in local productions, contributing
significantly both to developing the local
industry and broadening its pool of skills.
This year saw the launch of Wedding Bashers
(season 1) featuring celebrities Zavion Kotze,
Denise Zimba, Siba Mtongana and Cindy
Nell-Roberts as judges; the new local reality
series Dancing with the Stars South Africa,
and an innovative partnership with The
Daily Show host, Trevor Noah, to produce a
13-part series, Trevor Noah Presents, which
showcased 13 of the best new comedians
in South Africa. M-Net 101 was also a
headline sponsor for Noah’s August 2017
South African tour. M-Net’s Idols (season 13)
performed well and M-Net’s format of Our
Perfect Wedding was a top-performing show
on DStv.
The growth of Mzansi Magic has been
driven by a resurgence of Isibaya, growth
in The Queen (season 2) and the Monday
night drama Is’thunzi. Isibaya’s viewership
increased year on year, while The Queen
continues to hold the number one position
in its slot. Content highlights include the new
drama Lockdown, two reality shows (Papa
Our operations
(continued)
38
MultiChoice South Africa Holdings Proprietary Limited
Integrated annual report 2018
Our material matters
(continued)