Telemundo launches in Africa

NBCUniversal-backed Spanish language broadcaster Telemundo is launching a pay TV channel across almost 50 African countries.

The Telemundo channel will be programmed with the company’s telenovelas and be carried on Multichoice’s regional DTH platform DStv.

The new service will roll out on August 12 under the ‘Telemundo’ moniker. The channel, which will be made available in its English-language form, is already carried throughout Latin America, but the African launch marks its first launch outside of that region.

It will be carried as part of the channels bouquet run by NBCU’s channels unit, Universal Networks International. The channels division already runs the Universal Channel, E! Entertainment Television, The Style Network and Studio Universal channels in the sub-Saharan Africa region.

Belinda Menendez, president, International Television Distribution and Universal Networks International, NBCUniversal said: “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.”

Marcos Santana, president of Telemundo International added: “Our original telenovelas are successfully syndicated in over 100 countries around the world. 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.”