PHOTO | FILE MultiChoice says the setting up of its studios will go a long way in cutting its operation costs.
NATION MEDIA GROUP
MultiChoice Kenya has launched a Sh500
million film studio to take advantage of local content production as
rivalry in the pay TV market continues to stiffen.
The company, a subsidiary of MultiChoice Africa, opened the new facility last week hoping to enlarge its reach in the regional entertainment industry.
Hosting regional SuperSport and M-Net productions, the firm expects the new studio to help it cut operation costs while meeting the government’s directive that broadcasters increase the time locally produced content airs on their outlets.
SuperSport general manager for East Africa Auka Gacheo told Smart Company that the investment will help the company save up to 60 per cent of the total cost of production.
CUT THE COSTS
“Having
our own studios will significantly cut the cost we incur in our
productions because we no longer have to hire space and equipment. It
will also give our customers better quality of entertainment helping us
ward off competition,” he said.
According to the firm, which holds the exclusive rights to air Kenya Premier League matches, it costs about Sh3 million to air live production such football.
Ms Rispah Muthamia, M-Net regional manager, said the new facility will help the company nurture the massive creativity in the region.
The launch follows revamping of Kenya Film Studios which MultiChoice bought in 2011 and raises the bar in a fiercely competitive industry that has seen the entry and exit of a number of players over the past few years.
RENEWED BATTLE
It
also comes amidst a renewed battle in the pay TV market over the
sharing of exclusive premium content with competitors accusing
MultiChoice Africa-owned DStv of locking them out of airing the English
Premier League and using it to monopolise the market.
Wananchi Group Limited, the company that runs Zuku TV, has already written to the Communications Commission of Kenya and the national competition watchdog complaining against the “anti-competitive behaviour” of DStv.
“Our experts have been appointed and are compiling a detailed complaint dossier which will be lodged to the authorities within the next three months,” Wananchi Group Limited managing director Richard Bells said via email.
Though CCK director general Francis Wangusi said there is currently no regulation in place for the pay TV, the common practice even in the Western World is that providers don’t share their content. The debate on whether or not pay TV firms should share content is not exclusive to Kenya.
In a similar case in the UK, broadcasters BT, Virgin Media and Top Up TV had accused BskyB of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour by buying exclusive rights to air premium content.
Ofcom, the industry regulator, ruled that the firm should share the content only for the Competition Appeal Tribunal to overturn the ruling later.
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