There’s no denying that Netflix is a dominant figure in South Africa’s streaming landscape, but it falls short when it comes to quality soapy content. Viewers still turn their attention to eMedia’s free-to-air broadcaster, e.tv, to satiate that thirst. That’s about to change. eMedia has announced a content licensing partnership that’ll see its original content deployed across Netflix’s African library.
“Working with Netflix allows us to take our content further, while continuing to deliver strong local entertainment to the free-to-air audiences at the centre of what we do,” said eMedia chief content officer Marlon Davids.
e.tv goes continental
The partnership will kick off with e.tv’s newest primetime daily drama, The Four of Us. The new series debuted on e.tv on 29 June at 20h00, occupying the slot held by Scandal! for the past 23 years. It’s a surefire way to not only get more Saffas tuning in regularly but also attract new eyes from across Africa.
E.tv will still be the place to watch The Four of Us first, as it airs at 20h00 every night. But if you can wait, or miss an episode, it’ll land on the streamer’s catalogue the following day at 09h00 SAST. It’s still a great deal for Netflix even if it isn’t entirely in control of the series’ production — that job falls to Tshedza Pictures.
It’s arguably the best outcome for the streamer. It only has to spend a little bit of money for a couple million eyeballs. This way, Netflix can also fill the void left in the wake of Showmax’s passing earlier this year, which would have been the likeliest candidate to partner up for this hot new local series. eMedia’s partnership with Netflix does raise questions about its own streamer, eVOD, and whether it views it as a viable player.
It seems the deal won’t just be a one-and-done. Assuming The Four of Us does well for Netflix, and we don’t see why it wouldn’t, then we can probably expect to see more of eMedia’s content hitting the Netflix shelf.
