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THE MAGIC OF TELENOVELAS
Mzansi Magic’s telenovelas have won over audiences with their fresh stories, star-studded casts and prime-time slots, writes NOMSA PHILISO.
The MultiChoice Group, Africa’s most loved storyteller, launched Mzansi Magic in July 2010. The channel has become a formidable competitor on the local television scene, currently commanding over 40% of the DStv Compact audience share in weekday prime time.
This success can be credited to the bold strategy of premiering four telenovelas during weekday prime time, when South African audiences traditionally used to be served variety programming such as news, reality shows and soapies. Mzansi Magic’s telenovela franchises are the backbone of the channel’s weekday offering, trusted by loyal audiences to serve real and relatable stories that reflect the lives of black South Africans across socioeconomic classes.
Nomsa Philiso is the MultiChoice channel director for local entertainment at M-Net. She has extensive broadcast and media experience, having worked across media sales, channel and content management as well as technology project implementation, and has an in-depth understanding of the mass market. THIS RIVER IS WILD
The telenovela slot kicks off at 19:00 with The River, a story exploring an uncomfortable South African social reality – a land where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer – through the lens of an unlikely protagonist, Lindiwe Dikana.
At 19:30, the gripping storyline of Gomora takes over. Viewers follow Thati, who spends her life trying to distance herself from Alexandra township, crafting a glamorous suburban life as the wife of prominent businessman Mbongeni. But Thati’s fairy tale is brought to an abrupt end when Mbongeni is brutally murdered in a botched hijacking.
At 20:30, Mzansi Magic viewers are steered into DiepCity, where they navigate life in Diepsloot through the eyes of popular and charismatic 17-year-old Nox. At 21:00, The Queen catapults viewers into the high-octane world of the profitable Khoza trucking empire, an elaborate business that hides a lucrative and highly contested drug empire.
THE MAGIC INGREDIENTS
Mzansi Magic has consistently delivered socially relevant telenovelas by keeping a finger on the pulse of local audiences’ needs and evolving viewership palates. Despite coexisting in different worlds, from the glamorous yet sinister Dikana mansion in The River to the fast-paced streets of Gomora, from the coming-of-age tribulations in DiepCity to the sheer adrenaline and glamour of The Queen, the telenovelas all maintain a relatable air of social realism as they explore prevalent social themes.
These familiar yet unpredictable worlds are brought to life by an entourage of silver-screen icons, including Connie Ferguson, Sindi Dlathu, Hlomla Dandala, Connie Chiume, Themba Ndaba and Katlego Danke, as well as bright new talent Lawrence Maleka, Linda Mtoba, Sicelo Buthelezi and Nozuko Ncayiyane.
The Mzansi channels franchise is one to watch for more groundbreaking, relatable and riveting exclusive local content.
Telling and selling South African stories
Made-in-South Africa telenovelas are a huge hit, and not just among TV audiences. Advertisers are pretty taken with them too, writes ATO MOKWENA.
Aquick glance at the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa’s monthly top television ratings for DStv will show locally produced telenovelas topping the hit list. In April 2021, for example, Gomora topped the log, followed by The Queen and The River. DiepCity came in at number seven.
With audiences riveted by dramatic content and stories that resonate with them, it comes as no surprise that these shows are well supported commercially too. The uptake of sponsorship opportunities has grown over the years and many brands that have embarked on exploring this route have realised great success. On Mzansi Magic we currently have a total of four telenovelas on air, while 1Magic has two. All six have a commercial headline sponsor, and an associate sponsor as well.
Telenovelas have high audience engagement and create extremely loyal fan bases who follow the stories and stars religiously. Advertisers benefit from the high appointment viewing associated with telenovelas. South Africans tend to gravitate more towards South African and localised international content than they do to international content. We find the same with football.
Opportunities for advertisers range from brand advertising to sponsorship and product placement. We have found the most popular to be the three-tier sponsorship packages, which include headline sponsors, associate or tactical sponsors, and product placement.
We have integrated many brands into our scripted content, from financial institutions (banks and insurance) and alcohol brands to motor industry brands and of course FMCG brands.
While we’ve had many successful case studies, one that remains significant to me was Johnnie Walker. The brand sponsored a telenovela called Zabalaza, driving a campaign to reintroduce whisky as a daytime/sundowner alternative to the mainstream cider market. Their creative was centred on mixing whisky with ginger ale. A few days/ weeks/months later they changed creative and this had a negative an impact on sales. We were asked to reinstate the old creative and sales picked up again.
Another one was of an insurance company that placed ads around the most popular shows on Mzansi Magic; in less than three months, the owners of the business asked us to stop flighting the ads as their call centre could no longer cope with the number of calls they were receiving.
