TV with Thinus: INTERVIEW. Colin McLeod on the new Studio Universal channel in Africa: 'It's about the celebration of movies from Hollywood.'

Studio Universal (DStv 119) became the latest movie channel added to MultiChoice's DStv bouquet in South Africa and 46 other countries across Africa on September 30.

In Johannesburg I spoke with Colin McLeod from Universal Networks International, the managing director for emerging markets and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, who visited South Africa for the launch of the channel.

What's your expectation for Studio Universal in whatever form from Universal Networks International here in Africa and South Africa?
Colin McLeod: Studio Universal is one of those brands that we have to be very careful with. It's got the Universal name in there, and it's about movies. So we have to be careful about how and where we launch it. We did spend a lot of time with DStv in looking at overall what's on the platform and the rhythm of viewing across movie channels and scheduling. The brand will come first and foremost and the content will feed the brand if you like. The brand of Studio Universal will play a critical part in satisfying the demand for subscribers who want to watch movies – both the Premium and Compact. We're going to do a focus group next year.

Maybe a difficult question. Maybe something that doesn't really have an answer, but when I looked at the promos and heard the American voice-overs and the kind of movies, and deconstructed it a bit I suddenly thought, 'oh will it just be American movies?'. It's American product. And obviously you guys wouldn't have done it if the appetite for American culture and American movies didn't exist in Africa. Is it something that you think is still very strong in the world – the allure of American movies and the world it shows, the aspirational values?

It changes from market to market. It changes from country to country and that's also why we have a portfolio of channels. In the Netherlands we have 13th Street and Syfy. In Poland we have 13th Street, Syfy and The Universal Channel. It depends on the dynamics of the market; the competition. It changes from market to market and the genre of movies. It's easier to market a series than a movie, because a movie is gone in one afternoon or one evening; where you can build the appeal of a series.
Of course movies perform incredibly well on channels and there continues to be a strong interest. It does change however from market to market. Russia for example is not good for American suburban comedies, they don't play that well; whereas in the United Kingdom they will. The Brits like American comedy. You know, as long as it's not baseball – anything else will work. Down here we went for three core tentpole genres that broadly positions the channel because we've seen in all the research we've done time and time again that there's strong, strong interest in American movies.

From what release date, and how recent will the movies be that's seen on Studio Universal?

Okay, we've worked long and hard on that. We analysed what is on the platform [DStv] already and the rhythm. The majority of movies on Studio Universal will be under 20 years. We thought [fought?] hard to have some slightly older movies. You want the early Jaws. But most will be recent Hollywood blockbusters. If we do something on Spielberg, you want E.T. in there. Some will be slightly older but we're focusing on recent blockbusters.

Why did you guys decide to make the Studio Universal logo different and not keep it yellow?

When we did the analysis on Africa we decided the approach of Studio Universal is about the celebration of movies from Hollywood; about entertainment. In Italy the channel is a bit different, they have black and white movies, or great Western movie series, or the love of Charlie Chaplin. And in Italy Studio Universal is an incredibly, incredibly successful channel. It's such a strong brand, that performs so well. So for Africa we thought about celebration and building a similar channel that is about the great things from Hollywood and we've packaged Studio Universal for Africa to give that sense. We've recoloured the logo and we've added a couple of elements that are not in the existing one but it was really to speak emotionally what we want the brand to say.