INTERVIEW. ''We realized there's an opening in this market place; we can attract new TV audiences with Sony Max,'' says SPT exec.

Eddie Nelson (left), senior vice president for the EMEA region of Sony Pictures Television and Aletta Alberts, MultiChoice's general manager for content with a faux wrestler at the launch of the new Sony Max (DStv 126) channel. CMLL: Arena Mexico is one of the new shows on Sony Max.

Photo: Michael Stewart/Pixel Painter

You're reading it here first.

The first new TV channel of 2011 in South Africa launches tonight at 21:00 when Sony Max (DStv 126) makes it debut on DStv. I sat down with Eddie Nelson, senior vice president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region of Sony Pictures Television to talk about how Sony Pictures Television sees Sony Max and the region, how the channel will be different and what the channel's aims are.

''If I look at where I sit, where EMEA sit, I can see exceptional growth rates for Sony Max in viewership, I see an opportunity to expand our programming into South Africa and Africa and I see us getting into places where people can access us when they want to be entertained and can get access to great, quality entertainment,'' says Eddie Nelson when I asked him how Sony Pictures Television that is launching Sony Max, sees Africa and Southern Africa as a TV market.

''I think that what we've shown with Sony Entertainment Television is that with the right shows and the right package you can get and keep viewers,'' he says. ''We've been talking with MultiChoice and together we realized there's an opening in this market place, we can attract new TV audiences with Sony Max and we can work with MultiChoice to build and expand the brand. We had to sit and work out what it was and will be; working out the right programming and the look and feel.''

So how will Sony Max be different in terms of its programming offering from not only Sony Entertainment Television (DStv 113) but also because Africa within the EMEA region has a specific viewers' taste? Eddie Nelson says that irrespective of region, the basic underlying principle that's also driving Sony Max's programming strategy is entertainment. ''The main thing is that wherever we are in the world the main thing is that people want to be entertained. That's the key thing. And there are multiple television stations available in almost every country in the world.''

''Our job is to say: ''Here's a specific country. We're going to try and go into that country and impact the viewers by building a channel brand through scheduling. We say: Okay, what kind of brand? What kind of programming proposition will be just right for this market?'' Of course Africa is different from everywhere else, but underlying it all our job is to find the right shows. Not every channel has Takeshi's Castle or science fiction. But in this market in South Africa we knew Takeshi's Castle is very, very successful. We knew from the responses we had that Takeshi's Castle really is a show we should have on Sony Max for instance.''

ALSO READ: How the new Sony Max channel logo and name came to be.
ALSO READ: Half naked wrestlers and a wrestling rings helps to spice up the launch of the new Sony Max channel.
ALSO READ: ''We could immediately see Sony Max fit in perfectly with the DStv platform,'' says MultiChoice content exec.
ALSO READ: ''Sony Max is a channel for guys, full of stuff you'll enjoy watching as a guy,'' says Sony Pictures Television exec.
ALSO READ: Sony Max mixes it up and maxes the fun at the new TV channel's launch with cool cocktail menu's.
ALSO READ: Sony Max is the brand-new channel ''for the men of Africa'' that launches 1 February.