E! Entertainment is increasing its local South African content on DStv and adding a 6-episode presenter search reality series for 2017 looking to find an on-air South African personality for the channel.
E! Entertainment (DStv 124) will broadcast The Search: E! Host South Africa from February 2017, looking for the first South African face for the NBCUniversal International Networks' supplied channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in Africa.
NBCUniversal International Networks in the United Kingdom is following in the footsteps of Discovery Networks International running its successful TLC Next Great Presenter Search for the TLC Entertainment (DStv 135) channel across Africa, and produced in South Africa, for a second year running, and SABC3 and Top Billing's Presenter Search on 3.
Like Discovery, NBCUniversal International Networks that's been running the E! Entertainment on DStv for 12 years now since 2004, is realising the growing importance of giving South African and African viewers a bigger offering in terms of stripped local programming.
This year saw a second season of E!'s African-centric celebrity profile series Africa E! News Special and was also the year that E! started doing some red carpet coverage of local events like the 2016 South African Film and Television Awards in March and the South African Music Awards 2016 in June.
Now E! wants to roll out The Search: E! Host South Africa in February 2017, looking for the first ever South African E! presenter who will start out by doing future red carpet coverage and celebrity interviews for the channel.
The series in 6 episodes will follow 8 South African contestants through various presenting challenges - just like TLC Next Great Presenter and Top Billing's Presenter Search - while they live in a luxury mansion and are eliminated one by one.
A panel of judges will whittle down the 8 contestants weekly until it finds a telegenic winner who shines with natural presenting skills and a firm grasp of South African popular celebrity culture.
"E! Entertainment continues to invest into local programming and with The Search: E! Host South Africa about to begin production, we are delighted to be showcasing local talent," says Colin McLeod, the managing director for UK and emerging markets at NBCUniversal International Networks.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance for up-and-coming talent from across the country to pursue this unique opportunity to become a pop culture ambassador on E! in Africa."
