by Thinus Ferreira
BBC Studios and eMedia's Openview free-to-air satellite service in South Africa will be adding BBC UKTV from 18 October 2022 as Openview and BBC Studio's first free-to-view channel in South Africa.
Openview used to carry BBC World News but Openview dumped that very well-liked TV news channel after a while.
BBC UKTV will be added to Openview on channel 114 from 18 October which will be the BBC's 100th birthday. Neither Openview nor BBC Studios are saying for how long the initial channel carriage agreement is.
BBC UKTV's programming will include a variety of entertainment, soaps, documentaries and children's shows.
BBC Studios Africa already has a well-established set of TV channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa, including BBC World News, BBC Brit, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Earth and CBeebies.
BBC Kids has been added for MTN customers in South Africa recently. In Australia and New Zealand the version of BBC UKTV is a pay-TV channel.
BBC Studios says that the BBC UKTV's schedule for South Africa is compiled to "match the viewing habits of families in South Africa".
On BBC UKTV there will be a lot of shows DStv subscribers have seen, ranging from factual entertainment like The Great British Bake Off
(season 8) and cooking shows Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook
and Mary Berry Cooks to motoring shows such as Million
Dollar Car Hunters on Thursdays at 20:55 and classic Top
Gear (season 19) which will air weekdays at 20:00.
The British
hospital based soap Casualty (season 36) will debut in South
Africa every Thursday at 18:20 and Doctors (season 22) will
premiere weekdays at 19:00.
The long-running sitcom My Family (season 1) joins the channel launch
line-up which follows the trials and tribulations of a British family, starring
American-British actress Zoë Wanamake and British
actor Kris Marshall airing
at 06:00 and 19:30 every day.
Viewers will be able to experience the BBC's incredible natural history collection
every day at 09:00 and weekdays from 15:35. These will include the BBC Studios Natural History
Unit's nature documentary Wild Africa weekdays at 15:35 to unique local travelogue exploring Africa, Africa with Ade Adepitan, Tuesdays at 21:00.
There will also be a selection of Sir David Attenborough's
fascinating docuseries; Big Bird, Giant Dinosaur, Giant Egg, Fabulous
Frogs and Natural Curiosities on BBC UKTV later in 2022.
For children up to 12 there will be kids entertainment between 06:00 and 09:00, including the first seasons of the action-packed
geographical adventure, Go Jetters, children's cookery show, My
World Kitchen, wildlife show, Andy’s Safari Adventures and
My Pet & Me which helps children appreciate what it really
means to have a pet.
"We are proud to partner with Openview to launch our first ever free-to-view channel in South Africa," says Arran
Tindall, senior vice president, for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) key market region at BBC Studios.
"The launch will enable us to reach wider audiences utilising the
richness of the BBC's catalogue across multiple genres. I can't wait for new
families in South Africa to experience the very best of British content and
discover their new favourite shows."
Pierre Cloete, BBC Studios Africa commercial director, says "I am so excited for even
more families in South Africa to access BBC Studios' incredible catalogue of bold, British shows".
"From British soaps, fascinating documentaries and
children's shows, BBC UKTV has been carefully crafted to match the viewing
habits of the whole family, providing all age groups entertainment at every
moment of the day."
Marlon Davids, group executive for programming, says "Openview is a growing
platform and constantly adding new channels and genres to appeal to a broad
audience".
"Earlier this year we added eXposed, ePlesier and The Home Channel+. We are pleased and excited to give our audiences even more
choice, and more of the best in world-class entertainment with the addition of
BBC UKTV."
