Paramount Skydance ends Paramount Africa and 4 TV channels on DStv including BET Africa, MTV Base, CBS Justice and CBS Reality end of 2025

by Thinus Ferreira

Paramount Africa is shutting down 31 December 2025 as part of dramatic Paramount Skydance corporate downsizing, ending its localised Africa operations after more than two decades, with linear TV channels BET Africa, MTV Base as well as CBS Justice and CBS Reality run by CBS AMC Networks International also shutting down at the end of the year.

All four TV channels will go dark on 31 December on DStv run by Canal+'s MultiChoice in South Africa as well as across the Rest of Africa (RoA) territory and its Bryanston head office in Johannesburg is closing down.

In July, Craig Paterson, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager, as well as Monde Twala, senior vice-president and general manager of Paramount Africa and lead of BET International, told Paramount Africa staff that Paramount is considering shutting down local operations in Africa as the company "evaluates its pay-TV strategy and local channel footprint here in Africa".

Paramount Africa (then Viacom International Media Networks Africa or VIMN Africa) launched BET Africa (DStv 129) a decade ago in April 2015 to bring African audiences a localised version of "Black Entertainment Television". 

As previously reported, it will burn off episodes later this month of its last original, the South African telenovela Black Gold from Black Brain Pictures, to amortise what's left of its final local production before BET Africa is gone for good.

MTV Base was launched 20 years ago in South Africa in February 2005 and grew to split into three distinct channel feeds for West Africa and East Africa.

MultiChoice in response to a media query told TVwithThinus "MultiChoice can confirm that BET Africa and MTV Base will be discontinued on the DStv and GOtv platforms from 1 January 2026 at 9:00 CAT, following updates from our channel partner, Paramount. Our customers can continue to enjoy other international channels from Paramount, including Nickelodeon, NickToons, Nick Jr., Comedy Central, and MTV."

"We thank Paramount for their continued partnership and look forward to working with them on the remaining channel offering."

The CBS Reality (DStv 132) and CBS Justice (DStv 170) channels on DStv are also getting axed.

CBS Reality (previously Zone Reality) was added to DStv in November 2001. CBS Justice was added to DStv in November 2019.

"In response to a media query, MultiChoice says "MultiChoice confirms that CBS Reality and CBS Justice will be leaving the DStv platform on 31 December 2025 at 23:59 SAST."

"Following a strategic review, CBS AMC Networks EMEA Channels Partnership – the owner of CBS Reality and CBS Justice – has decided to close both channels."

"We thank CBS for their continued partnership and look forward to working with them in future. Customers can continue to enjoy a wide range of local and international reality and investigative content across our bouquet of channels."

Paramount Africa, in response to a media query, told TVwithThinus "Paramount is adjusting its international pay-TV strategy in response to industry-wide changes and evolving audience habits".

It said that "Paramount is proud of the legacy these channels have built and thanks their viewers and partners for their support over the years."

ALSO READ: Paramount Africa burns off Black Gold in double episodes further raising fears about future of BET Africa

ALSO READ: Paramount Skydance to get rid of 2 000 workers in the United States and globally, also affecting Africa 

Paramount Skydance to get rid of 2 000 workers in the United States and globally, also affecting Africa

Thinus Ferreira

On Wednesday, Paramount Global will reportedly start by letting go of at least 1 000 workers in the United States, followed by another 1 000 workers, that will also impact and affect staff at Paramount Africa in South Africa.

David Ellison, Paramount CEO, is slashing the Paramount workforce by 1 000 from tomorrow in the United States, with a further 1 000 people in America and internationally to follow. 

The first 1 000 people let go tomorrow, represent 5% of Paramount's workforce. By December 2024 Paramount had 18 600 full-time workers and 3 500 project-based staff.

Paramount Skydance declined to comment.

In July, Craig Paterson, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager, as well as Monde Twala, senior vice-president and general manager of Paramount Africa and lead of BET International, told Paramount Africa staffers that Paramount is considering shutting down local operations in Africa as the company "evaluates its pay-TV strategy and local channel footprint here in Africa".

The cutbacks at Paramount's international divisions like Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe will reportedly happen within weeks.

Paramount's axing of its workforce comes as Paramount Skydance is making a play for Warner Bros. Discovery with at least three takeover offers that have been made by Paramount for WBD over the past few months.

ALSO READ: Paramount says looming retrenchments will be 'painful'; will no longer sell BET but pivot pay-TV channels to streaming

MultiChoice's DStv Media Sales takes over ad sales for all of Paramount Africa's TV channels from October.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice's ad sales arm DStv Media Sales will take over ad sales for all of Paramount Africa's TV channels available in South Africa from October.

From 1 October 2024 DStv Media Sales will represent advertising sales for all Paramount TV channels and brands, including MTV, MTV Base, BET Africa, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and Nick Toons carried on DStv.

"Paramount and MultiChoice have a long-standing partnership and we believe that this decision will further extend and deepen our strategic relationship," says Craig Paterson, senior vice president and general manager of Paramount Africa.

"This evolution of our ad sales operating model in Africa allows us to maximize revenue, align with key markets worldwide, and reduce costs."

Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee, DStv Media Sales CEO, says "The partnership with Paramount provides a wonderful growth opportunity for the DStv Media Sales business and expands our offering to advertisers for the continent".

Lucasta Stephen, executive head of the South African sales division at DStv Media Sales, says "DStv Media Sales will now be able to offer advertisers and sponsors an expanded portfolio of channels, content, and audiences. The addition of these awesome Paramount channels provide increased scale and reach to the DStv Media Sales offering which we are super excited to bring to market".

"We will be reaching out to our valued advertisers to ensure a seamless transition."

Paramount Africa adds Zee World to its sales portfolio as a TV channel from March.

by Thinus Ferreira

Paramount Africa, previously ViacomCBS Networks Africa (VCNA), is adding the Indian TV brand Zee World as a channel to its sales portfolio from 1 March.

Zee World, from Zee Entertainment Enterprises as the world's first English-dubbed Indian entertainment channel, is available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in South Africa and other African countries on DStv channel 166, as well as on GOtv on channel 25.

"The environment in which Paramount Africa operates necessitates a diverse, one-of-a-kind, and adaptive approach to commercialisation, distribution, promotion, and the incorporation of innovation in ensuring the success of our business," says Strini Naicker, vice president of commercial and content distribution at Paramount Africa.

"We are always open to new partnerships that will see us grow and also continue to offer content that resonates with our audiences."

Strini Naicker says that from March, Paramount Africa's stakeholders and partners will have an additional avenue and platform to promote their products and services. 

"The programming content on the Zee World channels are relatable and adapted to resonate with diversified consumers, which is what Paramount Africa strives for on a daily basis."

Craig Paterson, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager, says "Welcoming Zee World to our portfolio not only means a new audience, but it also delivers on some of our strategic objectives, to cater to a broader audience and live by our mantra of prioritising diversity and inclusion. This is an exciting partnership for the Africa business".

Paramount Africa: Launching Paramount+ streamer in Africa in 2023 will help us reach even greater audiences.

by Thinus Ferreira

With the rebranding of ViacomCBS into Paramount, ViacomCBS Networks Africa will now be known simply as Paramount Africa, with Paramount Africa saying it's looking forward to launching the Paramount+ video streaming service across the continent in 2023 that will help it to reach even bigger audiences than through traditional pay-TV alone.

With Paramount looking to rapidly expand its Paramount+ streaming service globally, South Africa is now on the priority list for the streamer, with South Africans who will get access to Paramount+ next year as the next global streaming service after the launch of The Walt Disney Company's Disney+ streamer anytime from June this year.

South African consumers already have a growing access choice of over-the-top (OTT) streaming services ranging from Netflix SA and Amazon Prime Video, to MultiChoice Showmax, VIU, Apple TV+, Vodacom's Video Play, eMedia's eVOD and some smaller players.

Discovery+, WarnerMedia's HBO Max and NBCUniversal's Peacock have not yet launched in South Africa or made any announcements about expanding into South Africa or the sub-Saharan Africa region.

Paramount, which distributes TV channels like MTV, BET Africa, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon to pay-TV operators like MultiChoice's DStv and sells American series like Billions to pay-TV channels like M-Net (DStv 101), now see a new opportunity to go directly to consumers with its own streaming service.

A raft of new content has been commissioned specifically for Paramount+, like the video game adaptation Halo that will launch on the streamer on 24 March but which will not be accessible to South African viewers except through pirate viewing.

"We see a huge global opportunity in streaming, a much larger potential market than can be captured by linear TV and film alone," Bob Bakish, Paramount president and CEO said last week at Paramount's latest investors' presentation where the ViacomCBS to Paramount name change was announced.

"We're broader in four key areas: our diverse content, streaming model, mix of platforms and global reach. As we look forward, the size of the opportunity we see is matched only by our ambition to seize it." 

Craig Paterson, Paramount Africa senior vice president and general manager, says "The continued global expansion to bring Paramount+ to Africa by 2023 underscores the importance of the stories we create, which are only as powerful as the audiences they reach".

"Paramount+ has established itself as a leading brand in the industry in less than a year, and will strengthen the traditional business and allow greater opportunity for collaboration and growth."

"This is an exciting time for the Africa business, and our future streaming plans across multiple platforms will enable us to reach even greater audiences."

About Paramount+, Monde Twala, Paramount Africa's senior vice president, general manager, and peer lead at BET International, says "This pioneering move amplifies our dedication to innovation, collaboration through partnerships, creativity and global reach".

"It's a great opportunity to further showcase the power and growth of African content across the markets. While encapsulating the business objective and growth spectrum of the brand, the decision also enables us to continue to focus on delivering unique stories from Africa to the world."

"ViacomCBS Networks Africa, now Paramount Africa, will have the impetus to go forward in delivering on driving social change, diverse entertainment content creation and global format production partnerships."

Editor's note: In South Africa, Paramount has now started to use the Vuma Reputation Management PR firm to do its corporate communications.

ALSO READ: Paramount+ video streamer launching in 2023 in South Africa

ViacomCBS Africa boss Alex Okosi jumps to YouTube to lead Africa as VCN Africa ups Monde Twala and Craig Paterson to general managers for the African continent.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Africa boss of ViacomCBS Alex Okosi has jumped to YouTube forcing ViacomCBS Networks International Africa (VCN Africa) into a top executive shake-up that is filling the gap by upping Monde Twala and Craig Peterson as co-general managers for the continent.

Alex Okosi who is exiting VCN Africa at the end of February 2020 is becoming the managing director of emerging markets for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region from April 2020 at YouTube, while Monde Twala and Craig Peterson are becoming general managers at ViacomCBS Africa from March.

Before jumping to YouTube, Alex Okosi was a long-serving TV executive and held the fort as executive vice president and managing director of ViacomCBS Networks International Africa and BET International.

In his new job Alex Okosi will be responsible for running YouTube's business and partnership teams across emerging markets in the EMEA region, including Russia, the Middle East, as well as North and sub-Saharan Africa.

Alex Okosi will report to the head of YouTube for EMEA, Cécile Frot-Coutaz and he will relocate to London in the United Kingdom.

"YouTube is a game-changing platform that plays an increasingly important role in our lives today through the dynamic content and innovation that it delivers," says Alex Okosi in a statement. "I am very excited to be joining Cecile’s leadership team to continue empowering creators and elevating value for viewers and partners across the region."  

Cécile Frot-Coutaz says "I look forward to welcoming Alex to our YouTube EMEA leadership team. He brings a wealth of experience in the content industries and has a track record for building businesses and audiences in established and new markets".

"Alex will be leading our existing teams in Russia, sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa to drive further expansion in these key markets."

Meanwhile ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI) announced that the departure of Alex Okosi will be filled by Craig Paterson and Monde Twala who are named as co-general managers of ViacomCBS Networks Africa.

"Alex has made an immeasurable impact on our business in Africa," says Raffaele Annecchino, President of ViacomCBS Networks Europe Middle East, Africa and Asia, in a statement.

"Since launching MTV Base in 2005, Alex has spearheaded the development of our business on the continent, which now delivers more channels to Africa than any other international network – reaching 100 million viewers in 48 territories across MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and BET."

VCNI says that Alex Okosi took over leadership of BET International in 2017 and has continued to advance the value of the brand internationally "delivering double-digit distribution growth and improving profitability and margins".

In a VCNI statement, Alex Okosi says "I am proud to have had the opportunity to build our Africa business from the ground up".

"This has played a pivotal role in transforming the music and content space and changing the narrative on Africa. Leading our Africa and BET International businesses to success is testament to the extraordinary teams, colleagues and partners that I have worked with throughout my tenure. ViacomCBS has been my home for more than 20 fantastic years, and I leave behind incredible creative and commercial talent that will continue to deliver growth."

David Lynn, president & CEO of ViacomCBS Networks International, says "I’m immensely grateful to Alex for his contribution to the success of VCNI, including his role in developing such a strong team of successors. Alex’s leadership has been essential to our success in Africa and to the continued growth of BET International".

From 1 March 2020 Monde Twala and Craig Paterson will take over as general managers of VCN Africa. 

Monde Twala, senior vice president & general manager, editorial VCN Africa (pictured left), will focus on content, creative, editorial and marketing across all VCNI brands.

Monde Twala is currently the vice president of ViacomCBS Networks Africa’s BET, youth & music brands.

Monde Twala who joined the company in 2016 is responsible for driving the development and growth of iconic music, youth and entertainment brands BET, MTV, MTV Base and MTV Music24, across the African continent. 

Craig Paterson, senior vice president & general manager, VCN Africa (pictured right), will be responsible for all corporate functions, including business development and strategy.

Craig Paterson is currently senior vice president, business operations for ViacomCBS Networks Africa and is responsible for driving strategic growth and business opportunities in Africa.

Prior to this role, Craig Paterson was responsible for operations and finance for multimedia brands MTV, MTV Music24, Nickelodeon, Nick Toons, Nick Junior, MTV Base, BET and Comedy Central on the African continent. 

He spent nearly five years at Viacom beginning in 2011 as vice president of operations and finance in Africa and returned to the company in 2018 as senior vice president of business operations in Africa. 

"I am delighted that Craig Paterson and Monde Twala will take over leadership in this important market," says Raffaele Annecchino.

"Both have worked with Alex for years, which coupled with their expertise will ensure a seamless transition. Craig and Monde are experts in their respective areas and in addition to incredible business acumen, have demonstrated leadership and collaborative excellence throughout each of their careers and tenures with the company."