China's StarTimes looking to dramatically expand in Africa; wants to build TV factory making a million TV sets and boost content production, dubbing capacity.

StarTimes that now has nearly 10 million pay-TV subscribers, says it has big expansion plans for the African continent where it wants to challenge the market dominance of MultiChoice's 11.9 million DStv and GOtv subscribers by ramping up local TV content production, increasing dubbing capacity of Chinese shows and even building a TV factory to churn out 1 million TV sets by 2021.

China StarTimes pay-TV service in Africa, now operating in 30 African countries - including in South Africa with its StarSat subsidiary - says it has grown rapidly since its launch in 2002 across Africa and now employs 4 300 Africans in the 30 countries.

Pang Xinxing, group president of StarTimes, visited Africa this past week as a guest at the 1st Youth Connekt summit in Kigali, Rwanda, held at the Kigali Convention Centre.

Rwanda in May got a $7 million loan from the Chinese government - done through StarTimes - to set up a film and TV production studio in the country.

StarTimes also paid $75 000 (R968 655) in sponsorship to the Youth Connekt summit to sponsor Thursday evening's "Opportunity Raising Gala dinner"on 20 July at the summit, billed as a "by invitation only" event - that explains Pang Xinxing's invitation and presence at the Youth Connekt summit.

Pang Xinxing said that StarTimes plans to build a TV set manufacturing plant in Africa that will make 1 million TV sets in 5 years.

In an interview on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) with the business TV news channel that opened a second bureau in Rwanda a few months ago - this one inside the Kigali Convention Centre, Pang Xinxing said that StarTimes will " focus more on content transmission and production to reach more different language countries" in Africa.

StarTimes already dubs a bunch of Chinese shows into African vernacular for its set of StarTimes packaged channels beamed into Africa and plans to increase its dubbing capacity, as well as the number of African languages shows are dubbed in.

In 2016 for instance, StarTimes held the first Star TV Drama Dubbing Contest in Tanzania with 10 contestants that were flown to Beijing for the chance to work at StarTimes's headquarters and got professional dubbing training.

In a statement from StarTimes that wasn't released beyond Rwanda, Pang Xinxing said StarTimes will establish and roll out several TV production and dubbing centres across Africa to help train more voice artists to translate Chinese shows for African audiences.

At the Youth Connekt summit, Pang Xinxing said StarTimes has undertaken the 10 000 African Villages Satellite TV Project as part of the Chinese president Xi Jinping's announcement at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation meeting in the 2015 Johannesburg Summit.

Through this, StarTimes helped to bring satellite TV to 10 000 African villages to give young Africans living in rural areas access to television and information.

CNBC Africa opens a second TV studio with an adjacent lounge in Rwanda's capital of Kigali at the city's convention centre.

CNBC Africa (DStv 410) that turns a decade old on 1 June this year, has opened a second TV studio - with an adjacent lounge - in Rwanda at the Kigali Convention Centre in the African country's capital of Kigali.

The business TV channel run by the ABN Group and carried by MultiChoice's DStv in South Africa and across Africa, as well as in Nigeria on StarTimes Nigeria since October 2016, was opened on Friday 17 February.

The ABN Group didn't want to tell the media about it and days later there's been no press release or statement issued by CNBC Africa to the media.

It's noteworthy since ABN and CNBC Africa in earlier years during its African expansion and opening of news bureaux did keep the media up to date about its opening of offices and studios and future bureau plans.

CNBC Africa wants to use the Kigali TV studio at the convention centre to tie in with events and conferences that's being held there.

On the CNBC Africa website Roberta Naicker, ABN Group managing director is quoted saying "This television studio in the Kigali Convention Centre marks yet another step towards our ongoing commitment to not only Rwanda, but East Africa, and in telling the African economic story from all corners of the continent."

"As the channel celebrates its 10th Anniversary on 1 June, we are excited to be able to add this important presence on the front line of one of the most high-tech convention center's to our content offering".

M-Net's Big Brother Africa Hotshots scandal grows as Rwanda and Sierra Leone follow Ghana and are also dumped from the show.

The scandal around M-Net's latest upcoming season of Big Brother Africa set to start on Sunday on MultiChoice's DStv is growing with Rwanda and Sierra Leone contestants now also dumped from the house, following the decision to dump the originally selected contestants from Ghana.

The 9th season of Big Brother Africa, entitled Big Brother Hotshots and produced by Endemol South Africa from Johannesburg in South Africa, is now also eliminating the selected contestants from Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

It raises questions about whether, and how much, the supposedly pan-African reality format voyeur show is really going to be representative of the continent and the countries where contestants were originally allowed, and asked, to enter from.

Big Brother Hotshots is set to start on Sunday 7 September at 19:00 for 91 days with highlight shows which will be broadcast on AfricaMagic Showcase (DStv 150) as well as running for 24 hours per day on MultiChoice's  DStv 197 and DStv 198 channels.

Endemol South Africa and pay-TV broadcaster M-Net last month dumped the originally selected contestants from Ghana, launching a frantic search for people from Ghana already in South Africa to rather include.

Now Rwanda and Sierra Leone's originally selected contestants are also out of the house just days before the reality show is set to start.

The South African government's dramatic and negative change in visa regulations is to blame, now majorly impacting on South Africa's TV and film industry.

Already the confusing new visa regulations impacted on Homeland, the international and award-winning series currently filming some of its 4th season in Cape Town South Africa and which saw production and filming delayed. Homeland will film until November but would have been done sooner.

M-Net's AfricaMagic's Big Brother Africa has become the first and biggest casualty of the non-sensical new visa regulations, impacting not just the production and production values of the show but directly impacting what viewers - not just in South Africa but across the African continent - gets to see (or rather not see) on their TV screens.

Endemol South Africa and M-Net says in a statement it can "confirm that Sierra Leone and Rwanda will no longer form part of the countries participating" in Big Brother Africa Hotshots.

"Unfortunately, due to schedules and logistical constraints there was insufficient time to follow the necessary procedures in order to process the required travel documentation which has recently become a more complex procedure," says Endemol SA and M-Net without mentioning by name South Africa's sudden visa regulations changes.

"M-Net and Endemol SA wish to extend their gratitude to all those individuals, organizations and parties which assisted in working to secure the inclusion of housemates from both countries".

"Whilst it is not possible to include housemates from both countries in this season, M-Net and Endemol South Africa are confident that they are able to improve the process in order to successfully incorporate housemates from both countries if there are future editions of the series".