Broadcasting
StarTimes Focuses on Local Content Collaboration Across Africa
In the early 2022, StarTimes keeps collaborating with local content owners and producers across Africa, with gaining new projects in Nigeria and Kenya.
In Nigeria, as part of the commitment to grow the local film industry, StarTimes is partnering with the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) on content production, with a view to tapping into the vast deposit of original African stories yet untold.
Reaffirming StarTimes commitment to deeper investment in Nollywood, StarTimes CEO, Alex Jian, said the collaboration is very crucial with the growing demand for quality local content by Nollywood aficionados.
“When StarTimes entered the market about twelve years, our mandate was to provide digital-TV to every home. The reception was huge for us. However, at a time, we had more foreign content. Over the years, the standard of Nollywood has improved and so also, is the market.
“This brought about the need to satisfy this growing appetite for Nollywood. Thus, our new brand vision is to balance our content offering. We know AGN stands for the larger Nollywood market. StarTimes is glad to cooperate with you to bring significant impact to Nollywood as well as grow and ensure that filmmakers have value for their productions.”
Commending the management of StarTimes for its contributions to the broadcast industry, the President of AGN, Ejezie Emeka Rollas, said the partnership will open a new window to a different form of entertainment that Nollywood Actors have been doing over the years.
“The partnership will effectively help us to further attract more viewers with our proposed entertainment content as we have full insights into the industry. Actors Guild of Nigeria is all about entertainment as members are major influencers with millions of fans and followers around the world. Our goal is to activate the potentials of entertainment as soft power strategy for paradigm change especially in Africa for positive attitudinal change,” he said.
In Kenya, regional Marketing Director Mr Aldrine Nsubuga, speaking when the company unveiled NIA – a new premium local drama and one of the first highlights of this year’s investment, noted that the local drama NIA is set to captivate subscribers, with the company having invested heavily in research, cast, and production quality to ensure the programme stands out in the market once it premieres.
“Our premium local drama, NIA, which is our first local production investment this year, will set the tone for our commitment to providing our subscribers with high-quality local entertainment.” Mr Nsubuga stated.
Mr Myke Mwai, StarTimes content director, said that the pay-television broadcaster is planning to cooperate with more content creators this year as they want to utilise their experience to explore new local content genres that would appeal to subscribers.
“We intend to reach out to a larger number of local content creators, which will give us an advantage in generating distinct genres that subscribers will readily relate to as they speak to their daily lives, while also ensuring that the content is appropriate for the entire family,” Mwai explained.
“This is our first assignment with StarTimes, and we are ecstatic that our efforts have been recognised by a pay television platform, demonstrating that local content producers have matured.” Mr Daudi Anguka, CEO of AR Film Productions, stated.
“We are optimistic that NIA will be a top-rated drama given the efforts that have been put into the final product, and we look forward to additional contacts with the broadcaster.”
Rembo TV is available in three East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, providing an enviable platform to market Kenyan productions across the region and is available on both terrestrial and satellite platforms and is available across all StarTimes bouquet options.
A major shake‑up rocks viewers and subscribers of DSTV/GOTV as many channels are set to shut down and be removed on January 1, 2026.
The trigger for the upcoming shut‑down is a breakdown in negotiations between the owners of multiple global channels and the pay‑TV operator.
As of December 2025, the deal between Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and DStv/GOtv has expired and the two parties have not reached a renewal agreement.
Without a new carriage/distribution agreement, the channels belonging to WBD risk being pulled off the DStv/GOtv line‑up.
This is the most significant content cutback the service has seen in years.
The affected channels are:
Discovery Channel
TLC
Cartoonito
Cartoon Network
CNN International
Food Network
The Travel Channel
TNT
Investigation Discovery
Real Time
HGTV
Discovery Family
Paramount Africa is officially shutting down at the end of December 2025, drawing the curtain on more than two decades of operations in South Africa and Nigeria.
The company, which once reached over 100 million viewers across 52 African territories, confirmed it will close its doors as part of a massive global restructuring at its parent company, Paramount Global.
This is the same Paramount Africa behind channels like BET, MTV, MTV Base, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, and more.
Its digital footprint has also been significant, with millions of monthly page views, social media engagements, and content partnerships across Africa.
But despite that scale, rising costs and a global strategic reset have caught up with the business.
Paramount’s retrenchment has been building for months.
Earlier this year, plans to launch a standalone Paramount+ app in South Africa were quietly shelved.
Then in August, the company said its content would remain available only via DStv and Showmax.
And last month, MultiChoice confirmed that BET Africa and MTV Base will disappear from DStv and GOtv on January 1, 2026, as Paramount Africa winds down entirely.
The shutdown is tied to aggressive cost-cutting after Paramount’s merger with Skydance. The company is targeting a 15% reduction in global staff and $3 billion in savings.
International divisions, including Africa, have taken the hardest hit as the business pivots away from linear TV and doubles down on a more streamlined streaming-first model.
At the same time, the global media landscape is being shaken by Warner Bros. Discovery’s chaotic auction. Netflix, Paramount, and Comcast have all submitted fresh bids for WBD, with some offers reportedly focusing on the studios-and-streaming division, home to HBO, HBO Max, DC, and Warner Bros. Pictures.
Analysts say the crown jewel bundle could go for as much as $70 billion, a deal that would reshape Hollywood and accelerate the decline of traditional TV.
DStv subscribers may lose access to 12 major Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) channels, including CNN International, Discovery Channel, TLC, and Cartoon Network, from Jan. 1, 2026, if MultiChoice and WBD fail to conclude a new distribution agreement.
DStv
MultiChoice, now owned by Canal+, issued a notice to customers on Monday, warning that its current carriage deal with WBD will expire on Dec. 31, 2025, and negotiations to renew the contract remain inconclusive.
“While discussions between the parties continue, no agreement has been reached at this stage. If this remains unchanged, several Warner Bros. Discovery channels may no longer be available on DStv from Jan. 1, 2026,” the company said.
The channels at risk include Discovery Channel, CNN International, TLC, Discovery Family, Real Time, TNT Africa, Food Network, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito, and Travel Channel.
The development comes amid subscriber losses for MultiChoice, which has shed 2.8 million active linear subscribers over the last two financial years.
This includes 1.2 million customers lost in 2025 alone, representing an 8 per cent decline across South Africa and the rest of Africa.
In Nigeria, MultiChoice has lost 1.4 million subscribers in the past two years, largely due to repeated subscription price increases, according to Nairametrics.
The broadcaster is also set to lose additional content in the coming months. Paramount Africa will discontinue BET Africa and MTV Base from Jan. 1, 2026, while CBS Reality and CBS Justice will cease operations on Dec. 31, 2025.
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