StarSat set to become the "Home of Novellas"

According to the agency, telenovelas continue dominating global television viewing, proving one of the most powerful entertainment genres in modern-day television and on-demand subscription viewing.

Telenovelas are distinct from soap operas (aka soapies). Unlike soapies that go on seemingly forever, the running time of telenovelas averages around 120 episodes, says the agency.

Whereas soapies can go on for decades, Telenovelas usually run between six months and a year. The agency adds that another key difference is that soap operas often appeal to women, whereas telenovelas are more family orientated (with few exceptions).

Debbie Wu, CEO of ODM, says, "We are very excited about the possibility of ensuring the widest accessibility of South African audiences to award-winning telenovelas dubbed into main indigenous languages." 

Wu adds, "Our dubbing initiative continues to create many new jobs along the value chain. Since the launch of our dubbing studios, we have recruited and trained numerous South African youth as voice actors, directors, translators, editors and sound engineers."

Based on the recent success of the Zulu-dubbed version of a top Philippine novella The Blood Sisters, StarSat has since launched a Zulu version of the popular Zee TV novella Waaris: Indlalifa.

According to the agency, a diverse slate of many more Zulu dubbed telenovelas of Mexican, Korean, Spanish and Indian origin are in the works for broadcast on StarSat's flagship channel StarTimes RISE (channel 120).

Running parallel to its novella content adaption strategy is its focus on delivering the best English novellas to more South Africans. It says that it is proud to announce the broadcast of the Philippine novella La Vida Lena on the ST Novella E Plus channel.

To view StarSat novellas and other live StarSat flagship TV channels, the agency has launched the StarTimes ON mobile App. StarSat subscribers now have free access to ST ON App.

StarTimes On can be downloaded on Google, Apple and Huawei devices and provides simultaneous access to up to four devices at any given time. ST ON App says that it boasts a highly secure digital feature, which is trusted by millions of online viewers across sub-Saharan Africa.

StarSat is the South African branch of StarTimes Media, the largest pay TV provider in Africa. Since acquiring TopTV in 2013, StarSat adds that it has continued to provide South Africans with quality entertainment at an excellent price.

StarSat's mission is to enable every South African household to afford access to the beauty of digital television. To that end, StarSat says that it uses a simple, easy-to-use decoder void of gimmicks so that it can offer fair prices for access to satellite TV.

StarSat concludes that it offers three television bouquets at different price points, six payment methods and flexible payment arrangements.

For more information, visit www.starsat.co.za.