With the 2010 FIFA World Cup nine months away, sports will take centre stage at DISCOP Africa 2. Record television audiences are projected for next year’s World Cup to be held in South Africa and this is expected to boost potential advertising revenues for African television stations and pay-TV platforms.
DISCOP Africa 2 will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 16 – 18 September. 350 participants are expected to attend the event which will be based in the Nairobi Hilton Hotel
The matchmaking and networking event will once again reassert its goal to become the most important forum dedicated to audiovisual content production, distribution and funding in Africa. Participants representing international film, finished programmes, formats and packaged TV channel sales organisations, along with African television stations and pay-TV platforms will join advertisers who wish to explore sponsorship, product placement, media buying and co-branding opportunities across the African continent.
International suppliers of audiovisual content already registered include companies such as 2Waytraffic, Al Jazeera Network, Berserk Media, Bloomberg, Discovery Communications, Globo TV, Mondo TV, MGM, MTV Networks, Power, SABC, Shine Reveille, Televisa Internacional, Zee Networks, amongst others.
Many African audiovisual content producers will also be attending DISCOP Africa 2 under national umbrellas such as the Kenyan Pavilion, which is set to welcome more than 20 Kenyan producers and their latest programming.
The FIFA body will also attend DISCOP Africa 2 to update African television programming managers on its 2010 World Cup distribution strategy across the continent. Sports television rights specialists such as IMG, IEC Sports and In Front will also be in attendance.
A programme of informative sessions, workshops and case-studies will run alongside the market itself, addressing issues that are vital to the development of the audiovisual content production and distribution sectors in Africa.
“We chose to organize the second DISCOP Africa so quickly after the first one (held in Dakar, Senegal, in February 2009) in order to enable our participants to continue the negotiations they had initiated in Dakar,” said Patrick Jucaud, CEO. He added, “Because of the momentum created by the proximity of the 2010 World Cup and the positive impact on the buying power of African television operators, we hope to facilitate a great deal of business at our second international event in Africa.”
