The 2014 DISCOP Africa market and exhibition took place from 5 to 7 November at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. This year’s event exceeded previous records in terms of attendance, meetings and sales.
Attendance of close to 1,800 delegates, 250+ exhibitors representing global and regional entertainment content providers from Africa and overseas; 750+ key acquisitions, commissioning and programming executives representing Africa’s most important public and commercial broadcasters, pay-TV operators, OTT platforms, mobile networks and production companies have further proven that the business of content in Africa is booming.
As DISCOP Africa founder and director Patrick Zuchowicki explains, “DISCOP Africa is now all about business. This year we have been very pleased to see that all major players in the industry take Africa seriously and they have all woken up to the fact that the content business in Africa is happening 365 days a year, and that in order to compete in the global market, you have to be present and engaged with Africa.’
This year over 10,000 scheduled meetings took place between buyers and sellers of content. Registered delegates were assisted by the DISCOP Africa team in securing meetings with relevant parties – ensuring that co-productions, distribution deals, partnerships and major business deals are secured.
One of the largest deals to come out of DISCOP Africa 2015 was announced on the final afternoon of Friday 7 November, with Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) announcing it had signed a ten year contract with Crystal TV, a commercial broadcaster in Ghana, for capacity connected to the African service area of the EUTELSAT 16A satellite. The capacity enables Crystal TV to benefit from countrywide coverage of Ghana for its digital platform of pay-TV and free-to-air channels.
Rodney Benn, Eutelsat’s regional vice president for Africa, explains “This new relationship with Crystal TV is further evidence of Eutelsat’s ambition to leverage its experience and assets to support the digitisation of Africa’s TV landscape. Satellite technology is once again showing how it completes and complements terrestrial infrastructure and is playing a key role in a fundamental shift to digital that brings viewers the benefits of choice and quality.’
This year’s event also saw a 100+ strong delegation from Ivory Coast, including the Minister of Communications. The team entered into discussions with their South African counterparts and the concrete results of this will be announced soon – revealing a first ever partnership between French and English speaking countries in terms of film cooperation.
The rise of French speaking Africa, and bridging the gap between French and English speaking countries was a major focus at DISCOP Africa 2014, with a number of companies reaching out across the language divide in terms of sharing content, networks and resources.
Basic Lead, the organisers of DISCOP Africa, have already announced the dates for DISCOP Africa 2015 which will take place from 4 to 6 November 2015, once again at the Sandton Convention Centre.
Basic Lead has also announced a brand new exhibition, Meet Your Stars, which will have its inaugural debut at the Sandton Convention Centre, on 13 to 15 November 2015. Meet Your Stars will give attendees an exclusive glimpse at South Africa’s upcoming local and international TV shows, and the talent behind them.
For more information visit the DISCOP Africa website or the Basic Lead website.
