On 29 March, BBC Worldwide announced that it has invested in South African
production company Rapid Blue. Based in South Africa, Nigeria and Angola, Rapid
Blue produces original productions and international television formats for South
African, African and international audiences. The investment into Rapid Blue
demonstrates BBC Worldwide’s desire to expand in the region and meet the growing
demand for high-end, compelling and relevant local content for the African market,
in addition to taking African content to the world.
Established in 1993, Rapid Blue is a prominent formats producer in Africa with an
impressive list of local and international awards, including an Emmy in the Best
International Documentary category as a producer for Lion’s Trail.
Rapid Blue has produced thousands of hours of television for local audiences
including The X Factor, SA’s Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance,
Dragons’ Den, Four Weddings and Pawn Stars. Productions for
Nigeria, Ghana and Angola include Don’t Forget the Lyrics, GBam, Got
Talent and X Factor. BBC Worldwide has worked with Rapid
Blue on multiple award-winning shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The
Weakest Link and Come Dine With Me South Africa, and in
2015 Rapid Blue produced the first series of the BBC Lifestyle ratings-hit, The
Great South African Bake Off. In addition to long-form production business,
Rapid Blue produces short-form content including on-air promotion and design,
digital content, sponsorship and brand funded sales solutions.
Grant Welland, executive vice president CEMA, BBC Worldwide, commented: “As
demand for local content increases across Africa, BBC Worldwide and Rapid Blue
are extremely proud to partner and explore the growing opportunities in the
market. With BBC Worldwide’s enviable formats catalogue and our combined
knowledge and expertise, this agreement will enable us to provide content solutions
for broadcasters across the continent, positioning us as the destination for quality
television production in Africa.’
Duncan Irvine, CEO at Rapid Blue said, “We are very excited about this partnership
as it provides us with access to tremendous development opportunities, as well as
to a deep skills base and support as we continue to grow and develop our staff and
the creative and production teams who work with us. The partnership will allow us
to accelerate our growth in Africa and increase opportunities for employment and
training. In particular, we are looking forward to developing a dynamic drama slate.
This is a relatively new development for Rapid Blue but already we have shows
being picked up for 2016. It is our continual aim to create world class productions
and we see this partnership enabling us to have even more of our shows being
broadcast around the world and drawing great audiences in South Africa and
Africa.’
Rapid Blue will continue to produce programming for BBC Worldwide, alongside
existing and new distribution and production partners.
BBC Worldwide’s extensive formats catalogue includes Top Gear, The
Weakest Link, You’re Back in The Room and Luther. Previous
BBC Worldwide format sales to the South African market include Strictly
Come Dancing, Friends Like These and Dog Eat Dog.
BBC Worldwide has fully owned production bases in the USA, France, India, and
Nordics, a joint venture with All3Media in Germany with Tower Productions, and an
entertainment format production partnership with FremantleMedia in Australia. BBC
Worldwide opened an office in Johannesburg in January 2015.
