South Africa’s eMedia has made a groundbreaking content licensing deal with Netflix, enabling its flagship drama to be available on the streaming service one day after its broadcast. This partnership marks a significant milestone for e.tv, allowing its programming to reach a broader audience across Africa, especially following Showmax’s recent closure in April.
The collaboration kicks off with The Four of Us, a new daily drama that debuted on June 29 during the prime-time 8 PM slot previously occupied by Scandal! for 23 years. Each episode airs on e.tv at 8 PM and becomes available on Netflix at 9 AM the following day, making it the first e.tv telenovela to be streamed on the platform.
Produced by Tshedza Pictures, the production company behind hits like The River and The Republic, The Four of Us is a family drama that features a talented cast, including Sindi Dlathu, Sdumo Mtshali, and Thembinkosi Mthembu.
For Netflix, this partnership signals a strategic pivot towards acquiring content from established African broadcasters rather than relying solely on more expensive original productions.
The context of the move is significant; following MultiChoice’s decision to end Showmax, which previously hosted local soap operas and telenovelas, a gap emerged in the market for premium South African daily dramas available on demand. Netflix, celebrating 10 years of operations in South Africa, has seized this opportunity with its collaboration with eMedia, a long-time competitor of MultiChoice.
This deal opens up a new revenue stream for eMedia, allowing them to expand their major new production to a continental reach while maintaining their free-to-air broadcasting model, independent of the pay-TV ecosystem they’ve battled for years.
“Partnering with Netflix enables us to extend the reach of our content while still providing excellent entertainment to our core free-to-air audience,” stated Marlon Davids, eMedia’s chief content officer.
However, this partnership raises questions about eMedia’s own streaming service, eVOD. By licensing its top drama to Netflix, eMedia appears to believe that a global platform can better monetise its content across Africa than its internal service can, making eVOD more of a domestic playback option rather than a major player on the continent.
Ben Amadasun, Netflix’s vice president of content for the Middle East and Africa, expressed optimism about the collaboration, stating, “We believe that e.tv’s creative ambition combined with Netflix’s commitment to African storytelling can usher in a new era for South African content.”
