Broadcast Media Africa (BMA) and 360 Degrees South (360DS) today announced a strategic partnership to build a new pan-African content ecosystem for Free-to-Air (FTA) television.
The alliance pairs BMA’s extensive network of broadcaster relationships with 360DS’s content production capabilities to deliver premium original programming to African audiences — at no traditional upfront acquisition cost to the broadcasters who carry it.
Rather than buying content, FTA broadcasters receive ready-to-air, professionally produced titles for their territories and monetise them through advertising within their own airtime. Broadcasters are therefore able to strengthen their schedules with quality programming without the licence-fee barriers that have long constrained the continent’s free-to-air television market.
Under the partnership, 360DS will develop, produce and distribute original intellectual property spanning long-form and short-form series, including factual series, micro drama, lifestyle, podcast and entertainment formats. BMA will connect and distribute those titles across its broadcaster networks and manage the broadcaster relationships that sit at the heart of the model.
Lauding the initiative, Mr Benjamin Pius, Chief Executive Officer, Broadcast Media Africa, said: “For too long, world-class African content and the broadcasters who want it have been kept apart by cost. This partnership removes that barrier entirely. Through this initiative, we are providing Africa’s broadcasters with premium programming at zero acquisition cost, while also offering advertisers a genuinely new way to reach audiences at a continental scale. This is truly the model African television has been waiting for.”
Commenting on the ground-breaking partnership with BMA, Mr Sivan Pillay, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Producer, 360 Degrees South, said: Africa has the stories, the talent and the audiences. “What it has lacked is a distribution and commerce engine built for the realities of the continent. This has challenged all of Africa in terms of building the media value chain. Together with BMA, we can produce boldly and place the content we represent on screens from Lagos to Nairobi to Johannesburg. This is about building a durable creative economy that keeps value on the continent — by putting the needs of broadcasters first.”
The partnership represents a landmark new model for African television, bringing premium African programming to Free-to-Air broadcasters at zero acquisition cost.
For broadcasters, it means premium schedules without the traditional acquisition risk; for advertisers and brands, measurable reach across a growing multi-broadcaster footprint; and for Africa’s production sector, a sustainable pipeline of funded work and opportunities to take locally produced content to audiences across the continent.
Editors Notes
About Broadcast Media Africa (BMA)
Broadcast Media Africa (BMA) is dedicated to advancing Africa’s broadcasting and media sector. BMA facilitates strategic partnerships in content distribution, technology acquisition, and industry development, acting as a trusted conduit for relationships with broadcaster networks across the continent.
With unparalleled continental reach, BMA provides access to key decision-makers and brings a commercially disciplined approach to helping broadcasters secure the content, technology and services they need to better serve their audiences.
About 360 Degrees South (360DS)
360 Degrees South is a South African content, media, technology and distribution company creating original African intellectual property across multiple formats for local and global platforms.
Combining creative development, production and multi-platform global distribution, 360DS develops and monetises African IP for audiences at home and around the world. The company is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.
