MultiChoice, NBCUniversal and Sky have set a new partnership to bring content and technology to streaming customers across MultiChoice’s 50-market footprint in sub-Saharan Africa. MultiChoice launched Showmax as the first African streaming service in 2015 and via the deal announced today, the new Showmax group, which will be 70% owned by MultiChoice and 30% by NBCU, will build on Showmax’s success to date and aim to create the leading streaming service in Africa. It will be powered by Peacock’s technology and combine MultiChoice’s accelerating investment in local productions with international content licensed from NBCU and Sky, as well as third party content from HBO, Warner Bros International, Sony and others, and include live English Premier League football. Launch details about the new Showmax service will be announced at a later date.
Marcelo Ebrard/Twitter
The federal government of Mexico has struck a deal with the major Hollywood studios to form a working group focused on growing the film industry in the country, promoting new investment and jobs. A key objective is to attract more productions to Mexico. Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard along with 50 mayors and 17 economic development secretaries from 22 Mexican states met with representatives of Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros and the MPA in Los Angeles on Monday and agreed to launch a working group to translate the interest of the studios into the production of new films and series in Mexico. “This means more than a million jobs, more or less, in Mexico,” said Ebrard. It was also agreed to add film industry-related issues to the High-level Economic Dialogue agenda between Mexico and the U.S., which will facilitate coordination between the two countries in terms of promoting expansion in the audiovisual sector. The creative industries currently contribute 54B pesos ($3B) directly and 42B pesos ($2.3B) indirectly to the Mexican economy on an annual basis.
ABC
Journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are due to stage a walkout next week, the first protected industrial action in 17 years, according to The Guardian. This is the first step in a series of actions aiming to improve pay and conditions. Though it’s due to last just 40-minutes, it has been timed to make it difficult to cover a breaking news story – the Reserve Bank Australia board meeting and official cash rate announcement on March 7. It comes in the wake of news that BBC staff will stage their first 24-hour strike from 11AM on March 15, which has been timed to coincide with the UK’s government’s Budget while King Charles’ Coronation and Eurovision are also targets for industrial action.
