Netflix To Spend 2.6 Billion In Korean Entertainment

Netflix Inc said on Tuesday it plans to invest $2.5 billion in South Korea over the next four years to produce Korean TV series, movies and unscripted shows, doubling the amount the company has invested in the market since 2016.

"We were able to make this decision because we have great confidence that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories," said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos

The US streaming service announced this after a meeting between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos. Yoon arrived in Washington on Monday for a six-day state visit.

President Yoon welcomed the investment as a "major opportunity" for South Korea's content industry and Netflix as the country seeks to increase cultural exports and soft power.

Shares of South Korean production and entertainment companies rallied on Tuesday, with Showbox and Studio Dragon up 8.75% and 2.26%, respectively, compared to the country's smaller Kosdaq index's 2.21% drop.

Known as the "Korean Wave" or Hallyu, South Korea's entertainment industry has enjoyed a global boom in recent years. Its music market, led by K-pop groups such as BTS and Blackpink, has led the charge.

In 2021, exports of content, including music, video games and films, reached a record high of $12.4 billion, according to the latest government data, leaving behind home appliances and rechargeable batteries in export volume.

"We were able to make this decision because we have great confidence that the Korean creative industry will continue to tell great stories," Sarandos said in a statement, citing the streaming platform's global hits produced by South Korean creators such as Squid Game, The Glory and Physical:100.

Squid Game, a 2021 release, remains Netflix's most-watched series of all time, having racked up 1.65 billion hours of streaming in the first 28 days.

Netflix offered a lighter-than-expected forecast last week as it looks to crack down on unsanctioned password sharing into the second quarter to make improvements, delaying some financial benefits.

New Channel Alert: Candle Entertainment-Owned Moonbug Entertainment Has Unveiled Its New Preschool Comedy Channel Minibods

Minibods debuted on YouTube April 15 aimed at young kids and families. The channel is a non-dialogue, slapstick comedy series which follows the adventures of six furry friends who bring the silly to every situation and overcome life’s hurdles in unconventional ways.

The kids entertainment company is also behind the three-time Emmy-nominated Oddbods, which has garnered nearly 30 million YouTube subscribers across its various dedicated channels.

Minibods features five beloved characters from Oddbods – Bubbles, Jeff, Newt, Pogo, and Fuse – along with new addition Lulu. Each episode is told from the perspective of one of the six Minibods as they go through adventures and face kid-relatable obstacles, such as learning how to ride a bicycle and baking. Episode learnings are focused on the social-emotional development of pre-schoolers through ‘accidental learning,’ which teaches children by naturally modelling positive behaviours.

In March Moonbug teamed up with telco O2 to launch Moonbug Kids Channel in the Czech Republic. Its launch in the Czech Republic marked the latest foray into linear pay TV by Moonbug following an initial rollout with MultiChoice in South Africa last year.

Commenting on the launch, Moonbug CEO René Rechtman said: “At Moonbug, we strive to bring together humour, entertainment, and learning as we create characters, stories and worlds that captivate and resonate with kids across the globe. We are excited to expand on the world of Oddbods with the new fantastical world of Minibods and reach audiences with the same imaginative universe and new loveable characters.”

The first episode is live on the YouTube channel. The series will feature 39 seven-minute episodes with one new episode being released weekly every Saturday.

Development Alert (Rumour): CineMagic To Get A Duplicate Channel On The DStv Platform

During the month, Novela Magic was ripped away from more consumers across Africa with consumers wondering why they're paying more money if they're getting less channels and this comes almost 4 months after its exit from the South African market.

As seen in selected territories, MultiChoice allocated the general entertainment channel Magic Showcase and film channel CineMagic to low tiered consumers who weren't able to access or view the local content seen on M-Net and Mzansi Wethu.

In short, MultiChoice is done adding channels like Discovery Family or at least to top tier consumers who could already view the shows on Discovery Channel, Food Network, Investigation Discovery and HGTV.

As seen for the past couple of weeks, MultiChoice might be from what appears to be rolling out a duplicate CineMagic of course details on it's capacity remains very much a mystery.

From what is seen on the duplicate very similar to CineMagic is Trevor Noah: Nationwild, The Kandasamyms: Wedding, Stand Up Africa 2016 basically repeats of content already viewed across M-Net platforms and also an alternate lineup from the original.

There's chances that this may be a seperate feed the pay-tv platform wants to introduce to selected territories as the schedule looks somewhat drafted as most of the films that appear when this test card was put up appear in its post production stage.

With that in mind, maybe this is MultiChoice's way of making up for Novela Magic in the affected regions but as seen in regions where the channel already exists only selected consumers particularly those without M-Net or any of the Magic channels can view them.

Rumour: The Home Channel To Become The First TV Channel To Go High Definition On DStv

The Home Channel (DStv 176) is a South African based TV channel owned by Arena Holdings alongside Ignition positions itself as the home of the latest decor trends and home improvement ideas. It was the market's first channel dedicated for home based programming.

Since it's inception in October 2007, the channel has produced a number of original content including Colour with Panache, Finest Homes and Nadiya's Time and sourced a number of shows such as Selling House, My Dream Home and Coast Vs. Country.

Since 2022, The Home Channel is currently operating on the Openview platform through The Home Channel+ in a seperate agreement with eMedia Investments.

Later that year, MultiChoice had begun work on a high definition feed for The Home Channel. Other channels involved were TLNovelas (DStv 133) and TBN (DStv 342). Since then only TLNovelas was made HD but plans for that fell flat to consumers in South Africa.

As seen a while ago, MultiChoice resumed production of The Home Channel HD as they have the 24 hour lineup available which is very much identical to the SD feed and this could be an indicator that the pay-tv platform could be rolling it out soon.

Interesting enough when TLNovelas was switched to high definition it was made available to more DStv customers in the rest of Africa on top of being one of the only 4 pop-up channels at the time to remain onboard on the platform in place of AMC International's EVA.

Zambia's Power TV was also upgraded to HD and made available to more African consumers which could mean that more news might accompany The Home Channel or as seen earlier in the month Ignition's expansion to DStv Access amidst the price hike.

Schedule Alert: A Rebroadcast Of Queen Of The South S2 Is Coming To Telemundo Africa

 

During the month, the channel announced the return of Nurses for a fourth and final season after being introduced last year with Queen Of The South 2 slated to air in the coming months. The first season debuted back in 2014 a year after the channel made its debut in the market.

This season revolves around Teresa Mendoza nine years after the events of the first season. Hidden from the rest of the world, Teresa now lives an idyllic existence in Italian Tuscany, but the kidnapping of her daughter forces her to reintroduce herself into the underworld of drug trafficking and once again confront her old enemies and the past she tried to leave behind.

The series stars Kate Del Castillo, Raoul Bova, Paola Núñez and Mark Tacher.

Queen Of The South 2 replaces Ana's Revenge on Monday 8 May at 22:00 CAT/21:00 WAT/23:00 EAT with season 3 rumoured to follow immediately after.