Primedia has set its sights on becoming a multimedia powerhouse, delivering radio, television, and video content, within and beyond South Africa and the eight African countries in which the group operates.
At the company’s Prime-X event on Tuesday, Primedia’s CEO Jonathan Procter laid out its vision until 2025. “We are cognizant of the ever-changing and evolving South African and global media landscape, and we recognise the seismic shifts in market tectonics, and we have fully embraced this whole new world,” he said. “If we don’t innovate and create and collaboration, we will be left behind. We have to re-invent ourselves continuously to stay relevant.”
And kicking off its new direction was the announcement, greeted with a rousing cheer, that the group had acquired the rights to The Masked Singer, one of the world’s most popular television shows. “We have bought the exclusive rights to one of the world’s biggest shiny floor shows which we will co-produce with our very own Anele and her production company Rose and Oaks”. The partnership between Primedia and Mdoda’s multimedia company will see the show tailored for local audiences and will be broadcast in three languages.
The Masked Singer is a celebrity singing competition. Well known personalities perform under the cover of flamboyant costumes and facial masks to conceal their identities. It has proved to be a winning formula which has attracted voluminous audiences worldwide.
A South African version of Deal or No Deal is also on the cards, to be produced in collaboration with local television players.
“We don’t want to be Spotify, or You Tube or Twitter or TicTok or Facebook or Instagram or Netflix or Disney’, Procter says, “but we can make and own the compelling content that those platforms need so desperately if they want to be relevant on this continent. We know how to tell our stories in ways that resonate with the audiences of South Africa and Africa.
“This content also has massive relevance for global audiences and is in very, very short supply at the moment, so Primedia is well positioned to leverage its skills in market demanding local content. The appetite for content from Africa is going to grow exponentially as more and more of our music and our stories find their rightful place in the global demand for compelling content that delivers accretive audiences.”
