Canal+ Group has boarded Senegalese production company Marodi TV, which is a key player in the West African drama series scene.
The move comes amid a major push into Africa by French pay-TV giant Canal+ which is currently attempting to secure 100% ownership of the South-Africa-based pan-African TV and streaming giant MultiChoice, in which it holds a minority stake.
Founded in 2012, Marodi TV has positioned itself as the leading producer of series in Senegal with a catalogue of over 600 hours of content. These shows are also popular with the African diaspora.
With a community of six million subscribers on YouTube, the company has based its success on broadcasting its series via digital platforms and local and pan-African television channels.
Popular shows include Pod & Marichou, Mistress Of A Married Man (Maitresse d’un Homme Marié) and Karma.
Canal+ Group and Marodi TV have been working together for five years.
The Marodi catalogue has broadcast as part of Canal+ Group’s channel line-up while they have also produced exclusive series with an initial broadcast on the Sunu Yeuf channel in Wolof, followed by a French-language exposure on the pan-African channel A+, both of which are available to eight million Canal+ subscribers in Africa.
Co-productions to date include successful series such as Emprises and Déchéances.
Marodi TV will continue to be managed by its founder and majority shareholder, Senegalese entrepreneur Serigne Massamba Ndour.
Under the new tie-in, the aim is develop the quality and depth of the Marodi TV catalogue (including in other languages) and expand its distribution across the continent and beyond through synergies with Canal+.
To this end, the two entities are working to set up an original catalogue for Canal+’s future channel in Pulaar – the language spoken by the Fulani community, which has a strong presence in Senegal, Guinea and Mali.
The Canal+ Group is already a majority shareholder in the production companies Rok Studios, in Nigeria, Plan A, in the Ivory Coast and Zacu Entertainment, in Rwanda.