BBCWW preps channels for South Africa

BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) is set to launch its three branded channels in South Africa, with MultiChoice DStv to be the first pay TV service in Africa to carry them.

BBC First will air 1920s gangster drama Peaky Blinders

Male-skewing BBC Brit and factual-focused BBC Earth will be available on the service from September 1, while BBC First, which offers drama, will start airing on October 18.

South African viewers can watch fact ent show The Moaning of Life, panel show Duck Quacks Don’t Echo and comedy Youngers on BBC Brit, while BBC Earth’s shows include and Life Story and Human Universe. Wolf Hall and Peaky Blinders will air on BBC First.

The arrangement will see BBC Entertainment and BBC Knowledge in South Africa replaced with BBC Brit and BBC Earth respectively, while BBC First will launch as a new channel alongside existing nets BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies and BBC World News.

The deal marks the debut of the brands in Africa, while BBC Earth will launch in Latin America on September 1 and in Asia on October 3.

In Europe, BBC Brit and BBC Earth are already available in Poland, the Nordics, Hungary, Romania and Turkey. BBC First launched in Australia last year and reached Belgium and The Netherlands earlier this year.