Viceland launches in Africa with Kwesé TV

Vice Media’s Viceland channel is launching in Africa in an exclusive tie-up with new pay TV entrant Kwesé TV, owned by Econet Media.

Under the deal, Kwesé TV will add Viceland to its pay TV offering across sub-Saharan Africa, with content also available via Kwesé’s new catch-up TV service as well as its Android and iOS apps.

The launch of the channel will bring original flagship shows such as Huang’s World, Noisey, Woman, Vice World of Sports, States of Undress and Black Market to African audiences for the first time.

The Kwesé launch is the latest international move for Viceland, which launched in the US a year ago and has since added the UK, Ireland, France, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia to the list of countries in which it is available.

“The launch of Viceland in Africa marks the start of what’s undoubtedly going to be a landmark year for the channel internationally, as we continue to expand our reach and put culturally relevant content in the homes and hands of millennials globally. The linear and multi-platform nature of this deal with Kwesé emphasises our continued vision of ensuring viewers are given access to our programming 24 hours a day, across all screens and we share the ambition and dedication of Kwesé in making this a huge success,” said James Rosenstock, president, Viceland International.

“Kwesé is excited to be bringing new content to African audiences, Viceland is a channel enjoyed by many across the globe and we are happy to be the first TV networks to introduce it to the African market. This partnership is a natural fit for Kwesé because our target audiences include the urban youth which will better relate with Viceland’s offering”, said Joseph Hundah, president and CEO, Econet Media.

Kwesé TV recently added services from Discovery Networks and Trace to its platform as well as signing a deal with Fremantle and Red Arrow for content.

The platform last week revealed that it was adding a push on-demand catch-up TV service in partnership with technology provider Quadrille to its service line-up.

Kwesé has expanded rapidly across Africa with an offering built around the premium Kwesé Free Sports offering. Most recently, in December, Econet took over the former Viasat 1 channel in Ghana and renamed it using the Kwesé Free Sports brand.