Africa's GTV to double volume of UK shows

Faking It

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Pan-African broadcaster GTV plans to double the amount of UK-made content it buys so that it accounts for around 40% of all acquisitions.

The target was set after GTV's parent company, Gateway Group, sold its tele-communications business for $675m (£382m). Gateway is retaining its broadcasting business and much of the capital raised from the sale will be invested in its seven pay-TV channels and their acquisition budgets.

GTV was set up a year ago and has expanded quickly across Africa. It now operates in more than 20 markets with around 1.25 million viewers and plans to broadcast in 30 territories by the end of the year.

Its channels are G Star, G Prime, G Series, G Africa, G Extra, G Sports 1 and G Sports 2. Viewers can also watch BBC World and Sky News on the GTV platform.

"There are a number of factors that make the UK entertainment market very relevant to what we do," said Gateway Group president Julian McIntyre. "Many of the markets we operate in are English-speaking countries and a lot of our viewers have family and other ties to the UK so there's also a cultural and historical link.

"People have as much of an affinity as they would do with American entertainment, so we're increasingly looking at British drama, factual, entertainment and kids programmes."

Gateway is already a major purchaser of UK content, having acquired broadcast rights to the Premier League and the FA Cup, as well as series such as Faking It.

GTV is headquartered in the UK with offices in Africa.