In spite of all the challenges and criticism from disgruntled customers, DStv remains resilient with its subscriber base in South Africa said to have increased from 7.6 million to 8.2 million over the last year.

The upside for DStv is that even in the midst of mounting competition, the subscription service still carries the most influential catalogue of local content across various channels. Twitter on any given Sunday shows at least two local DStv programmes trending, from South African Idols, The River, Our Perfect Wedding to Date My Family.

MultiChoice has been investing in local content to attract more subscribers and there are plans to increase its general entertainment spend on local content to 45% by 2022, up from 40% this year.

This is one of the reasons that the company’s recent TV commercial about the MultiChoice Talent Factory resonates. The ad, shot by a Studio Zoo, shows an inspirational story of Ludmila Mero, a MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) graduate, who shares her experience of the programme and expresses her gratitude for the opportunity.

The ad opens with her sharing memories of how her father would tell her and her siblings stories about their culture growing up. She says her father’s stories were her first encounter she had with the creative world that led her to develop a talent for storytelling and led her to MTF.

I was so excited because I was finally going to learn more about storytelling and going to put some of my ideas into practice. - Ludmila Mero

Not only is this story inspiring, but it is also an opportunity to harness homegrown talent and tell relatable local stories. The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa revealed that local content occupied the top nine spots in the list of the top 30 hottest programmes.

It is clear from these numbers that there is room for local content which gives MultiChoice an added and a competitive edge.

M-Net has also joined the fight and has started displaying “An M-Net Original” title card at the end of certain programmes in a bid to take on the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. M-Net told Channel24 that the change to get to "An M-Net Original" now being used to bookend episodes "was an organic progression, keeping in line with global trends".

Agency and team credits

• Ad title: Ludmila Mero – MultiChoice Talent Factory graduate
• Country: Mozambique
• Client: Lebogang Ramothata – MultiChoice Africa
• Creative Agency: Studio Zoo
• Account manager: Lize Poultney
• Executive creative director: Cathy Ferrara
• Strategy: Studio Zoo
• Media planners: DStv in-house scheduling teams used
• Production company: Studio Zoo
• Executive producer: Cathy Ferrara
• Music and sound design: Audio Militia for audio mix
• Agency producer: Lize Poultney
• Director: Jerome Pikwane
• Director of photography: Travis van Staden
• Editor: Leon James
• Post-production: Studio Zoo

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