Since its launch in April 2015, NOVELAS TV has attracted a very large audience, to the point where it is now by far the most watched pan-African channel in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the latest Africascope study, in 2018, 51.5% of respondents had watched the channel in the previous seven days.
How did NOVELAS TV find the winning formula that all television channels are looking for?
We asked Clémentine Tugendhat, Director of Thematic Channels and Editorial Marketing at CANAL+ INTERNATIONAL.
When and how did the idea to launch NOVELAS TV come about?
We launched NOVELAS TV in April 2015, based on the observation that African national channels had been broadcasting telenovelas for a very long time, albeit in small doses, but with real success. In addition, Multichoice, the South African bouquet, was broadcasting telenovela channels in English-speaking Africa, also with great success.
It therefore seemed to us that there was an opportunity for a channel entirely dedicated to telenovelas. We reached an agreement with Telemundo, which owns the rights to a large number of series, and then diversified our sources of supply while continuing to focus on South American productions.
How do you select the series broadcast on NOVELAS TV?
The first selection criterion was, originally, the feedback we received on the success of the series in other territories. The series also had to be already dubbed into French.
Since we launched NOVELAS TV in France and the overseas departments and regions, we have been able to finance the dubbing and therefore select new series after internal viewing. The story, the cast, and the production quality are the most important selection criteria.
That's why we favor major producers such as Telemundo and Televisa for South American series and AY YAPIM and KANAL D for Turkish series, as they guarantee a strong cast and high production quality: some telenovela actors are real stars who often appear in multiple productions.
When did you start broadcasting Turkish series?
Given the success of Novelas TV, we thought there was definitely an opportunity to launch a channel entirely dedicated to Turkish series. We started by testing the series "A Matter of Honor" on Novelas TV in October 2017. It was an instant hit, so we decided to schedule a new episode of a Turkish series every day from then on.
Can you explain how your channel's programming works?
We took inspiration from what telenovela channels do in the United States: we schedule four hours of new series every day between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and we rebroadcast this four-hour block several times until 4 p.m. the next day.
A series thus lasts between four and six months and is not rebroadcast on Novelas TV, or, for some of them, not for two years.
Telenovelas are very addictive: this explains much of the channel's success.
The success of NOVELAS TV has inspired many others to follow suit. Demand for programs is higher than ever
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but isn't there a risk of the well running dry?
Among our four programming slots, we have a "cult series" slot that is very successful and is fed by older series that are given a second life.
As for South American series, even though in recent years Telemundo has been moving towards producing shorter (around 30 episodes) and more violent/narco-themed series that have no place on NOVELAS TV, they nevertheless continue to produce new series every year. As for Turkish series, the source is inexhaustible and, with France and Drom broadcasting, we have a very significant competitive advantage over all our African competitors: we have enough space to finance the dubbing of new series that have never been broadcast in French-speaking countries. NOVELAS TV still has a long life ahead of it.