Telemundo is heading to Africa this summer, NBCUniversal's Universal Networks International announced on Tuesday. The Latin American broadcast network, which will expand to 48 African countries, will be introduced in South African and sub-Saharan African on August 12.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Telemundo will air telenovelas on Multichoice's digital pay TV satellite platform DStv exclusively. The network will also dub its Spanish-language programs into English for South Africa and a majority of other countries and into Portuguese for Angola and Mozambique.
Marcos Santana, president of Telemundo International, told reporters, "With the launch of Telemundo Africa, the region sees the birth of the first pay TV Latin American channel in English language."
"Our original telenovelas are successfully syndicated in over 100 countries around the world," Santana added. "We know that there is a huge appetite for top-quality telenovelas, the world over, and are looking forward to building a fan-base for this unique genre across Africa."
THR reported that the telenovelas that will air on Telemundo Africa will cover "a wife range of themes for the whole family to enjoy, including traditional romance stories, mystery, action and adventure stories, and stories based on real-life events with high-quality production values and featuring top talent."
The network has not yet announced which programming it will air on Telemundo Africa. Telemundo is currently airing four major telenovelas, "El Señor de los Cielos," "La Patrona," "Mia Mundo" and "Pasión Prohibida."
According to THR, Telemundo is the fifth network brand from Universal Networks International to launch in Africa. It follows Universal Channel, E! Entertainment Television, The Style Network and Studio Universal.