StarSat set to become the “Home of Novellas”

MIDRAND, 22 September 2022 – Telenovelas continue dominating global television viewing, proving one of the most powerful entertainment genres in modern-day television and on-demand subscription viewing. Telenovelas are distinct from soap operas (aka soapies). Unlike soapies that go on seemingly forever, the running time of telenovelas averages around 120 episodes. Whereas soapies can go on for decades, Telenovelas usually run between 6 months and a year. Another key difference is that soap operas often appeal to women, whereas telenovelas are more family orientated (with few exceptions).

In 2021, pay TV operator StarSat launched its state-of-the-art dubbing studios in Midrand, South Africa. The main objective of its new initiative is to adapt its best-performing telenovelas to Zulu and other indigenous South African languages. Says Ms Debbie Wu (CEO of ODM); “We are very excited about the possibility of ensuring the widest accessibility of South African audiences to award-winning telenovelas dubbed into main indigenous languages. Our dubbing initiative continues to create many new jobs along the value chain. Since the launch of our dubbing studios, we have recruited and trained numerous South African youth as voice actors, directors, translators, editors, and sound engineers.”

Based on the recent success of the Zulu-dubbed version of a top Philippine novella ‘The Blood Sisters’, StarSat has since launched a Zulu version of the popular Zee TV novella ‘Waaris: Indlalifa’. ‘Waaris’ is a powerful story about a young girl raised by her parents to behave like a boy – this practice is in line with Indian tradition and the belief that the more sons you have, the higher your social status as a family. ‘Waaris’ raises seminal issues about the role of tradition in modern-day society. A diverse slate of many more Zulu dubbed telenovelas of Mexican, Korean, Spanish, and Indian origin are in the works for broadcast on StarSat’s flagship channel StarTimes RISE (channel 120).

Running parallel to our novella content adaption strategy is our focus on delivering the best English novellas to more South Africans. We are proud to announce the broadcast of the Philippine novella ‘La Vida Lena’ on the ST Novella E Plus channel. ‘La Vida Lena’ is the story of a scarred woman seeking revenge against a powerful family that destroyed her life. Another novella ‘must see’ is Zee Novella’s ‘My Left Side’ – the story of a powerful woman whose riches-to-rags experience puts her in direct conflict and interest with a man who has lived in the lap of luxury his whole life.

To view StarSat novellas and other live StarSat flagship TV channels, we have launched the StarTimes ON mobile App. StarSat subscribers now have free access to ST ON App. StarTimes On can be downloaded on Google, Apple, and Huawei devices and provides simultaneous access to up to 4 devices at any given time. ST ON App boasts highly secure digital features trusted by millions of online viewers across sub-Saharan Africa. So, no more standing in long queues to pay your StarSat subscription: with the ST ON App, there are easy-to-use, real-time, flexible payment methods to suit your lifestyle.

For non-StarSat subscribers, we offer MORE ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT FOR MUCH LESS – gain quick and easy access to over 140 StarSat channels by downloading ST ON App and paying only R4 a day.