- More thrilling local content to come in the month of May
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
The latest cooking show airing on DStv Channel 173, “My Botswana Plate” featuring Motswana female chef Rachel Tlagae has thrilled viewers to the marrow and whetted their appetite with the exciting ‘proto-Tswana’ cuisine and presentation. This was revealed during Multichoice Botswana’s Content Showcase hosted in Gaborone last week.
As the first of its kind for the market, Multichoice Botswana says “My Botswana Plate” was the first-step to demonstrate their commitment to driving local content.
Respective markets
Said MultiChoice Botswana Corporate Affairs Manager, Thembile Legwaila, at the showcase: “This year there will be an increased focus on local content – for many years the proudest MultiChoice offering – in each respective market.
“A plethora of home-grown, home-written and produced shows are scheduled for regional channels such as Mzansi Magic, and Zambezi Magic.
“Viewers can look forward to more thrilling local content coming out of Botswana with Channel O cooking up something new in the month of May.”
13 episodes
With over 13 episodes running for more than two months, My Botswana Plate showcases traditional Setswana meals with a new-age twist. In it DStv subscribers across Africa watch Chef Rachel prepare some of Botswana’s staple meals such as seswaa, bogobe jwa lerotse, disweets and more.
Locally relevant
Legwaila said they have been busy over the past few months ensuring that the focus is locally relevant.
So far, Multichoice Botswana has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Botswana’s Department of Broadcasting Services on sharing skills and knowledge with the hope that it will help grow local productions.
“We also facilitated our first-ever MultiChoice Talent Factory Sound Engineering Masterclass after realising that there was a distinct need for the enhancement of sound in local productions,” she explained.
“This was to ensure that the quality of productions submitted to DStv are up to standard and can appeal to audiences beyond the borders of Botswana.”
Price increase
Commenting on recent increases in DStv subscriptions, Legwaila said the increase occurs annually because of increasing operational costs. “Unfortunately, we have to tackle inflation, exchange rate fluctuations and rising prices of content,” she added.
“We ensure that our viewers have exclusive content available on the same day it airs in other countries, and this exercise comes at a cost. But we do have packages that accommodate different afford abilities.”