ROK, the award-winning Nigerian film studio
and entertainment brand, will launch across Africa on the DStv
platform across Africa on 1 November 2016. The Lagos-based film studio,
renowned for its original TV series and Nollywood movies, will join the DStv
family, bringing exciting original content to 52 countries, 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
The new channel will launch with ROKStudios’ exclusively-produced
content, including Single Ladies,
Stalemate, Banks Chronicles and Bloodline. ROK will be available to DStv
Premium, DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact customers. Some of the ROK content
will also be available on the DStv Catch-Up service.
Nigerian cinema, known colloquially as
Nollywood, is the second largest film industry in the world, in terms of
production output. In its short history, ROK has become one of the industry’s
most prolific producers of new, original content, with arguably Africa’s most
extensive Nollywood catalogue of 12 TV series and over 150 movies.
The new, exclusively Nollywood channel will be
fully programmed, produced and developed in-house, by ROK’s Lagos-based team.
Mary Njoku, award-winning Nollywood actress and film producer who has spent
over 12 years at the heart of Nigerian filmmaking, will head up the channel,
which will also be supported by IROKO, the VC-backed African technology and
entertainment broadcaster and content distributor.
Speaking on the launch, ROK CEO Mary Njokusays: “Joining the DStv
family is the next step in ROK’s evolution as Nollywood’s leading film
production house and brand. Broadcasting our original content to millions of
movie fans across the African continent, on a platform as far-reaching and
illustrious as DStv, is an exhilarating prospect.
“What lies beneath every ROK production, the
ROK brand, be it movies or TV series, is our fanatical love of African
storytelling; we want to relate amazing African stories that our fans can
recognise, be swept away by and be entertained with. We work with Nigeria’s
most exceptional talent, in front of and behind the camera, and we continue to
push the boundaries in terms of production values. This has given us the edge,
in our short history, and has helped us build a fanbase around the world. ROK
on DStv allows us to bring ROK to every corner of the continent and connect
viewers with content they love”.
“One of the
cornerstones of our customer promise is to deliver content that our customers
love and enjoy, and that is why we’re excited to introduce ROK which will boost
DStv’s local content offering and showcase even more African stories made in
Africa, for us Africans,” says Multichoice
Zambia Acting Managing Director ,Ngoza Kasunga Matakala. “This will ensure
that our offering keeps the art of storytelling alive on the continent which,
will in turn help to grow Africa’s creative industries like Nollywood into
vibrant, economic powerhouses.”
Since its launch in 2013, ROK Studios has
produced some of Nollywood’s most talked about originals, including Festac Town, Single Ladies,
Stalemate, Banks Chronicles and Bloodline.The channel launches with
these blockbuster titles, and going forward, ROK viewers on DStv will be the
first to watch new and exclusive homegrown ROK content, before it goes anywhere
else.
Nollywood is the world’s second largest film
industry in terms of output, producing approximately 50 films a week and
employs over one million people in Nigeria, and contributes 1.42 percent of
Nigeria’s GDP. Prominent themes in Nollywood films include family, religion,
love and betrayal.
For further information about the channel and
programming to look forward to on ROK, please visit www.dstv.com.
About ROK Studios
ROK Studios launched in 2013. ROK Studios is a leading African film and television
studio and production house based in Lagos, Nigeria. ROK specialize in the
creation of content in partnership with the industry’s foremost creative
talent. ROK has developed, produced and financed film and TV series for
distribution platforms globally. ROK owns one of the largest content libraries
in Nigeria, with blockbuster films and series, as well as an Animation Studio
called ROK Animations Studios.
Follow ROK on social
media
Instagram - ROK_DSTV
Facebook - ROK DSTV
Twitter - ROK_DSTV
About
MultiChoice Africa
MultiChoice Africa Limited (“MultiChoice Africa”) is a
leading video entertainment service provider with over twenty years’ digital
television experience. The company provides premium video entertainment
for subscribers in 49 sub-Saharan African countries and its adjacent Indian
Ocean islands. For over two decades, MultiChoice has positively impacted the
television production and creative industries while creating employment and
empowering small businesses in related industries, from being the best provider
of home video entertainment to launching on demand services – including Box
Office, Catch Up, DStv Now and AMGO which truly meet the evolving needs of
Africa’s tech-savvy consumers. MultiChoice Africa provides video
entertainment content varying from blockbuster movies, the latest series, the
world’s greatest sport, up to the minute news, great children’s programmes,
music and an array of specialist genres including language specific channels
available on both the DStv and GOtv bouquets. Video Entertainment is available
on a number of different subscription platforms including direct to home
satellite, Digital terrestrial Television (DTT), Live streaming,
Video-On-Demand and Mobile. As a corporate citizen, MultiChoice has an
unmatched community investment record stretching back two decades creating a
meaningful legacy on the continent.
