Bollywood is increasingly becoming popular in Kenya but because it’s either produced in English or several Indian languages, its not so appealing to the majority of Kenyans who don’t understand either of the language.
In a move to have more viewers watching Bollywood and as well understanding it, Pay Television Company StarTimes Media has announced the introduction of Bollywood Swahili a channel that will employ dubbing technology to air award winning movies, drama and series to Kenyan subscribers.
StarTimes Vice President for Marketing Mr. Mark Lisboa said: “The added channels confirm our rich content diversity as we look into meeting the television viewing tastes for the whole family. We intend to continue growing both our local and international channel offering while availing the same across our affordable bouquets to ensure the majority of our subscribers do access and enjoy our programming”.
Bollywood Swahili will complement the Star Swahili channel which is fast growing popular among viewers due to its local relevance.
Recently the firm introduced 6 more channels namely QYou, Trace sports, Da Vinci Learning, Pop, Star SA music and Star Soul Music. QYou is a collection of world popular videos while Trace Sports is a renown sports stars channel profiling sportsmen and women.
Da Vinci learning and Pop will keep the kids entertained through comedy, exploration and invention while Star SA and soul music channels will broadcast the latest urban hits from world renowned music artists.
The move will see StarTimes grow its channel offering to over 75 premium local and international channels accessible on either of the three bouquets Basic, Classic or Unique which attract a monthly subscription rate of Ksh 499, Ksh 999 and 1,499 respectively.
The firm expects local content to help it grow its market share ahead of the expected analogue television signal switch off.
“Content will be a key differentiator to retain and attract new subscribers especially after switch off of the analogue signals, with over 75 Premium channels on our platform currently and having the most affordable subscription rates, we remain the most competitive Pay Television provider with an equally unrivaled channel offering,” observed Mr. Lisboa.