LONDON, UK — Blue Ant Media continues to expand in Africa with the announcement Monday its Love Nature and Smithsonian Channel premium channels are launching on StarTimes’ broadcast platforms across several sub-Saharan African territories.
Love Nature and Smithsonian Channel are launching in HD on StarTimes, one of the continent’s leading television platforms, via DTT, DTH, OTT and IPTV. StarTimes viewers will have access to Smithsonian Channel in English and Love Nature in English and Portuguese.
“These new licensing deals significantly grow Blue Ant Media’s footprint across Africa,” said Ward Platt, CEO, Global Networks & Kids, Blue Ant Media, in the news release. “Bringing the channels to new platforms allows us to share our broad portfolio of stunning natural history and factual programming with more viewers in Africa.”
Among the Love Nature programming included in the new distribution deal with StarTimes are: Big Cat Country (6 x 60’), the ultimate lion saga that follows three colliding lion prides and the wildlife camera team that captures all the action; Dogs with Extraordinary Jobs (5 x 60’), which explores the extraordinary jobs four-legged friends undertake across the globe; Great Blue Wild (4 x 60’), a series that joins marine ecologists as they uncover ocean secrets and defend endangered animals; and Monkey Island (3 x 60’), which shares the story of an ancient citadel, once home to Sri Lanka’s kings, which has now been reclaimed by the jungle with a new dynasty in power — monkeys.
Smithsonian Channel’s lineup includes: Apollo’s Moon Shot (6 x 60’), a documentary series exploring humankind’s most ambitious journey, brought to life through archival interviews, rarely seen footage, and artifacts; First Ladies Revealed (4 x 60’), a series examining some of the first ladies who left their indelible mark on the White House and in history; and Asian Tsunami: The Deadliest Wave (1 x 60’), which examines how early warning systems are currently being developed and also features some of the few people who survived the disastrous tsunami of 2004.
