Tag Archives: Comedy Central

Khanyi Mbau set for Comedy Central roast

South African actress Khanyi Mbau is set to become the first African woman ‘roasted’ on Comedy Central Africa and on streaming platform Showmax.

Khanyi Mbau

She will be subjected to thought-provoking jokes and comments by the Roastmaster, comedian Mpho Popps, and other African personalities.

“So this year, I am switching up the roast. I need a room the size of a football field, they can change under a tree, the carpet must have their names so I can step on them. You can’t master a queen so we do not have a master this year,” stated Mbau.

Popps said: “This is just one of those career milestones that I couldn’t have imagined happening. Khanyi Mbau is a legend and an entertainment icon. For me to be the chosen one to throw her on to the flames to be roasted is not only historical but legendary as well. As the Roastmaster I say, may the thickest skin win!”

Dillon Khan, VP of Comedy Central Africa, said: “Mpho Popps is no stranger to our channel. He was first introduced to our audiences on Comedy Central Live at Parkers and we, at Comedy Central Africa, have enjoyed collaborating with him on various other projects.

“He did the opening set for the Roast of Somizi and had a very amazing performance. So being the Roastmaster is a natural fit – a bit like the chemistry between him and Khanyi that is guaranteed to be electrifying.”

“We’re huge fans of Mpho Popps from Strictly Come Dancing and his work on classics on Showmax like Ayeye, Thina Sobalili and the Roast of Somizi, so we can’t wait to watch him dance circles around anyone who steps out of line,” added Candice Fangueiro, Showmax’s head of content.

The Comedy Central Roast of Khanyi Mbau will debut on Comedy Central (DStv 122) and Showmax on August 8 at 21.00.

The Comedy Central Roast is a South African version of the international format of one-off specials that originated on US cable network Comedy Central, in which a celeb is subjected to jokes at their expense.

Comedy Central Africa has so far roasted celebs including singer Steve Hofmeyr in 2012, businessman Kenny Kunene in 2014, actor Somizi Mhlongo in 2018 and rapper AKA in 2019.

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FNG Africa hires iflix exec in rejig

Fox Networks Group (FNG) in Europe and Africa has hired an exec from Malaysian SVoD service iflix and upped one of its senior managers in a shake-up of its African business.

Evert van der Veer

Evert van der Veer, formerly head of content in Africa and the Middle East at iflix, has been appointed general manager of FNG Africa.

At iflix, van der Veer oversaw content operations, acquisition and marketing and developed local productions as part of the streamer’s long-term strategy. Before that, he held numerous positions at Viacom International Media Networks Africa, including VP for Comedy Central.

Van der Veer’s hire follows the exit of Gary Alfonso, who was previously FNG general manager in Africa but left in March.

Additionally, Vasilis Iliopoulos, general manager of FNG Greece, has been promoted to senior VP for FNG Africa. Iliopoulos will look to expand Fox Sports and local content productions, and will develop

Vasilis Iliopoulos

National Geographic Partners across key markets in East, West and Southern Africa. He will retain his duties at FNG Greece alongside his Africa responsibilities.

The appointments follow a series of changes to FNG’s global businesses in the past year. Most recently, Jacqui Feeney, MD of FNG Australia, stepped down after five years to be replaced by Tim Jones.

In February, the US business upped Jeff Hughes to lead its digital consumer group, replacing Brian Sullivan, who was made FNG’s overall president and chief operating officer late last year.

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Viacom channels join MTN Shortz

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has agreed a deal that puts several of its global channel brands on mobile operator MTN’s short-film streaming platform in Nigeria.

MTN’s Shortz platform will carry shortform content from VIMN brands including Nickelodeon, MTV, MTV Base and Comedy Central as part of the deal, which VIMN secured alongside Lagos-based Arial View Nigeria and MTN.

Under the deal, MTN subscribers will have the possibility to watch all the best shortform video from the iconic VIMN brands via their favourite devices. The deal licenses AVNL to distribute and monetise content to MTN, Africa’s largest mobile network operator with more than 200 million subscribers, including 57 million in Nigeria alone.

Mobile penetration and the demand for short and bite-size content continues to grow in sub-Saharan Africa, thus making MTN Shortz a strategic and long-term platform to reach audiences.

VIMN announced the MTN deal together with a similar content licensing deal with Vodafone in Turkey, which took 300 hours of VIMN’s SVoD content, versioned in Turkish, from Nickelodeon, Nick Jr and Teennick. The content will be distributed exclusively for mobile consumption via the Vodafone TV app.

VIMN has also launched the MTV+ Prime Video Channel on Amazon in Germany and Austria. Prime members can add MTV+ to their existing Prime membership for €2.99 per month. The new offer gives Amazon Prime Video members the ability to access the linear MTV Brand New channel and various premium MTV content on-demand.

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