By Adam Wakefield
Turner is well known to South African and African audiences through owning recognised top-performing children brands Cartoon Network and Boomerang, in addition to other brands such as news channel CNN and the rebranded movie channel TCM.
Branco, appointed to his current role in September 2014, believes it makes sense for both editorial and business responsibilities to sit with the same person. His role is to marry the work done by the specialists in the editorial and business units he oversees.
The overarching philosophy Turner uses to bind the two together is an emphasis on editorial, with Branco pointing to the strength of Cartoon Network’s brand, and that of its shows such as the Powerpuff Girls and Ben 10, as examples of how good content means good business.
Turner has had a presence in the South African market for many years but Branco sees South Africa as being part of the broader African market.
“We already have a strong presence in Africa in general, and in Southern Africa and in South Africa especially, where we are the number one kids’ multiplex platform and have been for a number of years,” Branco says.
“We have a great responsibility, which is to keep on delivering great shows to existing series but also to provide new ideas, new concepts, new stories, and new heroes to the audience. That’s the first thing.”
There is also a question of scale, and whether what is broadcast in South Africa can be broadcast elsewhere across the continent, and vice versa.
“On the rest of the continent, it is the same thing. There are still untapped places and untapped opportunities within the wider market,” he says.
At present, Turner’s strategy in Africa is getting their existing brands, especially their children’s content, in front of as wide an audience as possible, “so they can just discover it and enjoy it”.
The broadcaster also has plans of expanding its general entertainment footprint across the continent. A boon to the broadcaster, according to Branco, is that they are able to leverage the over $1-billion investment Turner has made in content for their US-based channels, including TNT and TBS, let alone the over $3-billion they invest in other content.
“This is definitely something that we want to bring to Africa. It’s not the case today, while our footprint is still quite limited in this space. But, we have strong ambitions to grow this going forward, in order to bring this content to our audiences,” he says.
“The focus on Africa is very clear. The continent is growing and there is a strong appetite for local content, which we also look at very carefully. There is also an increasing appetite for the best international content that works everywhere.”
As Turner seeks to move beyond kids programming into general entertainment in Africa, Branco notes that doing so means not replicating what’s being done for their children’s programming. Children and adults are two very different target markets, and what adults require is “never seen before, exclusive” content of the highest production value they cannot access anywhere else.
“The fact that we are a huge international media company means we can leverage on our size and the talent that we have. I think the content that cannot be seen anywhere else will be the key factor for us to penetrate the African market on a wider scale,” he says.
Two such shows that Turner intends to place its faith in are Tales from the Crypt, a horror fantasy show set for release on TNT in the United States, and Will, an adaptation of the life of William Shakespeare “treated in a very rock n’ roll, modern, and action-style way”.
“These are very high-end productions we are bringing to the market and these, combined with our local productions, will give us the opportunity to make inroads in this market,” Branco says.
Turner is fully aware that the African market is synonymous with mobile, which Branco says is very important to the broadcaster’s strategy across the continent. With the continent being more advanced in the realm of mobile than many other markets, Branco says Turner aims to take advantage of this by ensuring their strategy in this respect is consumer-centric.
“We want to reach our viewers and new viewers wherever they are, and we know they’re not only in front of a big TV screen. They are also focused on smaller screens such as tablets and, of course, mobile screens,” he says.