Fox International Channels partners with Nigeria’s pay-TV provider Montage

21st Century Fox’s multimedia company, Fox International Channels (FIC), has announced a partnership with Montage, a rapidly growing player in the West African Sub-Region pay-TV market.

Also included in the deal is the launch in Africa of one of the iconic brands of the FIC’s portfolio: FOX Movies, a channel dedicated to exceptional movie content that will be seen first on Montage. This agreement is in line with FIC’s corporate strategy of broad expansion of channel distribution into the African territory.

Montage, which provides alternative bouquet of channel genres, received eight channel brands as part of the partnership with FOX Movies from 1 April, also including FOX, FX, FOX Crime, Nat Geo Gold, Baby-TV, Setanta Africa and Setanta Action.

This move sees Montage extend FIC’s carriage on the West African region. Following after the FIC announced the purchase of a 100% stake in Setanta Africa in 2013, the partnership increases the variety in its African portfolio of channels to include sport.

Premiering great series such as Da Vinci’s Demons, The Bridge, The Walking Dead, Falling Skies, Rogue, and Meet the Russians, FIC’s fiction and factual entertainment channels epitomise the most appealing premium TV offer on the market.

CEO of Montage, Bamidele Adetunji, said: “We are pleased to be a partner of the FOX family as we strive to provide quality and credible alternative pay-TV service to the deserving and underserved West African market. We view this deal as strategic and a progressive move that will reshape the entire media and entertainment landscape in years to come while counting on the support of our global partners and regulators to ensure that pay-TV is no longer seen as an exclusive but an inclusive industry in the continent.”

“Africa is a priority market for FIC and our mission to expand the distribution of our channel brands across the continent cannot be realised without Nigeria,” commented Adam Theiler, EVP of FIC Southern Europe and Africa. “We are thrilled that FOX Movies and our FOX brands will find new audiences through the partnership with Montage, and we look forward to having closer contact with our fans in West Africa.

Concluded Alessandro Tucci, SVP and General Manager for FIC Africa: “We are very pleased with the launch of FOX Movies and the growth of our distribution in the West African region and Montage is a fitting partner in our overall plan of ensuring that the availability of our channels is far reaching. The support from FIC will be driven by a dynamic locally based team situated in Johannesburg; this ensures that our common language and culture position us closer to this territory.”