Real Housewives Franchise Is Set To Expand Across Africa w/ New Shows In Nairobi & Pretoria

The Real Housewives Franchise Is Set To Expand Across Africa w/ New Shows In Nairobi & Pretoria

The Real Housewives franchise is continuing their expansion across the world!

According to reports, NBCUniversal formats has partnered with African entertainment company Multichoice for several more African versions of The Real Housewives shows.

The new versions will reportedly include Nairobi (Kenya) and Pretoria (South Africa), with several others in the making. Independent production company Provoco is filming the 14-part series in Pretoria, while the filming in Nairobi will begin in September.

The expansion comes after NBCUniversal Formats recently held The Real Housewives of Africa Summit in Cape Town for its production partners across the continent. Across two days, local producers shared their experiences, heard how to create a successful franchise and connected with other global partners behind “The Real Housewives” series, including Matchbox Pictures and U.S. network Bravo.

The Real Housewives is an international franchise that currently consists of 11 American installments, 20 international installments, as well as 23 spin-offs. The series focuses on the personal and professional lives of a group of affluent women residing in a particular city.

The Real Housewives currently has shows in Lagos– which was the was the first Nigerian installment of the franchise– Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg which air across Multichoice’s channels and platforms. The Real Housewives of Cape Town had its debut last month, and ranked in the top five reality premieres on the channel since 2021.

The American franchise is primarily broadcasted on Bravo. It first aired in 2006 with The Real Housewives of Orange County. The most popular versions of the franchise are The Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, The Real Housewives of New York and The Real Housewives of Potomac. 

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Ana Langenberg– senior VP at NBCUniversal Formats–had this to say about the new expansion:

“We are so proud to build on the continued success of The Real Housewives franchises across Africa. The way each version faithfully embodies the spirit of the city, people and rich cultures it showcases connects with audiences across the region and the diaspora.”

She continued,

“It was such a magical moment to bring our production partners together with Multichoice for our summit in Cape Town to connect, collaborate and map out more versions we can add to the family.”

Nomsa Philiso, executive head of content, Mnet Channels, added:

“As a platform that provides content on both linear and OTT, ‘The Real Housewives’ franchise is proving to be very popular with our diverse audiences. This has allowed us to continuously expand and increase to different territories as we operate across Africa. This may be a global franchise, but our spin is authentically African, as a broadcaster keeping up with our viewers’ tastes and preferences is important, and ‘The Real Housewives’ franchise meets our audience’s needs.”

 

What are your thoughts? Are you happy to see The Real Housewives franchise expand? Let us know in the comments below!

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