AREWA24, the leading Hausa language family entertainment and lifestyle television channel and production studio in Nigeria and West Africa, announces the launch of its new Original Drama and Film Division. The new company production division will develop, script and produce a slate of new original drama series and feature films, telling authentic African stories from Northern Nigeria and West Africa in both the Hausa language and in core English.
AREWA24’s production studios already produce and broadcast the two most popular and highest rated Hausa language drama series in Northern Nigeria and West Africa, “Dadin Kowa” which is in it’s 25th season, and the channel’s runaway hit political thriller, “Kwana Casa’in” (“90 Days”), which just concluded production on Season-7. Several new original drama series are currently in development and the company will be debuting its first originally-produced premier feature film in Q4 2022.
“AREWA24” has been developing some of the finest Nigerian writers, producers, directors, editors and actors since the channel launched eight years ago,” says Jacob Arback, AREWA24’s CEO. “We are now positioned to be a major Pan African producer of scripted, authentic African content – – for Nigeria, for Africa and for viewers in the West who are becoming more and more exposed to the unique and compelling stories being told in high-quality dramas and films from the Continent.”
Leading the new Original Drama and Film Division is Evans Ejioju, an experienced and talented industry veteran who has been the executive producer of Kwana Casa’in since its first season. Salisu Balabare, the current director of Kwana Casa’in and longtime director of the Dadin Kowa drama series, will head up creative direction for the new division. Bob Reid, a well-known Emmy-award winning executive producer with Discovery Networks and the former EVP and Programming Executive at The Africa Channel in the U.S., is on board as a production consultant and executive producer of AREWA24’s original drama and film productions.
With the creation of this new Original Drama and Film Division, AREWA24 will leverage its own production resources and expertise, as well as look to partner with top creative talent from throughout the world, and with the major global streaming services, to develop and produce an expanding slate of scripted narrative content.
“Our goal is not just to create ever more popular and successful dramas for our core Hausa-speaking audiences,” says Arback. “Some of what we produce might not air first on AREWA24. Going forward, we plan to create a slate of content that appeals to viewers throughout Africa and the rest of the world. The new production division will enable us to tailor content to suit those broader targeted audiences. To do that, we plan to produce authentic African content in English as well as in Hausa and take on more provocative subject matter across a wide range of program genres.”
ABOUT AREWA24 (https://arewa24.com/company-overview/): AREWA24 and its production arm, AREWA24 Productions, was launched in 2014 to fill a glaring void of authentic, locally-produced and high-quality Hausa language entertainment and lifestyle programming that reflects pride in Northern Nigerian life, culture, music, film, art, cooking and sports. Today, AREWA24 reaches 40+ million Hausa speakers in Nigeria and West Africa through its Eutelsat satellite free-to-air broadcast, on the StarTimes payTV bouquet (channel#138) the two Multichoice payTV platforms, DStv (channel #261) and GOtv (channel #101), the payTV platform TSTV (#361) and on the Canal+ payTV service (channel #285) in Niger, Chad and Cameroun. AREWA24 benefits from active audience engagement across its digital platforms at AREWA24.com, facebook.com/AREWA24, and Instagram.com/AREWA24channel. AREWA24 also operates a global streaming service, AREWA24 On Demand in partnership with Vimeo.
To subscribe to the global streaming service, AREWA24 ON DEMAND, go to http://tv.arewa24.com or download the app from the IOS App Store, Google Play, Apple TV, Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV.
For additional information please contact: info@arewa24.com
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AREWA24 Launches new studio and a slate of fresh programming
AREWA24, the leading Hausa language entertainment and lifestyle channel in Nigeria, announces the launch of its new Kano-based multi-set studio and a slate of new shows and formats starting in Q2. The new studio will support a re-branded Breakfast Show (“Gari Ya Waye”), a new sports roundup show (“Sports Central”), and a new set for AREWA24’s popular Kannywood Magazine show (“Kundin Kannywood”), as well as for the “Kannywood Movie Review.” The channel is also relaunching its signature health, medical and wellness show with a new format and host, (“Lafiya Jari,”), which it is producing in Abuja. Rounding out the new slate of entertainment and lifestyle programming is Season-3 of “Haske: Matan Arewa” which profiles extraordinary women of Northern Nigeria.
AREWA24 will also premier dozens of new Kannywood movies throughout the year.
In addition to the new AREWA24-produced shows, the channel is bringing its viewers a new Zee World Series, “Bhagya Lakshmi,” a new popular Turkish drama, “Prisoners of Love” and a slate of new Bollywood movies. Like all of AREWA24’s international licensed programming, all of the series and Bollywood movies are character-dubbed into Hausa at the AREWA24 dubbing studios.
Says Aisha Lawal, AREWA24’s Executive Producer of the new Breakfast Show, “AREWA24’s viewers deserve the best presentation possible and we have been working hard for months to light up our new multi-set studio. Our new Breakfast Show will be a treat for our audiences with not only a new set and a new daily format, but with our terrific new anchor presenters, Naomi David and Muhammad Abubakar Suleiman.”
AREWA24 was launched in 2014 to fill a glaring void of locally-produced Hausa language entertainment and lifestyle programming that reflects pride in Northern Nigerian life, culture, music, film, art, cooking and sports. Today, AREWA24 is available to over 80 million Hausa speakers in Nigeria and West Africa through its Eutelsat satellite free-to-air broadcast, and, in Nigeria, on the StarTimes pay bouquet (channel#138) and on the two Multichoice pay platforms, DStv (channel #261) and GOtv (channel #101).
ABOUT AREWA24: AREWA24 (arewa24.com) is the country’s first all-Hausa-language satellite television channel produced locally and fully dedicated to Northern Nigerian family entertainment.AREWA24’s dedication to promoting Hausa-language television content has filled a gap for Hausa speakers in Nigeria and around the world, many of whom are tuning into AREWA24.com’s digital online viewing platforms as a way to connect with their home and culture. AREWA24’s original productions are also uploaded weekly to youtube.com/AREWA24channel, and the channel benefits from active audience engagement across its digital platforms at AREWA24.com, facebook.com/AREWA24, Instagram.com/AREWA24channel, and twitter.com/AREWA24channel. For additional information please contact: info@arewa24.com
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CANAL+ INTERNATIONAL Adds AREWA24 TV channel to its bouquet
CANAL+INTERNATIONAL enriches its offer with the Nigerian entertainment and lifestyle channel, AREWA24. Launched in 2014 to give visibility and highlight the Hausa culture, AREWA24 addresses over 80 million Hausa speakers in West Africa.
AREWA24 offers a wide variety of entertainment and lifestyle programming genres and formats, from Breakfast Show/talk formats to youth and women’s programming to Hip Hop,
Kannywood films and Kannywood “behind-the-scenes” entertainment to cooking, culture and documentaries. AREWA24’s television lineup also includes medical and health programs, children’s shows, traditional music genres and a variety of Indian and Turkish television series, all character-dubbed into Hausa.The Nigerian entertainment channel AREWA24 is available on the Canal+ bouquet on channel 285 starting today.
Thus, this announcement formalizes the opening in Niger of the new subsidiary of the audiovisual group. CANAL+INTERNATIONAL is investing to get closer to its Nigerien subscribers and to design an offer adapted to their needs.
“We are excited to be able to expand our offering of original content. AREWA24 is a channel that has been providing high quality programming since 2014. CANAL+INTERNATIONAL is
now present in Niger and we hope to give local talent the opportunity to reach all French speaking Africa. Our mission is to promote Nigerian successes and to create bridges
between the different regions of the African continent.” says Cheikh Sarr, Chief Executive Officer of Canal + Niger.
“We are very excited to partner with CANAL + INTERNATIONAL in delivering high quality Hausa language programming to its subscribers. We are confident that our programs will
inspire and entertain our new CANAL + viewers in Niger as they have been doing for the past five years in Nigeria.” Says Celestine Umeibe, AREWA24’s Head of Commercial OperationsAbout AREWA24 : AREWA24 original productions are also downloadable every week on youtube.com/AREWA24channel. Join the AREWA24 digital community on social media:AREWA24.com, facebook.com/AREWA24, Instagram.com/AREWA24channel, and twitter.com/AREWA24channel.
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AREWA24 Celebrates 7th anniversary with largest slate of new programming ever
28 June 2021 – AREWA24, the leading Hausa language entertainment and lifestyle television channel and production studio in Nigeria and West Africa, celebrates its 7th anniversary by giving its viewers the largest slate of new Hausa-language programming in the channel’s history. AREWA24’s new slate of programming debuts in July, with new original dramas, a new women’s talk show, new kids’ “edutainment” series, fresh football shows alongside AREWA24’s other popular hit dramas and studio shows. Many of these new shows will also be immediately available on AREWA24 On Demand, the channel’s global subscription-video-on-demand service connecting Hausa speaking families around the world to Northern Nigerian entertainment, culture and lifestyle. New seasons of AREWA24’s original runaway hit drama series, Kwana Casa’in and Dadin Kowa, are currently in production and will premier in October.
AREWA24’s new slate of programs leads with three new Hausa dramas: Buka Afrikana, an ensemble situation-comedy set in a local Nigerian Middle Belt diner, or “Buka.” Labarna-Season-3, the newest season of one of the most popular Northern Nigerian hit drama series and Sirrin Boye, a new Hausa mystery and crime drama. Also launching in July is AREWA24’s new ground-breaking women’s talk show, “Mata A Yau” (Today’s Woman”), featuring four dynamic co-hosts from different backgrounds and ages, openly discussing important issues women are currently facing today in Northern Nigeria.
AREWA24’s CEO, Jacob Arback, reflecting on the company’s growth over the past seven years, gives all the credit to the company’s management and staff and to the tremendous talent in the Northern Nigerian television, media and creative arts sectors. “Many people don’t realize that there are over 80M Hausa speakers in Northern Nigeria and the Sahel, and the region is bursting everywhere with young talent. Arback adds, “what I am most proud of, however, is how our management and staff, comprised of such diverse Nigerian backgrounds, ethnicities, tribes, religions and geographics, can all gather as a team in Kano, Nigeria, to produce some of the best programming coming out of Africa today.”
AREWA24 is also expanding its kids’ entertainment and education programming in July, dubbing into Hausa for the first time ever the multi-award winning “Sesame Street Friends,” with all of your favorite Sesame Street characters, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. Also debuting in Hausa on AREWA24 is Super Sema, the first African kids’ superhero animated series about an ordinary young girl on an extraordinary mission to protect her African village from a heartless villain and his army of pesky robots. The Oscar-winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o, is a voice actress on the Super Sema series and is also a partner in the Nairobi-based Super Sema production company, Kukua. Keeping our avid Nigerian football fans happy, AREWA24 is rounding out its July new program launches with two new football series: “Homage, and “Perfection.”
ABOUT AREWA24: AREWA24 and its production arm, AREWA24 Productions, was launched in 2014 to fill a glaring void of authentic, locally-produced and high-quality Hausa language entertainment and lifestyle programming that reflects pride in Northern Nigerian life, culture, music, film, art, cooking and sports. Today, AREWA24 reaches 40+ million Hausa speakers in Nigeria and West Africa through its Eutelsat satellite free-to-air broadcast, on the StarTimes payTV bouquet (channel#138) the two Multichoice payTV platforms, DStv (channel #261) and GOtv (channel #101), the payTV platform TSTV (#361) and on the Canal+ payTV service (channel #285) in Niger, Chad and Cameroun. AREWA24 benefits from active audience engagement across its digital platforms at AREWA24.com, facebook.com/AREWA24, and Instagram.com/AREWA24channel.
To subscribe to the global streaming service, AREWA24 ON DEMAND, go to http://tv.arewa24.com or download the app from the IOS App Store, Google Play, Apple TV, Roku Channel Store and Amazon Fire TV.
For additional information please contact: info@arewa24.com
