Thursday, July 13, 2017

Viacom International to produce two spin-offs of Viacom Africa's sex edutainment show, MTV Shuga, for India and Egypt.


Viacom MTV International's Africa sex edutainment show, MTV Shuga, will expand into two further spin-offs for Africa's Egypt and India by 2020.

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) made the announcement at a Family Planning 2020 summit in London, saying the Indian version will be called MTV Nished (after the Hindi word for "taboo"), with the Egyptian version that will be done in Arabic and also get a local title.

Meanwhile MTV Shuga, commissioned by VIMN Africa and broadcast on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, will see two further seasons produced in Nigeria - its 6th and 7th seasons - that will start in 2018 in the West African country with very conservative views about sexuality.

These new Nigerian set seasons of MTV Shuga will have a strong focus on contraception and family planning, and the 6th season will be broadcast in early-2018 throughout Africa, Europe, America, Asia, Australia and the Caribbean.

Previous MTV Shuga seasons have been filmed in Kenya and lately in South Africa.

In India MTV Nished will be produced as part of a joint venture with Viacom 18 and there the show will focus on child sexploitation and like the African version on HIV/Aids and its prevention.

The Egyptian version that will be broadcast on pan-Arabic broadcasters, will focus on female genital mutilation, the scourge of child marriage, violence against women, demands for contraception and family planning issues.

The two spin-off shows will be broadcast in 2020.

"We know that storytelling has the power to catalyse positive social change and have seen that first-hand in Africa with series like MTV Shuga," says Georgia Arnold, executive director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and senior vice president for social responsibility for MTV International.

"By going global with MTV Shuga and bringing this format to new countries, we are committed to challenging misconceptions and inspiring our audiences to talk openly and honestly about their sexual health, while also mobilising them to take action to access the services they need."