CTN Stokvel TV scoops 20 million new viewers

With this unprecedented move into electronic communication by the SACC , 20 million members will
receive their Church news together with entertainment programming which CTN Stokvel TV features, whilst Stokvel TV gains 20 million new viewers.

The SACC will distribute the channel from June, on video cassettes, reaching their members in groups in private homes and community church halls via their formal infrastructure. The SACC is divided into 9 regions, each controlling 10 sub regions. It is central to 23 different churches in the country.

CTN Stokvel TV started out 9 years ago as a niched television channel which provided a platform to the leadership of major Stokvel groups who needed to be kept in touch with their members. The channel developed a reach of over 2 million stokvel member viewers in this market over time, using a fresh approach which delivers commercial messages via a soap opera format.

"Stokvel TV crossed the divide between viewer and participant by involving the viewers themselves in the production of our infomercials, educational programmes, and variety entertainment," says Vanessa du Plessis, CEO of Community Television Network Holdings (Pty) Ltd, the holding company of the stokvel TV channel. We shoot on location in viewer homes, at stokvel groups or other gathering places, which makes our viewers also the stars of the channel. At the same time, we are able to do face to face promotions for clients directly to the community. We film the contact, and everyone looks forward to the next edition, because they are on TV!."

"We are honoured and thrilled to be entrusted with the vast membership of the SACC. This move makes Stokvel TV available to virtually all stokvel members in the country today - a market
which is deemed to control over R24 billion in cash annually - but has been notoriously difficult to access. Stokvel members are church members, and church members almost always belong to a form of Stokvel.

"We have long been aware that the church is at the heart of community life. Many stokvel groups, burial society groups, and regular church groups gather at community halls connected to the churches. In fact, in some cases the churches even provide mass catering facilities for the use of members. Expanding the channel to reach the SACC members is the natural thing to do. We put a lot of effort into producing programming which is valuable to our viewers - whilst providing very cost effective access for our advertisers. Now we can deliver numbers to an extent which I believe to be unrivalled by any media in the country - and they are economically active!"

The deal also carries a component which allows "e-Stokini" centres to be constructed at each congregate venue. These e-Stokini centres are giant branded "electronic picnic spots" where viewers can sit and watch Stokvel TV, wait for transport, or just chat. "e-Stokini" means gathering place. "We aim to get the community off the floor, and provide seating areas where they can relax and interact," says du Plessis.

"We heard the message loud and clear - all the parties need one another : marketers want direct and mass access to the community without having to spend a fortune - but don't have a direct medium through which they can have this access; the community want access to job opportunties and information from the private sector but don't know where to find it. The SACC wants to enrich the lives of the people and help in social development - but they need to be able to communicate with their members to do so. CTN Stokvel TV provides the interaction - below and above the line."

Further information from 011 483 1327.