Ethiopian Broadcasters Association migrates to SES Satellites

Via 123RF

The migration agreement with AEB will create a dedicated TV neighbourhood for Ethiopians on SES’s East Africa Digital TV platform on NSS-12 at 57 degrees East and will be launched in August 2019. 

Some channels are available from Eutelsat 7 WestA, E-8 WestB, Nilesat 102, but it is unclear whether the SES platform is simply duplicating what is already available. Kana TV, the market leader (34% share) and owned by Afghanistan-based Moby Media, is part of the new bouquet.

“The consolidation of Ethiopian content into one prime TV neighbourhood under a new orbital location means that the AEB members comprising private broadcasters EBS, Fana Broadcasting, Walta TV, Arts TV, Afrihealth, OBS, LTV, Kana, JTV, DWTV, Asham TV, Ahadu TV, Ministry of Education and Nahoo TV, will be able to easily expand their audience reach.

Together, these 14 members of the association control more than 50% of the viewership of Ethiopia and will be able to foster healthy advertising markets that will strengthen the development of the country’s free-to-air (FTA) market,” reported SES.

“In a separate agreement with SES, the public and regional channels including ETV News, ETV Entertainment, ETV Languages, OBN TV, Tigray TV, South TV and Amhara TV led by the public service broadcaster EBC will also be distributed via this Ethiopian-dedicated TV neighbourhood. The Ethiopian content via NSS-12 will be broadcast mainly in high-definition (HD), introducing a new level of viewing experience to Ethiopian audiences,” added SES.

“We are at a critical juncture in Ethiopia. We want to harness the momentum for change and create a truly Ethiopian TV neighbourhood that will deliver local content to viewers in high quality, and fuel growth in the Ethiopian media sector,” said Amman Fissehazion, chairman of AEB. “We are pleased to be working with SES and its local team toward this goal as they provide the dedication and experience needed to successfully implement such an ambitious project.”

“We are honoured to be working with AEB and EBC on this endeavour, which recognises our full commitment to our customers,” said Ferdinand Kayser, CEO, SES Video. “We are proud that the migration will bring a completely new television experience to Ethiopians and drive new levels of growth in the Ethiopian media industry.”