As part of efforts aimed at telling its own story in a narrative that succinctly captures its rich cultural diversities, Ethiopia’s first dedicated television platform, Ethiosat has been launched. With this development, Ethiopian TV viewers who over the years have had to navigate through a plethora of multinational content in a variety of foreign languages in order to locate their favourite channels will now have something with a domestic appeal to rely on. Ethiosat will now host Ethiopia’s most popular local channels. Sources say that the launch of the Ethiosat was made possible through collaborations between the Association of Ethiopian Broadcasters (AEB), the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), and the world’s leading satellite operator, SES. It is going to be hosted on SES’s NSS-12 satellite at 57 degrees East and delivers over 30 channels for Ethiopian audiences only, with 12 of those channels already in High Definition (HD) quality.

While speaking on the development, the Chairman of Association of Ethiopian Broadcasters (AEB) Amman Fissehazion, said that before now, the majority of Ethiopia’s content has been broadcast from an orbital location that also supplies content to Middle Eastern and North African countries, which explains the often confusing mix of content. Explaining that by migrating the most popular Ethiopian TV channels to a new location on SES’s satellite, “we’ve created an Ethiopian-only TV offering, that also delivers a variety of channels in HD, a first in Ethiopia.”

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Fissehazion added that this is also a great time for the millions of homes in Ethiopia that currently do not receive TV services to bring TV sets into their home. “For Ethiopians looking to buy a new TV set and receive content from the dedicated TV neighbourhood, we recommend purchasing an HD TV whenever possible, as this will allow for a higher picture quality.” In addition, the launch of Ethiosat will offer Ethiopians a larger offering of both local and relevant international content in the future. Fissehazion said, “We believe consolidating all Ethiopian TV channels and broadcasting them from one orbital position will fuel growth in the Ethiopian media sector, as local networks will now be able to easily expand their audience reach. This will bring in healthy and growing advertising markets, which will result in a greater variety of content, and more localised content.”

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“SES is supporting every aspect of this launch and providing on-the-ground services to ensure that Ethiosat is successful, which includes training local installers to correctly repoint the satellite dishes of each TV household to ensure a seamless migration. Ethiosat will be bringing a completely new television experience to Ethiopians. We intend for the reliability and quality of the new platform to bring in many new viewers, powering a bright future for the Ethiopian media sector,” said Ferdinand Kayser, CEO of SES Video.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.