Zambia’s Muvi TV platform doubles digital channel line-up on EUTELSAT 7B satellite
Muvi TV, Zambia’s leading commercial broadcaster and one of Africa’s fastest-growing satellite TV platforms, is poised for a new phase of expansion. The company has renewed and expanded its satellite capacity requirements from Stellar, a leading German play-out centre and satellite uplink facility, that leases high-power capacity on the EUTELSAT 7B satellite operated by Eutelsat Communications (NYSE Euronext Paris: ETL) to broadcast Muvi TV to Zambia and neighbouring countries.
The additional capacity enables Muvi TV to double the range of quality channels broadcast via EUTELSAT 7B. From six channels launched in 2013, the platform now operates 12 channels, including popular Nigerian content, new Muvi-branded channels, as well as news, sports (including German Bundesliga matches), and innovative formats showing user-generated content.
The varied digital content is partially broadcast free-to-air (Africa TV, Emmanuel TV and Prism Africa), reaching across Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique, while the subscription channels are available to Zambian homes who sign up for a Muvi TV smartcard and decoder. Subscribers pay the affordable monthly fee through the mobile phone network by sending a text message.
With this new phase of expansion on EUTELSAT 7B, Muvi TV is delivering on its vision of enabling all homes in Zambia to benefit from the choice and quality of digital TV. Digital reception in Zambia was previously confined to viewers in Lusaka, Ndola and Livingstone who could access just one channel, Muvi TV. In addition to extending capacity and service agreements, Muvi TV plans a further expansion in second quarter 2015 using capacity booked on the EUTELSAT 7B satellite.
Stellar connects Muvi TV’s content via EUTELSAT 7B to its professional play-out facility in Germany. The content is then turned around and broadcast back to the sub-Saharan home market from the Stellar-owned teleport, also via EUTELSAT 7B.
Steve Nyirenda, CEO of Muvi TV, said: “Our tremendous growth over the last five years has been underpinned by our relationships with top technology partners. We are pleased to cement these partnerships with long-term agreements with two top providers - with Eutelsat for satellite capacity and with Stellar for play-out and turnaround services.”
Christian Steffen, CEO of Stellar, said: “Much of Muvi TV’s success is naturally due to the quality content produced in Zambia, but the cooperation with Eutelsat and Stellar enables Muvi TV to address a substantially wider audience in all neighbouring countries, and indeed throughout all of sub-Saharan Africa.”
Michel Azibert, Eutelsat’s Chief Commercial and Development Officer, said: “The pace of digitisation in Africa is gathering speed, transforming the media landscape and opening up exciting new options for viewers. We are delighted to accompany the expansion of Muvi TV that is emerging as a platform of reference in Sub-Saharan Africa, delivering an innovative venture that is a source of new content creation and extending the benefits of digital to homes everywhere. We are also proud to be the operator of choice for over 50 per cent of satellite channels broadcasting today in the vibrant Sub-Saharan Africa market.”