Zuku reveals subscriber numbers five months after launch

East African pay TV service Zuku TV has signed up 35,000 subscribers in its first five months.

This comes as the service’s parent company Wananchi Group plans to roll the platform out in a raft of countries in 2012. Zuku TV is already available in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and it hopes to launch Zuku TV in Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Malawi and Somalia next year.

The platform airs a number of own-brand news, sports and entertainment channels as well as international channels including channels from BBC Worldwide, MTV, MGM and Setanta.

“Zuku has been very well received in the markets that we have rolled out in. Part of the reason for our success we believe is our commitment to providing fresh, innovative and affordable entertainment for the Wananchi. We have experienced unprecedented demand for our product to the point where we are selling out in a lot of our stores. We however would like to also reassure our customers that we are in the process of replenishing our stocks in time for the festive season,” said Wananchi Group CEO, Richard Bell.