Samsung launches DTH TVs for Africa

Samsung is launching a TV set integrated with a free-to-air satellite receiver in sub-Saharan Africa.

The company is collaborating with SES to help drive satellite-delivered digital TV services in the region. Samsung’s TV Free Satellite models will enable consumers to receive free-to-air television channels without the need for an additional set top box as the TV will be directly connected to the satellite dish. SES delivers more than 60 free-to-air channels in more than 40 African countries.

The TVs will be distributed initially in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte D’Ivoire, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon this August, with rollouts in additional countries to follow.

SES and Samsung announced the partnership at the Samsung Africa Forum in Cape Town this morning.

“This collaboration is the first of its kind and will drive digitalisation in Africa,” said Christoph Limmer, SES’s senior director of marketing development and marketing in Africa. “Today, one out of three households in Africa has a TV set but less than 10 million homes receive content in digital format. Our cooperation will not only help to improve access to digital content for African consumers but it will also encourage African broadcasters to launch more content. In servicing more than 40 African countries, we are well aware of the huge demand for more and higher quality TV services. The opportunity lies in providing an increasingly sophisticated African viewership with a significantly increased number of TV channels – a first for many African countries.”