Azam Media to launch new pay TV service for Africa

AzamTV, a new pay TV service for East Africa, is to launch on the Eutelsat 7A satellite, offering 55 African and international channels for the equivalent of US$8 (€6) a month.

Azam Media, owned by Tanzanian conglomerate Bakhresa Group, has signed a contract for 108MHz of capacity on the satellite to launch the service, which will include three how-grown channels, Azam One, Azam Two and Kiswahili-language movie channel Sinema Zetu.

Azam Media plans to launch the service in Tanzania and then expand across East Africa and ultimately the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

The service will be compressed in MPEG-4 and uplinked from Eutelsat’s facility in Cagliari, Sardinia. Eutelsat has also developed a training programme for installers, Satëlite, with about 500 installers trained during the last two weeks of October.

“The arrival of AzamTV as a trans-continental pay-TV platform finally marks the availability of affordable and high-quality digital channels for viewers in Tanzania and way beyond. With the footprint and the services provided by Eutelsat we benefit from a solid platform and unrivalled DTH experience that will help transform into reality our vision of delivering exceptional entertainment at a great price into ordinary TV homes across the region,” said Azam Media CEO Rhys Torrington.

Azam Media has also secured rights to Tanzanian Premier League football. Ahead of the launch of the service, the group is making match coverage available through an agreement with state broadcaster TBC that will see matches aired on TBC until the mid-season break. According to Torrington, Premier League coverage will also be aired on Azam TV’s flagship channel when the service launches until the break, after which it will be available exclusively on the pay TV platform.