October 2015 News round-up: Orange Digital Ventures invests in SVoD service; Trace unveils plans for SVoD, original content; Icflix strikes set- top box partnership with Humax; MTN acquires pay TV licence as Nigeria outlines new DSO steps News feature: Intelsat looks to African video boom Expect More. AMOS Satellites. More Coverage. More Throughput. More Services. AfricaCom November 17-19, 2015 Cape Town Booth #E10 Spacecom, an established satellite provider, focuses on Africa with newly launched services, designed to enhance communication services in the continent: AMOS-4 at 65°E with Ka-band over Africa, AMOS-5 at 17°E, delivers high-power Pan-African C-band and Ku-band capacity with access to Europe & ME. With the upcoming launch of AMOS-6 (in 2016), Spacecom will provide greater capacity, High Throughput Ka Multibeam capabilities and affordable end to end satellite services. AMOS Cellular-Satellite Hybrid Broadband solutions in Africa offer fast, affordable internet for everyone. EXPECT MORE www.amos-spacecom.com Digital TV Europe Middle East & Africa Update > News October 2015 News round-up The latest developments in pay TV in MEA Orange Digital Ventures invests in SVoD service Vivendi to open Orange Digital Ventures has CanalOlympia invested in Afrostream, the African SVoD service founded by venues in West producer Tonjé Bakang that aims to bring Afro-American, Afri- Africa can-Caribbean and French films to a wider audience, which launched Vivendi has unveiled plans to in September in France, Belgium open 10 live-performance venues Luxembourg, Switzerland, Senegal in central and West Africa under and Côte d’Ivoire. the CanalOlympia brand over the Orange said its latest funding, coming months. alongside support from The The first venue will be in Cona- Family, Cross Culture Ventures and kry in Guinea, Cotonou in Benin, ACE & Company, would enable Brazzaville in the Republic of the Afrostream to accelerate the de- Pierre Louette, deputy CEO of as Afrostream should be launched Congo and Dakar in Senegal. Suit- velopment of its service in Europe, Orange and president of Orange on Orange TV by next summer.” able locations are being identified Africa, the Caribbean and South Digital Ventures, said: “This invest- Tonjé Bakang, CEO of with the launch of tender process- America. ment is part of ODV’s ambition Afrostream, said: “The future es beginning for the project. Orange said that, in addition to to finance services that are able of television is mobile. With this According to Vivendi, the financial support, it would provide to address different geographical strategic investment by Orange, venues will serve as concert halls, its expertise in networks, distribu- areas in which Orange is present. Afrostream now brings together theatres and screening rooms to tion and payment to Afrostream. It will enable us to develop the the best of the mobile internet enhance access to culture and Afrostream has previously video-on-demand market, particu- and the best of African content. entertainment in countries lacking secured support from Orange larly in Africa. It will also enable us This new alliance will enable us to such facilities, thereby stimulating Fab France and US seed fund Y to enrich the content we already revolutionise the entertainment in- talent development in Africa. Combinator. offer to our customers in France, dustry and to reach all audiences.” The CanalOlympia venues will serve local artists and create a network of sites where tours can SES looks forward to 1,000 UHD channel world be organised at the initiative of Island Africa, the Universal Music Satellite operator SES believes said that “we think satellite will going into decline, with growth Group label. The halls will also there will be over 1,000 Ultra be the leading infrastructure increasingly being driven by be fitted with a recording studio HD channels by 2025, including provider for UHD. Compared to emerging markets. SES expects and rehearsal room to identify about 110 channels in the MEA other distribution networks we the number of DTH channels to talent, support artists and provide region and 220 channels in have the advantage of having grow by 47% by 2024, with the exposure, whether musicians, Europe.SES predicts that UHD ample bandwidth…and ubiquitous number of channels in Africa singers or comedians, according TV sales will grow rapidly as pric- coverage”. and the Middle East growing to the group. Work began on the es fall and calculated that there Kayser said the addition of by 6.1% a year to about 2,850 Conakry facility in the presence of are currently over 1,200 UHD High 4K TV and, in mid-October, and the number in central and Guinean president Alpha Condé, movies and shows available with TV Entertainment Reality Net- eastern Europe growing by 6% with the expectation that it will a further 200 expected by the work, would mean that the group to 5,150. open in mid-2016. Vivendi said the end of this year. will soon have four full-time 4K Even in mature markets such move would reinforce its presence Speaking at an event at IBC channels on its platform. as western Europe, the company in high-growth markets, where it in Amsterdam, chief commer- More broadly, Kayser said sees linear channels growing by intends to be a leader in identify- cial officer Ferdinand Kayser linear TV shows no signs of 4.5% to 3,650. ing new entertainment talent. Visit us at www.digitaltveurope.net 3 Middle East & Africa Update > News Digital TV Europe October 2015 African pay TV operators to lead growth Fix&Foxi breaks African pay TV operators will 869,000 subs in central and Total subscription and VoD into Africa with lead growth across the EEMEA eastern Europe. revenues for the 112 operators group of emerging markets be- Tricolor TV in Russia will surveyed will nearly double Ma Télé tween now and 2020, according remain number one, with 13.39 between 2010 and 2020 to to Digital TV Research’s latest million subscribers, up from almost US$15 billion (j13 regional report. 10.92 million in 2014, followed billion), according to Digital TV Digital TV Research predicts by MultiChoice’s DStv with Research. DStv will remain the that MultiChoice-owned pay 12.06 million, up from 7.74 wealthiest operator over the DTT platform GOtv will gain million. DStv will push Russia’s forecast period, followed by 5.84 million subscribers Rostelecom down one place Liberty Global. between 2014-20 to reach 7.5 from second to third, with 8.84 DStv will also be the biggest million, while rival operator million subs, up from 7.97 winner, increasing revenues by StarTimes will grow by 4.39 million in 2014. US$1.25 billion between 2014 million and Canal+ will grow by Pan-Arab satellite TV servic- and 2020. Sister company 1.34 million. es will also add subs, with beIN GOtv will add US$545 million, Germany-based programmer GOtv and StarTimes are Sports up by 768,000 and OSN while Canal+ in African will add YourFamily Entertainment has expected to join the top five by 630,000. Fourteen of the US$484 million. Pan-Arab beIN launched its Fix&Foxi channel EEMEA operators by subscrib- region’s operators are expected will climb by US$443 million, on Ma Télé, the HD platform for ers, pushing Liberty Global’s to lose subscribers, including according to Digital TV Re- Francophone Africa owned by CEE operations and Cyfra Romania’s RCS-RDS, pan-Arab search. The top five operators set-top manufacturer Strong that Polsat down the listing. Liberty operator ART and Hungary’s by revenue will be DStv, Liberty launched on the Eutelsat 16A Global will nevertheless add Digi TV. Global, Digurk, Canal+ and OSN. satellite earlier this year. Fix&Foxi will air as Ma Télé Toonz, a new French-language kids Trace unveils plans for SVoD, original content channel with an exclusive line-up of content for the platform, with Youth-oriented media group Trace charged with identifying projects, different programmes at different is to launch a subscription VoD with additional series or movies Laouchez: times to the version of Fix&Foxi on service for sub-Saharan Africa in expected to be announced by the Trace will other African platforms such as the first quarter of 2016 and has end of the year. Laouchez said invest in de- ConSat and Azam Media. hired Nathalie Morley, the former Trace would invest with partners veloping series The Ma Télé service will offer creative director of Fashion TV, to in projects for which it could and movies. its mix of animated and live kids run the unit. Trace is also to de- secure rights across both French content on the channel, which will velop scripted series and movies and English-speaking markets. be offered free-to-view for the first under the Trace Studios name. Trace Play, the company’s SVoD include the ability to download as year, on an exclusive basis. “We are going to invest in offering, will include “a huge com- well as stream content. Strong launched the Ma Télé original production,” CEO Olivier ponent of African content” with Trace is also launching a new bouquet in April along with Laouchez told DTVE. Trace Studi- music, kids shows and series that music channel, Trace Gospel, Shashatee, a new service for os’ first projects will be: series set will be available across French which will air Gospel music and Arabic-speaking viewers in Africa. in Cote d’Ivoire called Pti Bisous, and English-speaking sub-Saharan will be available in English and The two services are designed produced in partnership with Africa as well as French-speaking French versions.