Issue no 190 - 23 October 2014
The future of the TV landscape in Africa
What is really happening on the TV landscape in Africa currently ? If one person knows about this market in-depth, both from a producer and TV channels' points of view, it is Bernard Azria, CEO of Cote Ouest. Bernard Azria has over thirty years experience in the African audiovisual industry. In 1983 he founded Nelson Mc Cann, the first network of Marketing and Communication Agencies in Francophone Africa, affiliated with the McCann Erickson group.In 1997, he set up Cote Ouest Audiovisuel in Abidjan which has become a point of reference for the distribution of audiovisual programmes across Africa. In 2010 he…
CNN MultiChoice 2014 African Journalist Award winners announced
Kenyan journalist Joseph Mathenge has been awarded the overall CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year at the 2014 Awards ceremony held at Mlimani City Conference Centre, in Dar es…
Al Jazeera to air award-winning documentary, Fire In The Blood
Fire In The Blood, winner of eight international awards, screens in two parts on Al Jazeera English, channel 406 on DStv, on Friday, 31 October and Friday, 7 November at…
M-Net Edge clinches HBO deal By DStv
The brand new DStv Premium channel M-Net Edge, which will take television connoisseurs to the edge of entertainment from 20 October 2014 at 19:00, will be the future home of…
Cairo Film Festival Adds David Cronenberg, Jean-Luc Godard Titles to Lineup
The November event is looking to return with new vigor following three years of turmoilMaps to the Stars and Goodbye to Language have been added to the lineup for the…
South African makes top 10 in global film scoring competition. South African, Alun Richards, has been placed in the top 10 in the Vienna Symphonic Library International Film Score Competition…
World's "largest" TV whites spaces project successfully tested in Namibia
Using Adaptrum's ARCS 2.0 TV white spaces radio, MyDigitalBridge says its pilot network in Namibia achieved speeds ranging from 5Mbps to 10Mbps.MyDigitalBridge Foundation says it has successfully trialled the world's…
Côte Ouest to Showcase Expertise and New Content at DISCOP AFRICA 2014
Côte Ouest, the premier distributor of content for and from Africa, will take a collection of more than 1000 hours of exciting new programs to DISCOP Africa 2014. The Cote…
Lifetime channel features new shows in December
The Lifetime channel (DStv channel 131) has a number of original movies and a new two-part mini-series lined up for viewers in December.Houdini Adrian Brody stars in this two-part mini-series about…
What next for Africa's radio industry?
The rapid spread of new technology in Africa is changing the way people get news and entertainment.Mobile internet and the growth of television is forcing those in more traditional media…
AFCON 2015: Morocco withdraws hosting rights
Morocco has withdrawn its right as hosts of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations due to fears over the spread of the Ebola virus that has hit the West African…
Film Africa 2014 brings African cinema to the UK
The Royal African Society's annual Film Africa festival will screen 85 films, including 24 premiers from across 23 different African countries, from 31 October to 9 November in London. The…
South Africa: M-Net calls for original content pitches
In the interest of acquiring new and original content for its channel, M-Net (DStv channel 101) invites content creators and production companies to pitch ideas for an original unscripted show,…
The tragic case of Nigeria's 'bird' woman
Footage of a badly burnt woman being berated by a crowd in Nigeria has been watched hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube.The film begins in a blur. An angry…
Content – In Brief
Rwanda's parliament has condemned the BBC for broadcasting a documentary which questioned official accounts of the 1994 genocide in the country. It approved a resolution calling on the government to…
Times Media Films enters distribution deal with CodeBlack Films
CodeBlack Films, a division of leading global entertainment company Lionsgate, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Times Media Films to distribute films in South Africa. Times Media…
Tata Communications and PCCW Global join forces to expand global network capabilities for video and data
Tata Communications, a leading provider of A New World of Communications™, and PCCW Global, the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong's premier telecommunications service provider, have signed a high…
France's CanalPlus to Launch Pan-African Entertainment Channel
French pay TV giant CanalPlus hopes to make the grade with the Friday launch of A+, a new pan-African entertainment channel.The Vivendi unit called the channel's programming lineup "vast and…
Aflix Launches Affiliate Partner Programme to Help Your Earn More
Video on Demand mobile streaming service available as an Android app via the Google Play store or as an app on select set top boxes in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and…
Flower Girl wins four Nollywood Awards
Flower Girl, a Nollywood film produced by Blu Star Entertainment, has taken four awards out of nine nominations at the 2014 Nollywood Movie Awards. The ceremony was held in Lagos,…
EXCAF TELECOM selects HTTV's Hybrid TVOS to power their DVB-T2 STBs for the Analogue Switch-Off in Senegal
Excaf Telecom Group, the DTT operator in charge of the Analogue Switch Off in Senegal, has signed a contract with HTTV for the deployment of up to 1 million Set-Top…
Ethiopia to switch country to digital by end 2016
The Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority (EBA) says it will upgrade the terrestrial television service in the country, from analogue to digital, by the end of 2016. EBA told Ethiopian News Agency…
Egypt - Al Jazeera Journalist Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment
In another disturbing move against freedom of speech and independent journalism in Egypt, one of Al Jazeera Arabic's presenters, Ahmed Mansour, has been sentenced in absentia to 15 years imprisonment…
TopTV is still at risk according to new owners
StarSat (previously known as TopTV) is still at risk, according to new owners Star Times Group. The new owners say that South Africa has been reluctant about the pay-TV broadcaster's…
Nigeria Will Offer IMAX in Africa
Nigeria's booming digital video film industry popularly called Nollywood has the commercial potential of a big film industry and has attracted the interest of the IMAX Corporation, one of the…
Investment – In Brief
E.tv holding company suspends Marcel Golding. Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) in a surprise move late on Wednesday, announced that it had suspended its executive chairperson Marcel Golding pending a disciplinary…
AfricAvenir will present the 2013 Abu Dhabi Film Festival Jury Prize Winner "Villa 69", on Sat. 25 October 2014, 7pm, in Windhoek Namibia.The film Villa 69, directed by first time…
EVS announces interim CEOMuriel De Lathouwer has been appointed temporarily as president of the executive committee at EVS, following the resignation of managing director and CEO Joop Janssen. Janssen and…