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SES’s Ethiosat delivers content to 95% of TV homes in Ethiopia

Currently, 136 channels are being broadcast to 17m TV households, indicating a 70% increase in reach compared to 2022.

SES has announced that its Ethiosat platform, situated at the 57 degrees East orbital position, now caters to a staggering 17m TV households in Ethiopia. This marks a significant surge of 7m households compared to 2022, with a remarkable reach penetration soaring to 95%.

The Ethiopian TV market has witnessed a continuous expansion, with the number of TV households skyrocketing by 400% since 2017, currently totalling 18.2m homes receiving TV content. Moreover, the penetration of HD homes has surged from 48% to an impressive 62% since 2021, paralleled by Ethiosat’s growth in HD TV channels, which has escalated from 15% to 6

Ethiosat stands as Ethiopia’s dedicated free-to-air (FTA) TV platform, hosted on SES’s NSS-12 satellite. Launched in October 2019, this platform is the culmination of a collaborative effort between the Ethiopian Media Authority, Ethiopian Space Science, Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), Association of Ethiopian Broadcasters (AEB), and SES to consolidate all Ethiopian TV channels and broadcast them from a single orbital position.

With SES boasting a global fleet of over 70 satellites and additional satellites in the pipeline, the company assures exceptional flexibility to ensure the long-term service continuity of the Ethiosat platform from its prime orbital position at 57 degrees East.

“We are immensely proud to be part of the growth of the Ethiopian TV market through the Ethiosat platform. The increase of TV households in the country and the penetration of the platform confirms the importance of Ethiosat as an established source audiences rely on to watch their favourite local programming in the best quality possible,” said Norbert Hölzle, Global Head of Media at SES.