CNBC Africa now available on Hi TV Satellite Platform in Nigeria

Fri, 28 Sep 2007

Some background info on HiTV: HiTV - Nigeria Posted to the Web: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 NIGERIA’s latest entrant in the cable TV business, HiTV is set to make a mark with the 2006 yuletide season as the company has lined up a large portfolio of programmes designed to keep consumers entertained and ensure they get appropriate value for their time and money, even as it gets prepared to launch during the period. Already tipped as a potent force to revolutionize satellite broadcasting in the country following its recent acquisition of one the most lucrative programmes, the Barclays Premiership matches, HiTV, which the promoters say is capable of broadcasting 200 digital channels, is presenting a package that include sports, cartoons, movie, music, educational and entertainment. At an interactive session with journalists in Lagos recently, top officials of Entertainment Highway Limited, owners and operators of HiTV took turns to unveil the impressive package. HiSports, for instance will offer viewers the very best in top quality sporting action from around the world, including football having secured rights to the live broadcasts of the Italian Series A, the Spanish la Liga, the Euro 2008 qualifiers and a number of matches from the UEFA Cup series. HiSports has also secured the rights to the 2007 Wimbledon championships as well as the incoming season of the American NBA. The channel’s schedule would also include wrestling, athletics, tennis, weekly highlights of sports from around the world and regular sports news covering all genres of sports. “Watching Nigerian soccer stars plying their trade in England including the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Celestine Babayaro, Obafemi Martins, John Mikel Obi and Joseph Yobo, is now a matter of pushing the dial as HiTV has also won the broadcast rights of the Premiership,” a spokesman said. Broadcast on the Premiership will however begin from August next year for the 2007-2008 season kick-off. HiTV will enjoy exclusive rights for the league for three seasons beginning form next August. It was learnt that the company bided for and was awarded package “Live A” which translates to 70 per cent of the games. This is the first time Nigeria would be set aside as an independent territory for the purpose of broadcasting the league. It formed what was until now a single African basket excluding South Africa which was regarded as the only profitable market. A strong push by Nigeria’s Informational and National Orientation Minister, Frank Nweke Jr. led to a negotiated deal that excluded this large African market from the bunch. “This is also the first time a Nigerian company will own the broadcast rights to the Premiership, arguably the most valuable entertainment property in the sports market,” an HiTV spokesman said. For music lover, MTV Base, unarguably the No.1 urban music channel in Africa and Europe will also be on the HiTV schedule. Its fresh, innovative and interactive programming makes it the only channel that is truly synonymous with urban culture. On the flipside will be E! Entertainment, the only 24 hour’s network devoted entirely to celebrities, entertainment and Hollywood. It features original programming ranging from daily new updates to celebrity interviews and specials. E! goes behind the scenes of Hollywood and beyond. In addition, E! offers live, celebrity packed coverage of all major awards shows such as the Oscars, the Primetime Emmys, the Golden Globe and the Grammy’s. The channel and its programming are available in more than 120 countries around the world. God Africa TV offers a new breed of international Christian programming, including cutting edge conferences, in-dept interviews and youth and music shows featuring prominent Christian leaders and artists from around the globe. The God channel was birthed in the UK ten years ago as the first daily Christian television network and is now reaching a potential 275 million people around the world. Nickelodeon, another channel targeted at the young, celebrates kids by putting them first in everything. At Nick, kids are empowered and live their lives as an adventure. They love being kids, and love to stay on the cutting edge too, to the channel gives them what they want most — excellent programming centered on the world-famous Nickelodeon is kids’ home base on the TV dial. While Hi kids is a 12 hours edutainment service that caters to children and families with a mix of carefully selected animated shows and live-action series, HiLife features truly inspirational and life changing television programming for the entire family. It will focus on clean entertainment content suitable for the entire family. Its programming will cut across dramas, reality, chat shows and sitcoms with a significant relevance to everyday living using a 24-hour format. Nigeria’s growing movie industry is not left out of the package as HiNolly, a 12-hour, female audience skewing channel will showcase the best of Nigerian entertainment including movie, series and documentaries.