Satellite reaches 1.7 million TV homes in Francophone West Africa


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Rebecca Hawkes

| 04 February 2016




Satellite is the most popular form of accessing television after analogue terrestrial transmission in 40% of French-speaking West African TV homes, according to research from Eutelsat.



The survey sample – covering 4.2 million homes across the capital and economic cities of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, DRC, Gabon, Mali and Senegal – found TV is the dominant media with average viewing rates of between three and four-and-a-half hours together.

Multi-channel viewing and flat screen ownership are also on the increase in these urban areas, accounting for over 30% of TV homes.

The Eutelsat 16A satellite reaches almost half a million homes, or over two million viewers in Francophone West Africa, the researchers found. It provides over 170 French and local language channels, including the news channel France 24, and general interest channel TV5MONDE Afrique. In addition, two out of three free-to-air satellite TV homes are served by Eutelsat 16A in the markets surveyed by TNA Sofres for the Afriscope report.

“The trends in the Africascope report show vibrant consumer appetite for a TV experience delivering choice and a quality signal in urban areas that are a component of the overall audience we reach in West Africa. They confirm Eutelsat 16A as a reference neighbourhood in West Africa and encourage us to pursue of contributing to an inclusive digital ecosystem in Africa,” said Michel Azibert, chief commercial and development officer, Eutelsat.