Tanzania-based pay television channel Azam TV has expanded its footprint in East Africa by launching its operations in Kenya to step up competition for Direct to Home TV services.
Azam decoder will retail at Ksh9,950 but a holiday offer is ongoing at Ksh6,300.The new entrant will offer 60 local and international channels at a cost of Ksh870 per month. “We are banking on the quality of our content to roll out Azam TV in Kenya,” said Azam TV CEO Rhys Torrington.
“Our success in Tanzania where we launched in December last year has seen us sell over 180,000 full decoder kits and having commenced our operations in Uganda in September this year, our next destination was Kenya which has the most vibrant and discerning entertainment market in the whole of East Africa.”
The new player has already five local TV stations on its network and plans are under way to add more content from local producers. “We have a budget already set to buy locally produced content to enhance our growth and at the same time buy from our own,” noted Azam Kenya General Manager Martin Abuya.
Azam TV began its operations in Tanzania on December 16 2013 and expanded its footmarks to Uganda this year. Kenya being the technology hub for East Africa will be used as a stepping stone to enter the other markets in East Africa and eventually Africa. The operator aims to get a significant share of the expected two million subscribers in the country by 2018.
For Kenya, the company is targeting 100,000 subscribers in the next six months. Plans are underway to roll out in Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi and Mozambique in 2015.
“We have engaged local media to help us push the brand further. Our marketing team is planning a major activation exercise and road shows throughout the country to make the brand visible,” added Mr Abuya.
Kenya is set for a full digital switchover starting on 30th December this year and many people are rushing to purchase decoders to avoid the switch off. The existing Pay TV operators in Kenya account for 10% of the 5 Million TV households in the country.
“Azam TV is therefore here to fill this gap and make digital TV more affordable and accessible to Kenyans,” remarked Mr Torrington.
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