Description

The presentation delivered by Menen Agegnehu at the East Africa Broadcasters Convention 2025 explores how broadcasters in the region can adapt to changing media consumption habits by leveraging satellite technology—specifically through the Ethiosat platform. As media markets across East Africa grow and audiences increasingly demand culturally relevant, local content, traditional broadcasters face fragmentation and limited reach. Ethiosat, Ethiopia’s first dedicated free-to-air satellite platform hosted on SES’s NSS-12 at 57°E, provides a centralized solution. The platform not only increases access to local content but also enables cost-effective broadcasting, stronger national identity, and broader audience engagement.

The presentation positions Ethiosat as a transformative model, highlighting its success in consolidating Ethiopian channels and expanding access to 17 million households. It emphasizes how this infrastructure empowers broadcasters, advertisers, and content creators by enabling logical channel grouping, HD broadcasting, and audience segmentation for targeted advertising. With 60 million+ homes in East Africa still without TV access, the session concludes by underscoring the urgency for public-private collaboration and cross-border partnerships to scale similar solutions across the region, making high-quality content accessible to all.

Five Key Points:

1. Ethiosat’s Impact
2. Addressing Fragmentation
3. Empowering Broadcasters and Content Owners
4. Advertiser Advantages
5. Future Strategy and Lessons