You're reading it here first.
I broke the news RIGHT HERE earlier this morning that e.tv is launching its e.tv Africa service into the continent and just got off the phone with Bronwyn Keene-Young, chief operating officer for e.tv, talking to her about e.tv Africa.
Now you can read the first print interview with Bronwyn Keene-Young talking about e.tv's vision for e.tv Africa. She discusses some of the challenges, talks about why TV content is (still) king, and how e.tv's Pan African outlook is fuelling this broadcasting expansion of the TV channel. I asked her how difficult or easy it is to do specifically TV business in Africa, what it is that e.tv brings to African TV audiences, and for some behind-the-scenes insight into the logistics involved in operating this continental TV service.
For the full interview (the first one you'll read anywhere) and for more perspective on e.tv Africa, click on READ MORE below.
The modern TV business – a lot of deals are done around other stuff – but this new e.tv Africa deal underscores for me the value that TV content has and that ''content is king''. How does e.tv see the value of content still to attract and to keep viewers?
For us content is very, very important. I know there's a lot of media companies who are starting to focus much more on content and carriage but at the end of the day people come for the content. And they come through whichever platform they can find that content on. When we're looking at a Pan African TV model, we're looking at the best means of looking to distribute this great content which is via a syndicated terrestrial broadcasting platform.
The SABC hasn't been so good to clamp down on it but e.tv did – in Africa where viewers pirated the e.tv signal because they wanted to see the TV channel so desperately. What is it that you think e.tv brings to audiences in Africa as a TV channel and making people wanting to watch what is on it?
You don't get official market research from a lot of the countries that we are in but just from the feedback that we get from viewers is that viewers really like the wrestling and the Hollywood product. Obviously the South African content is not as attractive to them because it is South African. However our news is very popular. They are watching news bulletins on e.tv and really enjoying those news bulletins. What we've done for e.tv Africa is we've done a tailor made bulletin which is much more Pan African news but very much with the same kind of attitude and style as the South African news that we show on e.tv.
Then Bronwyn I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to work out the logistics and put this deal together. Why did e.tv think it's worth the trouble in the first place and worth attempting? It's not something that really has been done before in Africa. A lot of people would say there's too many hurdles in Africa to attempt this.
E.tv has always had a Pan African vision. We recognize that in South Africa we'll always be a small player because you've got the SABC on the one side and MultiChoice on the other side as these two big dominant media players. In order for us to reach some kind of critical mass as a broadcaster, we've always had a continental vision. We've always wanted to be Pan African. Putting it together the key part of that has been that we've done a lot of work over many, many years establishing relationships on the ground with many existing licensees in the countries. Basically what we're doing is that we're delivering a service to those licencees for retransmission in those areas.
How difficult or easy is it to do specifically TV business in Africa?
It depends on where you work, to be honest. Some countries are much easier than others. I must say in terms of us launching e.tv Africa we had very few difficulties because we have developed relationships and we're working with people we know. There's not a hostility towards us that we're coming in as a foreigner but rather we are working in partnership with local broadcasters who are bringing in our feed, but are also able to insert their own local programming. Thus, while it's still e.tv, it has a localized feel to it.
Some of the challenges or difficulties regarding the technology, IT and sending of a feed and synchronizing the TV content?
I think probably the biggest challenge that we have is that we've got a single feed and we've got multiple time zones. In some countries, particularly in West Africa, it's important that broadcasters there are able to delay the transmission – that they have the right equipment to enable to delay the feed so that it's an appropriate time for them.
Twelve countries are already a lot and it already covers quite a bulk of Africa. Maybe it's premature to ask but are you guys looking at further expansion, are you going to continue to talk to other TV channels as well?
Yes. All the time. Our ultimate objective is a Pan African footprint – to be on the ground in every single country in Africa.
So TV channels in Africa can contact you if they're interested in becoming a part of e.tv Africa?
Absolutely.
What's in broad strokes your vision for e.tv Africa to grow into?
At the moment it's highly dependent on the South African service. I think once it becomes economically viable and sustainable, what we want to do is to put a lot more African produced product in there. For example, looking at starting to commissioning content specifically for this channel and producing content specifically for it – and taking account of the East and West differences on the continent.
