SatLink chosen as global TV distribution partner for Ethiopian Television Agency

11 March 2014

SatLink Communications Ltd., a leading teleport, Content Management & HD Playout Centre, has today announced that SatLink has been selected by the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) for the global distribution of its ETV news channel. The Ethiopian Government owned television channel, whose broadcasts include news, entertainment, music and sports content, will extend its audience reach across Africa, North America, Europe and the Middle East over SatLink’s Global Satellite and Fibre Network. 

SatLink will broadcast ETV, whose aim is to broadcast informative, educating and timely information of the development of Ethiopia utilising state-of the-art technology, to the African market utilising SatLink's capacity on AMOS -5 C-band to allow them to effectively distribute their content easily to Africa’s multi-channel platforms. As ETV’s partner, SatLink worked closely with the broadcaster in order to help design the uplink capabilities for the channel from ETV’s facilities in Ethiopia on to Amos 5 and ensure the network of satellite’s chosen specifically met the broadcasters needs and achieve the international reach that was required. 

ETV will also be transmitted across Europe and the Middle East on Hot Bird 13.0° East on the Ku-band. For distribution into the North America market, ETV will take advantage of the Galaxy 19 at 97.0° West Ku-band, which hosts the largest ethnic video platform in North America, to reach the Direct to Home (DTH) ethnic market in the US. 

ETV is the latest news broadcaster to select SatLink for the global distribution of content joining international news broadcasters such as France 24, i24 News, NTV-MIR and euronews and leading news agencies including Thomson Reuters and APTN. 

Mr. Worku Gachena, Deputy Director General for Media Technology at ETV commented: “We were looking for a global provider to not only distribute our content but to work alongside us as a partner to help us extend our global reach further than before. We needed a provider who had the experience to help design our uplink capabilities and also obtain satellite space on Amos-5 so we could meet the multi-channel platforms in Africa, a rapidly growing a prosperous broadcasting region. SatLink’s strategic location coupled with its extensive knowledge and experience in this market meant that we knew that they would be able to assist us as we extend our reach further and address our growing audience’s needs across the globe.”  

David Hochner, CEO of SatLink, commented: “We are thrilled to work with ETV to extend its audience reach to different corners of the globe using our Global Satellite and Fibre Network. By working closely alongside ETV we gained a real understanding of their broadcasting requirements and were able to tailor a reliable and effective solution, help them uplink their signal directly from Ethiopia and be on the world's most popular satellite TV platforms. As a result we have been able to proactively assist ETV meet the objective of reaching their audiences, much of which is scattered across multiple continents, so they are able to connect with the news that is happening back home in Ethiopia and share the success stories of the country.”