Eutelsat Communications: Benin’s Golfe TV AFRICA Favours EUTELSAT 16A Satellite for Transition into High Definition

 

On the occasion of Discop, Africa’s premier event for the media and advertising industry, Beninese private news channel Golfe TV AFRICA announces it has chosen Eutelsat Communications to support its transition to high definition broadcasting. Golfe TV AFRICA has taken a three-year capacity lease on the EUTELSAT 16A satellite to broadcast Sub-Saharan Africa’s first free-to-air High Definition channel. Broadcasts kicked off on October 1.

Golfe TV AFRICA is operated by Golfe Gazette Press Group, which was established 30 years ago. The channel has been transmitting in Standard Definition in Benin, both terrestrially and by satellite. Its ambition is now to offer an enhanced viewing experience to a television audience both in Benin and beyond, in 20 Anglophone and Francophone countries from Senegal to Mozambique. Using new equipment and state-of-the-art HD and 3D studios, Golfe TV AFRICA is further bolstering its reputation as a reference news channel and strengthening its position among major broadcasters across Africa. The capacity booked on EUTELSAT 16A also enables Golfe TV AFRICA to offer live broadcast services to other channels in the region.

Ishmael Soumanou, Chairman and Founder of the Golfe Gazette Press Group, said: "In order to accelerate our transition to HD in Africa, we naturally turned to the EUTELSAT 16A satellite that represents one of the continent’s flagship neighbourhoods. Its booming audience and its strong line-up of over 150 channels played decisive roles in our decision making."

Michel Azibert, Commercial and Development Director at Eutelsat, added: "We are delighted to see channels in Africa embrace the opportunity to deliver an enhanced viewing experience with High Definition and to be chosen to broadcast Sub-Saharan Africa’s first free-to-air High Definition channel. EUTELSAT 16A is more than ever a hallmark for choice and quality.”