Emerging African broadcaster Econet Media yesterday announced their latest innovation within its Kwesé TV with the launch of its free-to- air channel Kwesé Free Sports. The free to air set top box in the will first hit the Kenyan market then to the rest of Africa. Popular for the provision of Zero Rated Kwese Sport website, the free to air set top box will enable costumers’ access digital television service without attracting monthly subscription fees.
Kwese sports holds a number of exclusive rights deals which include including the Premier League, the National Basketball Association (NBA), Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) and most recently the National Football League (NFL) just to name a few, Econet Media will be bringing to DTT and DTH viewers across the continent access to premium content for free.
The move is a welcome boost to the digital television migration process after an indication of Digital Broadcasting Migration across Africa. The Kwesé Free Sports channel, which began broadcasting on 11 August 2016 is available on any FTA set-top box (STB) or digital TV with a built-in set-top box.
The first major sporting event which will be aired on Kwesé Free Sports is the Premier League. Soccer fans across Kenya can look forward to watching the Everton vs Tottenham game live and for free on Saturday, 13 August. The channel has exclusive FTA rights to air one live ‘Game of the Week’ every Saturday.
Kwesé Tv be built around Econet’s core capabilities of satellite communications, fibre optic networks, and mobile services. Liquid Sat, has already built a platform which allows Kwesé Tv to deliver what is known as Direct TV to the home (DTH), in all the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Most people don’t know that Kwesé TV also has a channel to show TV shows from cartoons to horror movies.
For Econet Media having the infrastructure is one thing, but Kwesé TV’s success will depend on their ability both to acquire and also to develop new, high-quality and unique programming at an affordable price.
