136 channels are now being broadcast to 17 million TV households with 70% increase in reach from 2022

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 14 May 2024 – SES, a content connectivity solutions provider, announced that its Ethiosat platform at the 57 degrees East orbital position now delivers content to 17 million TV households in Ethiopia, an increase of 7 million compared to 2022, with its reach penetration growing to 95%.

The Ethiopian TV market has undergone a continuous rapid expansion as the number of TV households has increased by 400% since 2017 to 18.2 million homes now receiving TV content. The penetration of HD homes in the market has also increased from 48% to 62% since 2021, with Ethiosat’s number of HD TV channels growing from 15% to 62%.

Ethiosat is Ethiopia’s first-ever dedicated free-to-air (FTA) TV platform, hosted on SES’s NSS-12 satellite. Launched in October 2019, the platform is a result of an agreement between the Ethiopian Media Authority, Ethiopian Space Science, Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), Association of Ethiopian Broadcasters (AEB) and SES to consolidate all Ethiopian TV channels and broadcast them from one orbital position.

SES as a global operator of over 70 satellites and with additional satellites under construction has excellent flexibility to ensure the long-term service continuity of the Ethiosat platform from its prime orbital position at 57 degrees East.

“We are immensely proud to be part of the growth of the Ethiopian TV market through the Ethiosat platform. The increase of TV households in the country and the penetration of the platform confirms the importance of Ethiosat as an established source audiences rely on to watch their favorite local programming in the best quality possible,” said Norbert Hölzle, Global Head of Media at SES.