By Nmerichukwu Igweamaka

A far-reaching in-depth study, led by Nielsen, of television reception throughout Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast, has positioned Eutelsat as satellite market leader within these countries.

The face-to-face interviews were conducted with 3,000 households in Nigeria, 2,000 in Cameroun and 2,000 in Ivory Coast, representative of the population of the geographical area surveyed.

Satellite television is high in the rankings

Satellite television reception is the dominant technology in Ivory Coast reaching 68% of TV households (1.5 million households) and is also a major technology in Nigeria reaching 41% (10.3 million households) and in Cameroon with 38% households (1.3 million households). 

“Eutelsat is pleased to have established a strong presence in the regional audiovisual landscape, providing millions of households with access to a wide range of local and international channels. This study confirms that Eutelsat’s 16° East position is the leading position for free-to-air broadcasting in Cameroon and Ivory Coast and that Eutelsat’s three positions, 36° East, 7° East and 16° East, serve the largest combined audience in the Nigerian market. It is a testament to our long-standing partnership with many of Africa’s leading TV channels and bouquets. We look forward to strengthening these partnerships to develop our services as these dynamic markets continue to evolve,” said the Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa at Eutelsat, Nicolas Baravalle.

Eutelsat’s 16°East neighbourhood in pole position across Cameroon and Ivory Coast

The study also revealed that Eutelsat’s 16° East neighborhood is the leading FTA position in Cameroon and Ivory Coast with a combined reach of 1.2M households in those 2 countries.

In Cameroon, 16° East is the leading position and reaches a total of 940,000 households representing 73% of the DTH installed base.

In Ivory Coast, it has the largest FTA installed base, reaching 240,000 households (37% of the DTH installed base).

16°East position caters for a wide variety of tastes with over 160 channels, among which are highly sought after local channels such as CRTV, Canal 2 International, Trace Africa, Novelas TV, RT1 and RT2 as well as popular international channels in French and English.

A winning combination across Nigeria

Eutelsat has the highest combined reach across the Nigerian market between its 3 positions, 36° East, 7° East and 16° East. Over 5M households in Nigeria (one out of two DTH households) point towards a Eutelsat position.

Eutelsat’s 36° East neighbourhood is Nigeria’s leading Pay-TV position, reaching 1.3M households. It hosts DSTV, the leading satellite Pay-TV platform in the region and groups together around 400 channels including 43 channels in HD accessible throughout region and includes top most watched channels in Nigeria such as AIT International, CNN International, Silverbird TV and Zee World.

Eutelsat’s 16° East neighbourhood is a leading free-to-air position reaching a total of 2.2M households and offers a diverse line-up of popular Nigerian channels such as CRTV, Channel TV and Silverbird TV, local content specifically popular to the Hausa community; My TV Hausa and Alwilayah TV Hausa, as well as international channels such as Aljazeera, France 24.

Eutelsat’s 7°East neighbourhood has a reach of 1.4M households in Nigeria, mainly catering to English-speaking locals, with Channel TV, TVC News Nigeria and international content such as CNN, Fox, BBC World news, Bloomberg TV Africa, CNBC Africa and Al Jazeera.

High definition in high demand

According to study findings, the need for HD is rising in Sub-Saharan Africa with a growing demand for HD content specifically in Pay-TV.

This is coupled with a rise in the affordability of equipment such as televisions and set-top-boxes. The number of HDTV equipped households is already sizeable: in Nigeria 9.5 million (38%) households were identified to be HDTV compatible homes, 0.9 million (18%) in Cameroon and 0.5 million (22%) in Ivory Coast.