Viewers in twelve countries across Africa now have access to a 24-hour syndicated version of the South African free-to-air channel e.tv.

This announcement was made today by the channel’s group chief operating officer, Bronwyn Keene-Young.

“It was always e.tv’s plan to introduce a pan-African syndicated service. Our programme research shows that Africans are passionate for high-quality African and international produced content. We believe that e.tv Africa will replicate the success of e.tv in South Africa,” says Keene-Young.

Latest AMPS figures in South Africa show e.tv’s steady growth in loyal audiences with a new record of 13,448,000 viewers over the age of 15.

The syndicated service provides popular e.tv programming including Hollywood movies, WWE Wrestling and local hit series, Rhythm City and Scandal. The channel also includes two live half-hour news bulletins from the eNews Africa service, launched by the eNews channel in October last year. These bulletins focus on pan-African news and provide international news by Africans for Africans.

e.tv Africa’s syndicated broadcasts are provided on a free-to-air, predominantly terrestrial basis, in the following countries:

• Kenya on Nation 2
• Namibia on One Africa Television
• Zimbabwe on ZTV2
• Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Guinea, Burundi and the Central African Republic on Star TV
• Nigeria on MITV
• Ghana on eGhana, e.tv’s sister channel
• Botswana on eBotswana – which is also a sister channel to e.tv

e.tv is mindful of the importance of local content in these territories and has therefore provided local broadcasters with the option to insert local news and other local content.

“Last year in October, South Africa’s first independent 24-hour television news service (the eNews Channel) extended its broadcast footprint to include Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Malawi on the DStv southern African bouquet on channel 403. The eNews Channel continues to consolidate its position as the market leader amongst news channels with over half a million regular viewers according to AMPS,” concludes Keene-Young.