Page 27 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2013
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THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 1 2013
|
27
o 1 is Nigeria,
followed by
Kenya, Ghana,
and to a lesser
extent South
Africa, Uganda,
Tanzania and
Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC). The potential is huge – in
DRC alone you have approx. 150
broadcasters. At the end of 2012
SatLink signed a deal with eight
Nigerian TV channels to provide
end‐to‐end broadcast services and
content distribution to Central and
Pan‐Africa on the AMOS 5 satellite
Ku‐band and C‐Band platforms. All
of these channels looked for reliable
and redundant solutions that
enabled them to directly access
African viewers, also taking
advantage of SatLinkʹs HD Playout
Centre. So for example Christian
channel Voice of God (VOG) and
Hola TV are able to playout and
uplink their channels directly from
Jerusalem to our MCPC platforms.
The added value that SatLink is
offering is the full solution from
one sole provider ‐ broadcasting
equipment as well as satellite space
and support. This is very important,
especially for our customers in
Africa. Second, we are also
consulting to the customers. We help
them work out their requirements
and how to manage the project in
the most cost‐effective way. That
support is always very important,
but especially so here in Africa.
What are the trends in FTA vs pay-TV?
FTA is growing at a much faster
rate than pay‐TV. The business
”
In
Africa it is
quite easy
tomeet the
key people
Africa is one of the growth engines
for his company, says Arie Vered,
SatLink's Sales Director for Africa.
He has been working in sales for
almost 20 years in all parts of the
world but says the continent is
right now the most interesting
territory he can think of. With
demand for new TV channels and
multi-channel platforms
increasing by the day, where does
he see the biggest growth?
model for FTA channels is
advertising, and of course a great
number of channels are run by or
associated with big Christian
churches – the churches here
combine a religious as well as social
element. I travel extensively in the
East and West of Africa and have
seen a lot of churches in DRC and
most of them have their own
satellite channel, or will have soon.
I think that Africa at this
moment is hungry for content.
Entertainment, movies – both local
and international ‐ , documentaries,
kids programmes ‐ content that
audiences have never been exposed
to in the past. Childrenʹs
programming is new to Africa but
there is a clear demand for it. So
now you have companies that are
offering a mix of entertainment,
kids programmes and religious
programming in one channel.
How do you get the business?
Usually the local partners are
opening the doors ‐ they arrange
meetings for us, sometimes they
accompany us to meetings. Then
there are customers that prefer to
do the business directly with you.
There are a variety of ways of
working with local partners. There
is no one way.
What is especially important
though here in Africa is to establish
personal connections with your
customers. If you have not met the
key players personally, you will not
close any deals. African people are
very warm and personal connections
play a key role in doing business in
Africa. It may sound strange but
most of my customers I now count
as my friends.
Compared to other parts of the
world, in Africa it is relatively easy
to meet the key people in any
company or organisation. You can
simply call the CEO, ask him for a
meeting and speak to him at the
same level. This is unique in Africa.
Itʹs not easy to do business in
Africa but if you are a person that
likes people, likes talking to people,
if you are professional in what you
are offering and open to friendship
then you will be successful.
What about the competition?
There are many players – itʹs not
only the satellite operators but also
the system integrators as well. I
believe Africa is so big that there is
enough space for most of the
competitors. But of course itʹs a
competitive marketplace also in
Africa – you need to use all the
tools at your disposal in order to be
successful. In my view those
companies that take a hands‐on
approach and establish a physical
presence to work closely with
customers on the ground and are
able to demonstrate that they offer
added value over others will get
the jobs.
Arie Vered, thank you.
HUNGRYFOR
CONTENT
N
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▼
TBN Family
Media playout
facility inNairobi,
part of SatLink’s
full turnkey
solution
