Counting 110 million TV households (44% penetration) in 2023, expected to grow to 150 million by 2028, the Sub-Saharan TV screen remains key to address its population. TV continues to be the reference media when it comes to news, however, the growing access to the internet allowed more Africans to turn to digital media to access information, leveraging in particular social media. How are news broadcasters navigating through the different distribution means at hand to efficiently address the growing African population? Which media groups and broadcasters have emerged to provide alternative voices to the well-known international or national news channels? Maximising satellite reach to grow influence TV is crucial to address African audiences. As reported by the Africascope 2023 carried on by Kantar TNS, in the 8 countries of French-speaking Africa surveyed (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, DRC, Congo and Senegal), TV was the most followed media. 4h05 were spent daily in front of TV (+10 minutes compared to 2022), while 1h40 was spent on digital media (+6 minutes) and 1h01 on Radio (-6 minutes). In 2023, among the 110 million households with a television set, approximately half used satellite services, with close to 50% opting for free-to-air. This option enables broadcasters to rapidly address a vast audience across multiple countries, in both urban and rural areas, facilitated by the extensive beams provided by satellite and by the free access of channels. The main satellites carrying TV channels across Africa are operated by Eutelsat (Eutelsat 16A, Eutelsat 7C, Eutelsat 7B), and the newly combined Intelsat (Intelsat 35e, Intelsat 20) and SES (SES 5, NSS 12, Astra 2F). Other satellite operators are also providing access to free unencrypted channels, including Nigcomsat, Turksat, Amos or Belintersat for instance. The total number of households relying solely on free-to-air satellite television amounted to around 26 million in 2023 in the region. Each satellite operator caters for specific audiences, and crafts its channel line-up accordingly. The news broadcasters carried address the audiences differently depending on languages and preferences. The channel which reached the highest penetration among FTA-only satellite households in 2023 is France 24 in English, accessible by 65% of satellite FTA households in the English-speaking region. Its French version is provided to close to 70% of the French-speaking FTA-only satellite households. The distribution across pay TV (notably on Canal+, Easy TV, or Azam) also increases the overall reach of the news channel. It is notably highly watched on the French speaking part of the region as measured by Africascope in 2022-23. Other international channels achieved a high reach on free satellite, including TRT World, BBC World News and Deutsche Welle. These broadcasters deployed a dedicated strategy to address the African continent, broadcasting in...
