Bloomberg to add African business TV channel
March 28, 2013
By Chris Forrester
Bloomberg Media has linked with Nigeria’s Optima Media Group to launch Bloomberg Television Africa. The new channel will launch later this year. Content will be produced in Lagos, Johannesburg, London and Nairobi with dedicated presenters, reporters and producers based in each market.
Optima Media Group will produce three to four hours of business programming per day which will be available to African viewers across the continent via Bloomberg’s English-language EMEA feed. Optima Media Group will engage its existing content and distribution channels to supplement Bloomberg’s English-language international news and analysis across Africa.
“The agreement with Optima Media Group will dramatically accelerate Bloomberg Television’s presence and reach in Africa,” says Andy Lack, CEO Bloomberg Media Group. “It is the latest component of our wider strategy to partner with leading providers in markets that have a compelling economic growth story. This has already seen us strike similar partnerships in India, Turkey, Mongolia and the Middle East. In doing so, we are able to provide viewers with the sharpest global business and financial insight as well as highly-localised and market specific content.”
“Bloomberg Television Africa will provide a dynamic and relevant context for the coverage of financial news across the continent. The programming will highlight the business in everyone – from everyone in business,” said Rotimi Pedro, Group CEO at Optima Media Group Ltd. “We look forward to working closely with Bloomberg Television to bring together top CEOs, policymakers and thought leaders to explore what fuels African growth.”
Content will be packaged and distributed via satellite delivery and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) as well as traditional terrestrial formats.
Localised and international Bloomberg Television content will be packaged and distributed via satellite delivery and IPTV as well as traditional terrestrial formats. The partnership deal applies to all of sub-Saharan Africa.