ZUKU PAY TV UNVEILED IN TANZANIA

Zuku, the leading East African home entertainment brand that is owned by Wananchi Group has today officially launched Zuku TV services in Tanzania during a press conference held today at the InfoTech Investment Group Offices. Zuku TV, is Pay TV satellite service that offers over 60 channels of Wananchi Group.

Speaking at the press conference, Ali Mfuruki, Chairman of Wananchi Group said, “We are proud and excited to be launching Zuku TV in Tanzania. Our objective is to deliver meaningful, quality entertainment for the entire family at an affordable price. The Tanzanian market is a highly attractive market that provides great opportunities for us to explore.” He added, “It is a great milestone for us and we are pleased to be able provide quality home entertainment for all’.

Echoing his sentiments, Wananchi Group CEO, Richard Bell explained that Zuku was uniquely positioned in this market as a truly dedicated East African service made by Africans for Africa. “In the ten countries we are targeting, pay TV penetration is presently at less than 1% and we recognize that there is a need for affordable quality content which is suitable for the entire family.

We also recognize that customers’ tastes and needs are evolving and there is greater pressure on companies to provide affordable quality products which offer value for money. Our Zuku TV offerings have therefore been designed to cater to meet this need,” Bell further noted.

Zuku TV offers a wide selection of entertainment channels covering news, sports, movies, documentaries and music. These include various 3^rd party channels such as BBC, MTV Base, Setanta Sports, MGM Movies and E to name but a few. The provider also offers many of its own tailor-made channels such as Zuku Africa airing African content, Zuku Life airing documentaries, Zuku Sports as well as a number of themed movie channels. The service is available at Zuku agents countrywide starting at Tsh. 20,000

Earlier this year Wananchi Group raised $57.5 million in growth from a group of international investors which is going towards supporting the roll out of Satellite services in 10 countries. Zuku TV is expected provide numerous employment and business opportunities to Tanzanians through its distribution network.

Zuku TV meets the obligation of the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) that requires all Television broadcast services to migrate from analogue to digital by 2012.