Zuku


360 TuneBox comes to Zuku in expanded deal with SPI/FilmBox

SPI/FilmBox has announced an expanded distribution deal with East African home entertainment provider Zuku. The agreement will see Zuku, which is part of the Wananchi Group, offer SPI’s music and lifestyle brand 360 TuneBox. The channel is now available to Zuku subscribers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and Zambia. 360 TuneBox is SPI’s Home for […]

Africa launch for CBeebies

The BBC’s preschool channel CBeebies is launching in East Africa on the Zuku pay TV platform. The UK pubcaster’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, handles the channel’s distribution internationally as part of its portfolio of channels. It has inked a deal with Zuku TV and the preschool channel is now available on the pay TV platform […]

AfricaXP chooses Babeleye for pay TV metadata

Pan-African pay TV content aggregator AfricaXP has chosen multilingual video content metadata platform provider Babeleye to manage EPG metadata on channels distributed to pay TV operator Zuku and subscription video-on-demand provider WatchAfrica. AfricaXP delivers a catalogue of African channels via a cloud-based delivery platform to broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa. The Babeleye platform enables AfricaXP to […]

African Movie Channel Series launches on Zuku

Nigerian broadcaster African Movie Channel has launched a new channel focusing on series on the Wananchi Programming-owned Zuku pay TV platform. African Movie Channel Series (AMC Series) is a family-focused premium entertainment channel that will show TV soaps, comedies and drama from Nigeria, along with a selection of content from the rest of Africa, 24 […]

Fox hires Wananchi’s Bekker to run African operation

Fox International Channels (FIC) has named former Wananchi Programming managing director Hannelie Bekker as managing director of FIC Africa. Bekker, who will be responsible for all FIC brands in Africa, including Fox, Fox Crime, Fox Movies, FX, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, National Geographic Gold, Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2 and Baby TV, will […]

Wananchi raises US$130 million for East, South African expansion

African pay TV and broadband operator Wananchi Group has closed a US$130 million (€104 million) round of funding to fund “growth and expansion in East and Southern Africa.” The investment was co-led by existing Wananchi shareholders, including major cable firms Liberty Global and Altice, African private equity firm Emerging Capital Partners, Mauritius-based ATMT and new […]

Wananchi’s Zuku to upgrade cable broadband

Wananchi Programming-owned Kenya-based pay TV provider Zuku is upgrading its broadband network in the country’s capital, Nairobi. In addition to providing pay TV services and channels, Zuku also operates a cable network in Nairobi. The company has said it will invest KES220 million (€1.84 million) in upgrading this to deliver internet speeds of up to […]

Zuku hires Turner exec

African triple-play pay TV operator Zuku has poached a Turner Broadcasting System exec to become its chief commercial officer. Charles Murito was TBS’s director, business development, Africa and the Middle East but will now join the Wananchi Group-owned paycaster as CCO of Wananchi Programming. Wananchi said the move signaled “the company’s dedication to the monetisation […]

Zuku to expand out of East Africa with Intelvision deal

Wananchi Group-owned pay TV business Zuku will broadcast its channels outside of East Africa for the first time after signing a deal with Seychelles-based cable operator Intelvision. The three year licensing deal covers Zuku Life, all four Zuku Movies channels and Zuku Swahili Movies, with Intelvision due to start carrying the networks on November 1. […]

Zuku adds 11 channels to platform

Wananchi Group-owned East African pay TV platform Zuku has added 11 new channels to its offering after striking a series of carriage deals. The new channels include short movies service Shorts TV, the first time the channel has been available in Africa, and Hindi movie channel UTV Movies, which airs Bollywood blockbusters from UTV’s own […]