AMET-TV hopes to become Canada’s first African specialty channel; talks with BDUs underway

Inspired by the successful launch of three African specialty channels in the UK, four Toronto area investors hope before winter to launch Canada’s first specialty channel catering to a growing African and Afro-Caribbean population – assuming the CRTC approves their application. “We found that the African and Afro-Caribbean population here is increasing. There was no TV channel or electronic media taking care of this population in terms of content, what they are interested in, and what’s going on in the entertainment industry. What I mean by that is something native ,” M.Adenkunle Oyegbola tells Tech Media Reports. Africans and Afro-Caribbeans currently make up about 2.5%, or 783, 795, of Canada’s population, according to the 2006 census. By 2017, this demographic will reach four million. In the Toronto area alone, the first main target market for the proposed channel, the population is 400,000, says Oyegbola. The application for the category 2 digital specialty channel, called AMET TV, was filed in February this year by Afromedia Communications Inc., a company controlled by Oyegbola, Oluwaremi Awojide, M.Patrick I. Iluebbey, and M. Bolaji John Olojede. The owners say it will broadcast movies, drama, plays, and theatrical productions that will showcase art, culture, and lifestyle of Africans and people of African origin. About 70% of its programming will be in English and 20% in French. The remaining 10% will be offered in languages such as Yoruba, Kiswahili, Hausa, Fante, Twi, and Arabic. According to Oyegbola, a significant number of African and Afro-Caribbean Canadians spend liberally on African movies, mostly produced in Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry. Currently ranked as the third largest film industry—after Hollywood and Bollywood—Nollywood churns out movies that depict African stories on issues ranging from infidelity and polygamy to witchcraft, politics, and corruption. Data filed with the CRTC by Afromedia show that about 90% of all African stores in Toronto sell African movies, mostly from Nollywood and Gollywood, Ghana’s up-and-coming film hub. Afromedia is currently negotiating carriage options with BDUs, but Oyegbola admits it can be a tough sell. “We have been brainstorming on this and we have met one of the major carriers here one time and they feel the demographic is not there but we are talking. We are trying to prove to them that the demographic is there. Discussions are still going on,” he says. “In terms of our technical partners, everything is in place. In terms of copyright licences for movies from Africa, everything is in place, is set, we are ready to go.” If approved, AMET TV would not be the first African channel to be granted a licence, says Awojide, who is listed as the principal shareholder. “We found out that there are other people that had the licence in the past and they have not been able to move forward,” he says. While over-the-air broadcasters struggle to break even these days, there is a growing appetite for ethnic specialty channels. The number of third-language television stations, for example, increased 12% from 113 stations in 2006 to 126 in 2007, according to figures from the CRTC. Likewise, revenues for ethnic and third-language specialty and digital category 2 channels increased to more than $70 million during this period. As of Dec. 31, 2007, 28 specialty and four pay services serving ethnic communities were launched. There are currently six ethnic conventional television stations available in Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Toronto. Sherry Yu, a researcher on ethnic media at Simon Fraser University in B.C, says ethnic channels have been on the rise since 1986 when demographic changes coupled with the birth of new market segments linked to the Business Immigration Program became a reality. “In terms of audience reach/circulation, it depends on the type of media and whether they, for example, have licence agreements with, say, Shaw or Omni.” Ethnic specialty services tend to cater to populations in large urban areas and are entirely dependent on these audiences for their economic survival, says Daniel Ahadi, a Phd student at Simon Fraser University and also a researcher on ethnic media. “If there is a significant population of ethnic communities, you will see growth,” he says, adding that AMET TV probably stands a good chance of penetrating the African community in Toronto because of the growing size of this demographic.

AMET-TV hopes to become Canada’s first African specialty channel; talks with BDUs underway

Broadcast | May 28, 2009

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