ETV to Launch Entertainment and Sports-only Channel

Addis Ababa – The state-run sole national television broadcaster, Ethiopian Television (ETV), will launch an additional channel exclusively dedicated to sports and entertainment within a month.

ETV revealed this plan to owners of advertisement companies in a stakeholders meeting held here on Saturday, December 11, 2010. Seifu Fantahun, Serawit Fekire, Samson Mamo and Biniam Kebede were among the invited personalities, according to ETV sources.  ETV officials expressed their interest in airing quality programs, including talk shows, produced by the advertisement companies, the sources told ANO.

The new channel, named ETV 3, will air its trial transmission only in Addis Ababa city and its environs. ETV has a previous history of broadcasting programs on a separate channel, ETV 2, for audiences in the capital city and its surrounding area. The station hosted re-run programs from the South African-based TV station, TV Africa. When TV Africa stopped its transmission, ETV allotted the channel for broadcasting programs produced by the Addis Ababa Mass Media Agency.

ETV first aimed to launch the new channel on December 10, 2010 but later postponed it by a month. According to the station plan, the channel will remain on the air for 18 hours each day. “Until the private producers bring their programs to full capacity, ETV will re-run entertainment and sport programs from its main channel,” a source said.

In line with the launch of the new channel, ETV has changed the structure of its sports section. Previously, sports fell under “news” but have now been merged with “entertainment”.

Source: Addis Neger