East African Business Week

M-Net has launched AFRICAMAGIC SWAHILI, a new channel completely dedicated to Swahili. It came on air on July 1
Speaking about the new channel, M-Net Africa Managing Director Biola Alabi expressed her optimism for the channel and explained why M-Net had sought to expand its very popular AfricaMagic brand with a specific focus on East Africa.
"KiSwahili is one of the oldest and most beautiful languages in the world. It's also one of the most widely spoken languages in this region. We felt it was the right time to invest in creating a Swahili channel that celebrates both the language and the culture that goes along with it. It's always been our intention to diversify the AfricaMagic channel line-up across the continent and I'm very pleased that we are able to do so."
She went on to say, "We want to give our audiences in different markets relevant channels, with compelling content that speaks directly to them. This takes time, resources and careful planning but we are confident that in taking this first step to create the channel, we've made a solid and promising start."
With a six6-hour daily premium programming block that runs from 17:00 - 23:00 EAT which is re-screened three times; AFRICAMAGIC SWAHILI will be on screen 24-hours daily, allowing viewers the opportunity to catch up on programming they may have missed.
"We intend to grow the six-hour premium block over the next year. We want the channel to first establish itself, to get a sense of what our audiences' preferences are and how they view the channel and then we'll move forward. It's a very exciting time; we're absolutely thrilled to see this channel come to life.
 Many thanks must also go to producers and filmmakers who took the opportunity to partner with us and give the Swahili language a new platform on which to be showcased.
A general entertainment channel, the line-up on AFRICAMAGIC SWAHILI will include movies, drama, comedy, talk-shows and music. Programming will be in Swahili but most programming will also be sub-titled in English for non-Swahili speakers.
Even more exciting news is that the channel will be available on several DStv bouquets including DStv Access, Family, Compact, Compact Plus and Premium, ensuring that the channel will reach a wide audience.