A New and Exciting TV Station has entered the Market…And it’s purely all Swahili

As the demand for more local content keeps growing, and more and more Kenyans keep seeking alternative local entertainment away from the Kardashians and the Real Housewives, a duo of enterprising Kenyans have rolled out the first ever All-Swahili TV station in the Country.

Raia TV, as the name suggests, is targeted to resonate with the normal ‘Mwananchi’ – Raia and is expected to be officially launched tonight at a top-class hotel in Nairobi.

The new Free to Air Channel will be broadcasting 100%  pure local entertainment like movies, series, soaps, comedies, drama, reality shows, talk shows and features back to back. The station is aimed at promoting and giving an opportunity to local content producers by giving them a platform to showcase their talents.

The TV is the brainchild of Anne Hamberger and Henry Lenga – the same exciting team that brought you some of the most long running, riveting and memorable TV shows in Kenya including Majaliwa, Cheche, Udhalimu and Almasi.

Based in Mombasa, the TV station was borne out of the the sad realization that it is expensive to make local content and many producers do not have the opportunity to have their content on air.

So they are here to give a chance to content producers who do not have an avenue to showcase their content.

And unlike many stations where you have to go through a rigorous process to get your content on TV, Raia TV is coming up with an easy and transparent way; There will be a show with the working title “Pilot TV” where a panel will sit, watch and criticize your show on air.

The panel together with the public will then take a vote on which content they’d like to see more of and if there is mass appeal, you as a producer will then be handed a contract and discuss Terms and Conditions. This cuts out middlemen, agents and “kickbacks” scenarios. The content has to, however, be classified by KFCB.

As soon as it launches, Raia TV will air in Mombasa, Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru, Meru and Nyeri before rolling out countrywide.

Raia TV will be broadcasted on the PANG signal. The station is currently doing its tests and the channel number will be revealed during the launch tonight.

Good times, these!

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Cabu Gah