The brand has been snapped up by consumers outside of Nairobi, increasing TV penetration in the country. Zuku TV plans to offer its service to consumers in 11 countries across Africa including; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Malawi and Somalia. Already the brand is available in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania with a planned launch in the rest of the countries in the course of next year.
Wananchi Group CEO, Richard Bell stated that he is extremely delighted with the uptake of Zuku Satellite TV products thus far.
"Zuku has been very well received in the markets that we have rolled out in. Part of the reason for our success we believe is our commitment to providing fresh, innovative and affordable entertainment for the "Wananchi". We have experienced unprecedented demand for our product to the point where we are selling out in a lot of our stores." he said. "We however would like to also reassure our customers that we are in the process of replenishing our stocks in time for the festive season," he added.
Pay TV penetration in the countries it is targeting is presently at less than 1%. Zuku's aim is to provide affordable quality content which is suitable for the entire family.
Zuku TV offers a wide selection of entertainment channels covering news, sports, movies, documentaries and music. These include various 3rd party channels such as BBC, MTV Base, Setanta Sports, MGM Movies and E to name but a few. The provider also offers many of its own tailor-made channels such as Zuku Africa airing African content, Zuku Life airing documentaries, Zuku Sports as well as a number of themed movie channels. The service is available via satellite throughout Kenya.
Wananchi Group Holdings, which owns the Zuku Brand, has in the past three years, invested over Kshs. 14 billion towards building the business which includes PayTv, broadband internet and VoIP services.
