MTV Networks Africa (MTVNA) has been pronounced Broadcaster of The Year at the SatCom Star Awards, the annual ceremony that celebrates excellence in the African satellite and broadcast industry. MTVNA received the award jointly with Discovery Networks.

Designed to celebrate the continued growth and success of the satellite marketplace, the SatCom Star Awards highlight exceptional performers and innovators within the industry.

The award was announced at a gala dinner in Johannesburg, South Africaon 22 May 2012, during SatCom Africa, the annual gathering of African satellite and broadcasting professionals.  The winners were judged by satellite industry leaders.

MTV Networks Africa Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Alex Okosi, accepted the award from Jaylene Naidoo, General Manager, SatCom Africa.

Commented Okosi, “For seven years, MTV Networks Africa has brought innovation and excitement to tens of millions of viewers acrossAfrica, introducing strong new brands that resonate with distributors, audiences and advertisers alike.  We are thrilled to receive recognition of our achievements by our industry peers.”

MTV Networks Africa is a pan-African multimedia entertainment network responsible for the African business operations of global media powerhouse Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN).  The network is dedicated to delivering high quality, targeted, music, youth, kids’, comedy and general entertainment content and experiences to audiences aged 4-49+ in sub-Saharan Africa. The network’s English language portfolio currently consists of:

• MTV Base – the ‘African’ MTV channel – MTV Base is a fully-fledged ‘urban’ African music and youth lifestyle channel with African music videos and African programming. The channel is targeted at 16-24s
• MTV Euro – the ‘international’ version of MTV in Africa, MTV includes international music videos and youth lifestyle programming sourced fromUK, Europe and theUSA
• VH1 – international music and lifestyle channel for older viewers
• Nickelodeon – 24 hour kids channel targeted at kids 4-14
• Comedy Central – round-the-clock comedy entertainment for viewers 16 to 49
• BET – contemporary entertainment for young adults

Distributed via a combination of pay-TV/DTH, FTA, IPTV and DTT affiliates, MTV Networks Africa channels can be seen on distribution platforms in 50 countries across Africa including DStv (pan Africa), Zuku (Kenya), Zap (Angola, Mozambique), CV Multimedia (Cape Verde), StarTimes (Burundi, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda), STV (Nigeria), AIT (Nigeria), WBS (Uganda), and GHOne (Ghana).

Across brand, innovative programming continues to be a mainstay of MTVNA’s ethos, including high quality African productions such as the HIV and AIDS drama Shuga: Love, Sex, Money, which captivated the continent for a second season in 2012 while the Nigerian based Big Friday Show (BFS) fronted by Nigerian comic Basketmouth upped the game for African talk shows on the continent and achieved record ratings in Nigeria.  The pro-social multimedia campaign MTV Base Meets…with MTN broke new ground by connecting young African individuals with world statesmen, entrepreneurs and opinion leaders including Nobel Prize Laureate Madame Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, R&B star Alicia Keys and controversial politician Julius Malema.  A new Comedy Central series Comedy Central Presents…Live at Parker’s shines a light on the African stand-up comedy scene.

MTV Networks Africa offers flexible and highly targeted marketing platforms for brands seeking creative marketing solutions and is a partner of choice for key brands in multiple sectors including Alcohol, FMCG (including Food), Retail, Automotive & Telecommunications.  Among the brands currently partnering with the network are: Access Bank, Reckitt and Benckiser; McDonalds; Brandhouse; Distell; Unilever; L’Oreal; Cell C; Emirates; Coca Cola; Prima Toys and MTN.

Images of Sizwe by LeeRoy Jason.