Television in Ethiopia was introduced in 1962 with the government-owned ETV. Color television started in 1979 on an experiment basis with regular transmissions starting in 1984 to commemorate the founding of Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE).African Media Development Initiative: Ethiopia, p. 20 (accessed 24 May 2009) Ethiopia got its first private television broadcaster in 2008 with EBS TV, a US-based satellite TV channel mostly focused on infotainment.
Until very recently there was only one private station, with most of the stations being state-owned. However, emphasis on liberalization of the TV market eventually led to a wave of privately owned stations coming about recent years. In 2014 the Oromo diaspora launched the one and only television; Oromia Media Network, based in US OMN. In 2016 and 2017, more private broadcasters such as the news-centered ENN TV and others like LTV Ethiopia, Kana TV, Qubee TV, and EOTC TV all joined the market, and were launched at the end of 2018. 7 million households in Ethiopia have at least one television set, and about 55 percent of the population has access to watch television in their homes.
History The national public broadcaster EBC (formerly ERTA) started broadcasting in 1962 as the first television station in Ethiopia. In the last couple of the decades the broadcaster had opened multiple regional stations and channels broadcasting in various languages.Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency , ERTA website (accessed 24 May 2009) Privatization of the television industry was a slow process with the first privately run broadcaster, EBS TV, launching in 2008. However, 2016 and 2017 saw a wave of private station entering the market including what became the most popular channel, Kana TV, to increase the total number of private station's in Ethiopia to 45.
In 2016 the government of Ethiopia announced it would transition the country from analog to digital platform. The American company GatesAir won the contract for the project, that will take 5–10 years to fully complete.
TV stations
Government-owned television stations
#StationsCategoryLanguage1Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC)General, newsAmharic 2Oromia Broadcasting NetworkGeneral, newsOromo3Amhara Media CorporationGeneral, newsAmharic4Addis Media Network (Addis TV) General, newsAmharic, English5Tigrai Tv General, newsTigrigna, Amharic, Oromo, Qafar, Saho, Kunama, Arabic and English6Harari TVGeneral, newsHarari7SRTVGeneral, newsSomali8Debub TV General, newsAmharic9Dire TVGeneral, newsAmharic, Somali language10Gambela TVGeneral, newsAmharic11Wolaita TV General,newsAmharic, and Wolaitta12Gamo TV General,newsGamo and Amharic13Afar TVGeneral, newsAfar and Amharic14Keffa TV General, newsKafa and Amharic15Kembata TV General, newsKambaata and Amharic16Hadiya TVGeneral,newsHadiyya and Amharic17Benishangul Gumuz Media (BGM) General,newsBenishangul and Amharic18Southwest Media Network (on trail)General,newsTBD
Digital cable services ProviderCategoryLanguageDStv (South Africa)GeneralAmharic, English Webspirx IPTV (Ethiopia)GeneralAmharic CANAL+ (France)GeneralAmharic, English telestream(Ethiopia)GeneralAmharic
Privately owned TV stations #StationCategoryLanguage1Channel 1 News & Entertainment Amharic2A Plus TVEntertainment Amharic 3Kana TVGeneral EntertainmentAmharic4Nabad TVNews, EntertainmentSomali5LTV EthiopiaclosedCultureAmharic6EBS TVNews and EntertainmentAmharic7YA TVNews and EntertainmentAmharic8ENN TVclosedNewsAmharic9JTV EthiopiaclosedNews and EntertainmentAmharic10Nahoo TVNews and entertainmentAmharic11Walta TVmerge with fana NewsAmharic12Fana TVNewsAmharic13Aleph TVclosedGeneral entertainmentAmharic14Afrihealth TVHealthAmharic15ARTS TVNews EntertainmentAmharic16DW TVGeneral NewsTigrigna17Bisrat TVGeneral entertainment Amharic 18Asham TVNews, entertainment Amharic 19AHADU TVNews entertainmentAmharic20AsratGeneral NewsAmharic21ESATGeneral news Amharic22Balageru TVGeneral EntertainmentAmharic23ABN TVNews, entertainmentAmharic24Ye Ethiopia Lijoch TVChildren's channel Amharic25TV 9 EthioNews Entertainment Amharic26Sidaama Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)General NewsSidamian27TMH TVGeneral NewsTigrigna28OBS TVGeneral entertainment Afaan Oromoo29Qubee TVNews, Educational and entertainmentAfaan Oromoo30OMNNews EntertainmentAfaan Oromoo31FIBNews EntertainmentAfaan Oromoo32ONNPoliticsAfaan Oromoo33NBC ETHIOPIAEntertainment Amharic34Channel 29News and entertainment Tigrigna35Zee AlemIndian entertainment Amharic36Abol TVentertainmentAmharic37Hagerie TVNews and entertainmentAmharic38Yegna TVNews and entertainmentAmharic39Abbay Media TVNews and entertainmentAmharic and Afaan Oromo40Merkato TVShoppingAmharic41TBSNews and entertainmentTigrigna42EOTC Regional News Amharic43Prime media News and entertainmentAmharic and Afaan oromo44TBS TV (Tigray Broadcasting Secvice)News and entertainmentTigrigna
Religious broadcasters #StationCategoryLanguage1Africa TV 1IslamAmharic, Afaan Oromo, Tigrigna2Zawya TV IslamAmharic3Nuuralhudaa TVIslamAfaan Oromo4NesihaSasikumarTV HDIslam Amharic, Tigrigna, Afar, Somali, Silte, Guragigna, Hadiya, Afaan Oromo, Welene, Kebenna5Hamiltan TVIslamAfaan Oromo6As-Sunnah TVIslam Amharic, Harari, Silte7tvislaamaaIslam Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Tigrigna, English8Harima TvIslam Amharic9BST (Bilal Satellite Television)Islam Amharic10Minber TVIslamAmharic, Afaan Oromo, Afar, Somali11Daewa TvIslam Amharic12Yebereka Lejoch TvIslam Amharic13Nuur TVIslamAfaan Oromo14EOTC TVEthiopian OrthodoxAmharic, Afaan Oromoo, Tigrigna15EOTC MKEthiopian OrthodoxAmharic, Afaan Oromoo, Tigrigna16Aleph TVEthiopian Orthodox Amharic17Oromia Clergy Network (OCN)Ethiopian OrthodoxAfaan Oromo18Christ Army TVProtestantAmharic19Bethel TVProtestant Amharic20Vision TVProtestant Amharic21JPS TVProtestantAmharic22JSL TVProtestantAmharic23Holy TVProtestant Amharic24CJ TVProtestant Amharic25Jesus TVProtestantAmharic26El Shaddai Television Network (ETN HD) ProtestantAmharic27Presence TVProtestant Amharic28Elhori TVProtestant Amharic29Elohi TVProtestant Amharic30MO'A TV HDProtestantAfaan Oromo31Arara TVProtestant Afaan Oromo32GMM TV ethiopiaProtestantAmharic33Anointing TVProtestantAmharic34Christ MissionProtestantAmharic35Holy Sprit TVProtestantAmharic36Marcil TVProtestantAmharic37Evangelical TV HDProtestantAmharic38Glory TV ETHProtestantAmharic39Fover TVProtestantAmharic40WW TVProtestantAmharic417 Spirit TVProtestantAmharic42Rehobot TV HDProtestantAmharic43CC TV EthiopiaProtestantAmharic44IFtiin TV ProtestantAmharic45LJ TV WorldwideProtestantAmharic46Hope Channel EthiopiaSeventh-Day Adventist (SDA)Afan Oromo,Amharic, Tigrigna
Weekly market share Source: Kantar-Geopoll Media Measurement for Ethiopia (March 2017) RankChannelParent CompanyMarket Share1Kana TVMoby Group34%2EBC 1Ethiopian Broadcasting Corp.18%3EBS TVEBS 16%4JTV EthiopiaJTV10%5ETV MeznagnaEthiopian Broadcasting Corp.5%6Nahoo TVNahoo LLC4%7CNNTurner 3%8Ethiopia today Ethiopian Government3%9BBC AmharicBritish Government3%10Other ---4%
Top 10 programs (March 2017) RankProgramChannelTV Rating1Zalim Istanbul / ሽሚያ "Shimya"Kana TV15.2*2Cennet'in Gözyaşları / ያልታበሰ እንባ "Yaltabese Emba" Kana TV14.6*3Siyah Beyaz Aşk / ድርና ማግ "Dir Ena Mag"Kana TV14.0*4Doğduğun Ev Kaderindir / ስበት "Sibet"Kana TV13.9*5Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman ki / ማዕበል "Maebel"Kana TV13.6*6#Time / #ጊዜ "#Time"Kana TV12.5*7Kadın (TV series) / ያልተፈታ ህልም "Yaltefeta Hilm"Kana TV11.35*8Kayıp / ፍርደኞቹ "Firdegnochu"Kana TV11.0*9Seifu on EBS ሰይፉ በ ኢቢኤስ "Seifu On EBS"EBS TV10.96*10Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation / "EBC News"EBC10.5*
See also Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation Media in Ethiopia Culture of Ethiopia
References