Africa Channel Signs Companies to Handle Ad Sales, Content Duties

The Africa Channel has retained HotHouse Media to handle its affiliate sales and distribution duties, as well as T Media Sales to oversee ad sales for the network, said company officials.

The network also said it has reached content and channel partnership deals with Africa-based content distributor AfricaXP.

HotHouse will work closely with cable, satellite and telco distributors to expand the network’s footprint in U.S. markets, while T Media Sales will focus on programming sponsorships and direct response sales, according to network officials.

"We have evolved our programming to a point where The Africa Channel is a very strong candidate for rapid subscriber expansion and an engaging environment for advertisers to showcase their brands and services,” said Narendra Reddy, executive vice president of content & global operations for TAC. “HotHouse Media and T Media Sales have long track records of success in their respective areas of expertise, and they are ideal partners for us as we enter into an accelerated and exciting phase of our growth."

AfricaXP will serve as the exclusive agent for supplying content to The Africa Channel from African producers, as well as play a role in content sourcing and development for the network while managing all aggregation, quality control and delivery logistics for the network.

“By partnering with AfricaXP on a premium channel launch in Africa, and having access to their cloud-based channel compilation and delivery system, we will be able to expand by focusing our investment on developing African content assets, which is where we really want to play,” Reddy said.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.