Kenya's Citizen TV extends service to Uganda

Citizen TV, a brand of Kenya's Royal Media Service unveiled its services in Uganda this April, as the race for East Africa's airwaves hots up. The station is broadcasting on channel 32 on DStv.

Citizen is the second Kenyan-based television company to launch its services in Uganda after Nation Television (NTV), operated by Africa Broadcasting Uganda. NTV is a brand of the Nation Media Group which is based in Kenya but with operations in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

The entry of Citizen TV, which largely specialises in the provision of local content, is expected to stir the local English television scene. Citizen will seek to out-perform competitors like Wavah Broadcasting Service (WBS) TV, Nile Broadcasting Service (NBS) TV, Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) and Record TV which have many local programmes.

The entry of NTV into Uganda about three years ago led to a drastic shift in urban youthful viewers from local stations like WBS and UBC from who have a knack for Western programmes and trendy local programmes.

The race for more viewers in Uganda has pushed broadcasters to extend their television signals to urban centres in various regions of the country. For instance, WBS, UBC and NTV now cover, Mbale and Jinja in the eastern part of the country, they also have a presence in Gulu, Lira in the north, and western districts like Mbarara and Bushenyi.

Today, the Uganda Communications Commission has issued up to 50 television frequencies with 35 stations on-air while 15 are yet to be launched.