Skyy Digital TV Celebrates Digital Age

The first Ghanaian private pay television provider, Skyy Digital TV, is stepping up activities on the screens as part of efforts to commemorate its one year anniversary of being a licensed digital service provider after several years of running on an analogue system.

The establishment, which shot off in the Western Region of Ghana, started as a radio station after the holding company of Skyy media group, Wilsad Support Ltd (WSL), incorporated in Ghana in October 1996 as an entertainment and communication company, received authorization to operate private broadcasting from the National Communication Authority (NCA) in February 1997.

In September 1997 the NCA granted authorization for the WSL to commence fulltime commercial transmission. After about a month of test transmissions, Skyy Power FM was officially launched on October 5, 1997. Later it also launched a monthly local pro development newspaper, Skyy Focus, in 2003 before finally adding a multiple channel television service, Skyy Television Network in November 2004.

The network, in its bid to offer market leadership communication services to customers and offer efficient communication platform to clients nationwide and beyond, tried to spread its tentacle. Last year WSL received authorization to operate a nationwide Digital Video Broadcasting via Terrestrial (DVB-T) service.

All other television broadcasting stations will in due course use the DVB-T platform, as directed by the NCA. This means one could use the same Skyy Digital DVB-T receiver setup boxes to receive all the current television station services you enjoy on your TV when they go digital.

Currently, the television provider has 10 carefully selected TV channels, including one of Ghana’s reigning free to air TV networks, Etv. The rest, which have interesting programmes, include Skyy One, Sky World Planet Kids TV, Fiesta, Knowledge TV, Democracy TV, Sports 24, Heaven TV and Cinimax TV.

The channels offer 24-hour back-to-back movies, upgrading the capacity of viewers, entertaining children, news, and promoting spiritual development as well as sports and developmental projects in the communities.

The CEO of Skyy Digital TV, Wilson Arthur, in an exclusive interview with BEATWAVES, was confident that his outfit is the fastest growing television outlet in Ghana. According to him, they launched the digital services with seventy-five thousand people in the Western Region as their strength, but within a very short period the network spread across the country with some alacrity.

“We’ve added Tema, Accra, Koforidua and the whole of Ashanti Region. Just today we added Cape Coast. We are bent on bringing sustainable, valuable and affordable television services to every household throughout the country, and we hope to achieve that in no time”, he said.

He said GTV and SKyy Digital are the only TV channels that have so far been given the authority to go digital. By 2012 the government will require that other television stations in Ghana go digital by either joining Skyy Digital TV’s bouquet or that of GTV.

BEATWAVES had the opportunity to tour the network’s establishment located at Abelenkpe, a suburb of Accra. It has well-structured facilities and studios to emphasize Skyy’s readiness for the digital age.