There’s a new TV station in town and they guarantee you’re going to love it. Switch TV is the name of the young, energetic and dynamic channel and you will #Switch4Good once you see what they have in store. Switch TV, launched on 8th October 2018, is fully owned by Red Cross and has Kenyan and African youth, aged 18-35 years as the primary target market. Their vision is to be the most influential platform for educating and empowering the youth to solve humanitarian challenges in Kenya, Africa, and the whole world. Talk about a grand vision!
They hope to bring Switch TV’s vision to fruition through content that will be fresh, strikingly different, real and exclusive. They have a wide range of programming covering everything from drama to comedy, reality to sports and current affairs shows. Their news content will also be remarkably different from what we’re used to. They seek to educate the audiences through incisive features and documentaries. They will not stop at just reporting the news but will take it a step further, letting you know exactly how it will affect your lived experience and empower you with probable solutions.
Kenya has an almost acute shortage of high-quality local content that is intellectually stimulating to the youth, an observation that has led Switch TV to purpose to have 70% of its programming be local content. They also want their content to be relevant to the youth, engaging with subject matters that the youth are grappling with from relationships to sex, finances to entrepreneurship. They also want to provide the youth with role models from their hosts, to the guests they choose to have on the show. Their various shows will be hosted by talented entertainers some of them seasoned in the Kenyan media scene and some fresh faces. They have signed some well-known media personalities including Grace Msalame, Shaffie Weru, DNG, Nonny Gathoni, Remmy Majala, former radio personality Nzula Makosi and the actor/presenter with what can only be described as delicious hair, Daniel Peter Weke.
So why is Red Cross suddenly in the Broadcast business? One of Kenya Red Cross’ key pillars is sustainability. They continuously engage in new alternative sources of income to support their humanitarian efforts. The revenue from Switch TV will boost their emergency kitty and other cross-sector development programmes. Kenya Red Cross has been continuously seeking alternative sources of funding for humanitarian activities to support Kenyans. Kenya Red Cross is the only Red Cross in the entire world that has gone into business, owning a hotel (Boma Hotel), a school (Boma International Hospitality College) and now a TV station (Switch TV), all of which are geared at achieving their sustainability goal while boosting their emergency kitty.
Switch TV, which is Free to Air and will be accessible through all digital TV’s and decoders, has a grand vision to deliver. Here’s hoping you’re excited to see what they have in store when they go live later this week. At the official launch, Abbas Gullet, CEO, Kenya Red Cross, expressed the Switch TV teams excitement at finally having all systems go in just short 16 months from ideation to launch. He said, “This is a significant milestone for us in our quest to empower and entertain the youth through edutainment. We believe that the youth will use this platform to discuss their challenges guided by our high quality and engaging local production… and we hope will be able to change the narrative amongst the youth as we influence them positively. ”
Are you excited yet? Are you ready to #Switch4Good where your preferred station and overall mindset are concerned? Get in touch with the Switch TV team for more info or just to say ‘What’s up? I’m hella excited!’: You can call them on the following numbers +254-703 037000 // 0722-206958 // 0733-333040 or email: [email protected] and check out their website www.switchmedia.ke
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