Africa’s Best Channel (ABC) is a new Pan-African Children and Youth Channel launched in Nigeria. Broadcasting on the channel began on 7 March 2010, which is UNICEF International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB).

“We chose this day to celebrate ICDB and to draw both local and international attention to ABC. We have started with six hours of programming, with children hosting or linking the rest of the scheduled programmes. Now we have six hours per Saturday and Sunday so it’s a total of 12 hours on the weekend,” says Firdoze Bulbulia, one of the brains behind the new channel.  “We will eventually grow ABC to two hours daily and keep the 12 hours over the weekends,” she says.

The channel sees ABC partnering with MiTV, an independent broadcaster that has been broadcasting both radio and TV for the past 15 years.

Firdoze explained the development, “MiTV is a family and entertainment channel in Nigeria. ABC was born out of the work that we have been doing over the past 16 years in the area of children and broadcasting, culminating in South Africa hosting the fifth World Summit on Media for Children (5WSMC) in March 2007. ABC is one of the legacy projects of 5WSMC. So, exactly three years later, as we prepare for the sixth WSMC, we have launched ABC.”

ABC will be broadcasting from Nigeria. MiTV-ABC is on West Africa’s DSTV bouquet on Channel 135. It will eventually partner with broadcasters in most African countries.

The channel has a “truly Pan-African focus and perspective,” and asserts their content will be “reliable, responsible and relevant to young audiences.”

“The age group is 0-25, so it’s a children and youth channel which will target children aged 0-18 years and teens and youth up to 25 years,” commented Firdoze, who partnered in the project with renowned Nigerian filmmaker Faith Isiakpere.

The channel’s focus will be on quality children and youth content with an African perspective.

Also on offer will be international content for young audiences produced globally. “We are currently negotiating with our international partners so that we have product from African-American broadcasters, European Broadcasters, Caribbean, Latin American, North American etc." "ABC is an African window into the world and a global window into Africa.”

She explained that one of the legacy projects from the 5th World Summit on Media for Children (5WSMC)  was a pan-African children and youth channel as they concluded that Africa needed to focus on quality media for African children and youth.

“We are keen to use all forms of media, such as social-networking sites, to ensure cross-media and multi-media platforms. Our work in this sector spans 16 years of concentrated efforts to ensure African children and youth have the same access to quality content as other young audiences. We are partnering with all broadcasting unions and broadcasters in Africa in particular to build a library of African children and youth content,” says Firdoze

For now, ABC will not be commissioning any programming, but they are accepting proposals and looking at co-production opportunities. They are also re-versioning some of their own content that they have produced or acquired over the years.

She also said that all genre of content is welcome and new and innovative formats are encouraged -  for example, reports from rural communities and refugee camps would be an interesting way to have information about difficult and challenging situations for young people to engage with and find solutions.

“We want ABC to offer a window into our complex world but we want young people to equally find solutions for our troubles. Media is an important tool for democracy - we want programming that truly reflects the ability of the media to assist with social and political change and that enhances the quality of life of young people in difficult situations.”

The channel has started a ToonBoom Animation exchange with Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Egypt and South Africa to support co-production in animation.

Firdoze noted that they had their first meeting during the ABC launch in Nigeria and will have a second meeting in July in Ethiopia. Talks are also in the offing with Disney about possible co-productions from Africa.

ABC is registered in Nigeria and South Africa, with its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. The production centers will be in Lagos, Nigeria and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Martin Chemhere