The popular entertainment brand will launch as a full-fledged 24-hour channel on the DSTV platform, broadcasting to over 40 countries in Africa, according to founder and executive producer Ayo Animashaun.
Hip TV was founded in 2007, as a broadcast platform for Hip Hop World Magazine, the most respected music magazines on the continent.
Animashaun, who set up the Hip Hop World brand in 1995 at 25, says the coming of Hip TV Channel is more than a dream come true.
"We’ve worked on this for years, many years’ he says. ‘And I’m humbled, grateful, excited, nervous, and fulfilled that we’re finally going to deliver our own channel, a hundred percent Nigerian property to the world. At Smooth Promotions, we have a mandate to deliver the best possible content to our audiences on all platforms. Everyone knows our magazine, which is our print platform. We’re presently online with our websites and weekly issues. We’re also kicking off a 24-hour radio service called Street Hop. And after six years, it’s gratifying to be able to say you will soon be able to tune in to our own proudly Nigerian channel."
He continues, “It means a lot of work and a lot of responsibility to us. For many years, we have nurtured our own idea of how entertainment, music and lifestyle programming should be. It's not time for so much talk but time to walk the walk and we are very excited about the huge opportunity to be in millions of homes, not only in Nigeria but across the continent. We are confident we will bring something refreshing to the table.”
Hip TV is expected to go live later this year, after a launch event with details to be announced soon. The channel, Animashaun says, will combine news, trends and lifestyle reporting, with the regular programming Hip TV has come to be known for. “We’re keeping all the regulars, all the segments like Dead Curious, Hip TV Specials, I thought you knew, Caught Out there, and many others. But we’re also working day and night to finish out new concepts that’ll titillate.”
Hip TV studios will be located in Lagos and London, with roving reporters and analysts around the world.
Hip TV is an urban contemporary music and lifestyle channel that was borne out of the need to create rich, unusual content for television viewers across Africa and beyond; something more than mere video rotation. This need birthed a music and lifestyle package; created to educate as well as inform the teeming music lovers who don’t want to miss a thing.
Six years later, Hip TV has grown to become by far the number one music content producer in Nigeria boasting of over 600 hours of programming per annum. Hip TV is also the first and only TV channel in Nigeria to stream 24hour live content on its website.
The core target of the channel ranges from 16-40.
