MTN launches One TV to expand reach for Ghanaian content

MTN Ghana has launched MTN One TV, a digital entertainment platform designed to give Ghanaian filmmakers, producers and content creators wider access to audiences while creating new opportunities to monetise their work. The platform brings together linear television channels, video-on-demand content, series and drama, alongside regional African and international content, allowing customers to access entertainment across devices and at their convenience.

Speaking at the launch, MTN Ghana’s Chief Digital Officer, Mr Ibrahim Misto, said that the platform formed part of the company’s evolution from a telecommunications provider focused primarily on voice and data into a broader digital platform business.

He said that MTN One TV was intended to bring together industry players, including filmmakers, content creators and producers, and enable them to use the platform to scale their content and reach MTN customers in Ghana and potentially across the continent.

He said that the platform would also provide an opportunity for industry players to share their challenges with MTN and co-create solutions around the monetisation of content.

Mr Misto explained that MTN One TV combines linear channels with video-on-demand content, including series and dramas, as well as local, regional African and international programming.

He said that the platform was designed to make content easier to discover, allowing customers to find and watch content “anytime, anywhere, at any device.”

According to him, customers can currently access the free channels at no subscription cost, although the free viewing comes with advertising. Revenue generated from advertising, he said, would subsequently be shared between MTN and content creators.

He added that MTN planned to introduce subscriptions for premium content, while some business and other content would remain available free of charge.

Mr Misto said that the platform would also allow customers to create up to five profiles based on their preferences, such as profiles for children and adults, while content could be personalised according to viewing history and individual tastes.

He said MTN would work with content creators on production and other projects, with investment and support forming part of the relationship as the ecosystem developed.

“Once the investment comes, the revenue will be coming, which we as well share with players as well,” he said, describing the model as a win-win for MTN and the creative industry.

Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Honorable Yussif Issaka Jajah, who read a speech on behalf of the sector Minister, Honorable Dzifa Gomashie, said that MTN One TV represented an important step towards ensuring that Ghanaian stories could reach wider audiences and generate greater value for their creators.

He said that Ghana had always had stories worth telling, but that while its stories and culture had travelled, the value and returns had not always come back to the creators and communities behind them.

He said that the launch was therefore significant because it could help Ghanaian stories travel further while ensuring that creators, custodians and communities were not left behind.

Mr Jajah said the Ministry’s revised cultural policy focused on making culture not only beautiful but vibrant, adding that collaboration and digital innovation were necessary to achieve that objective.

He commended MTN for its longstanding support for the creative economy and said that the launch of One TV was a further step towards giving Ghanaian content a platform.

He noted that government was committed to working with industry, development partners and technology companies to create an environment where Ghanaian creativity could thrive, including through work on intellectual property, local content quotas and training.

“Technology has given us a camera. Technology has given us the data and screen. Let us use them to tell our stories boldly and profitably,” he said.

Deputy Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Honorable Mohammed Adams Sukparu, said that the platform should go beyond being another streaming service and instead form part of a wider ecosystem for Ghanaian creative content.

He said that the internet had fundamentally changed how audiences accessed content, with television programmes becoming digital series, radio programmes becoming podcasts and films moving from cinemas to streaming platforms.

However, he noted that the decline of CD and VCD markets, piracy and dependence on global platforms whose terms creators did not control had created new challenges for the industry.

Mr Sukparu said platforms such as MTN One TV could help address some of those challenges by expanding access to Ghanaian content, strengthening distribution, creating better monetisation pathways and connecting creators to larger audiences.

He urged MTN to look beyond content distribution by supporting the commissioning of new Ghanaian productions, licensing existing works and creating opportunities for emerging talent.

He also called for part of the value generated from Ghanaian content on digital platforms to be channelled back into strengthening the ecosystem that produces the content.

The Deputy Minister further stressed the need to make the digital creative economy inclusive by ensuring affordable access and encouraging the development of content in Ghanaian languages.

He said that success should not be measured only by audience numbers or views but also by how much creators earn, the jobs created, investment attracted and the amount of value retained in Ghana.

Mr Sukparu also highlighted the emerging role of artificial intelligence in production, editing, translation, animation, music, audience analysis and distribution, while stressing the need to protect the image, voice, identity and intellectual property of creators.

Senior Manager for Digital Services and Verticals at MTN Ghana, Dr Bless Sefenu Agordjo, said that the company wanted to build One TV with the creative industry rather than simply for it.

He added that MTN One TV was designed to connect quality content with audiences in more flexible ways while creating greater opportunities for those producing the content.

For creative partners, he said, this meant greater visibility, wider distribution and new ways of earning from their work.

The launch comes as MTN Ghana marks its 30th anniversary under the theme “30 years of progress powered by you,” with the company positioning its digital platforms as part of its broader contribution to Ghana’s digital economy.

Deputy Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Honorable Yussif Issaka Jajah

Deputy Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Honorable Mohammed Adams Sukparu

Senior Manager for Digital Services and Verticals at MTN Ghana, Dr Bless Sefenu Agordjo