A+ Ivoire was launched in January 2019, so this is its second season. What's new in the 2020/2021 schedule?
For this fall 2020 season, A+Ivoire is even closer to its Ivorian audience. It's the big return of brand new daily seasons with even more truths in the show ON SE DIT LES GBE presented by Brice Guigré and more games with DEFENDS TES 50000 by Adama Dahico. The weekend promises relaxation with the family every Sunday afternoon, more flavors in the new cooking show RECETTES D'AFRIQUE presented by Necy N'dri, more discoveries in LABEL'IVOIRE presented by Yann Bahou, and more atmosphere with the brand new season of ESPRIT ZOUGLOU presented by Didier Bilé, surrounded by the cream of Ivorian zouglou artists. The sports theme is enriched with a new daily season of ON EST EN FORME presented by Coach Béa and Coach Konan and the upcoming live broadcast of the best match of the Ivorian Ligue 1 football league, followed by a brand new sports magazine LES KOUMANLI DE FOOT presented by the expert duo Carlos Kande and Adam Khalil.
A+Ivoire continues to bring more and more new content to Ivorian entertainment, but it also offers the best Ivorian and African series. For this fall, we are offering the brand new series from A+ Créations, L’OR DE NINKINANKA, the successful second season of MAITRESSE D’UN HOMME MARIE, nostalgia with M’PANGIAMI and KADI JOLIE, not to mention the long-awaited return of MARA, UNE FEMME UNIQUE and its final season.
Beyond the new programs, how would you assess the programs you aired in 2019?
We are very satisfied with both the quality offered by our producers and, above all, the daily reception by our increasingly loyal and numerous viewers. They embrace our programming because it offers them the clear and understandable promise of an Ivorian, African, popular, and accessible entertainment channel.
In terms of series production, we talked a lot about Ma grande famille (which had several hundred episodes) when A+ Ivoire was launched. Do you have any other projects of this type?
With our latest hits, which have been acclaimed by our viewers, such as MA GRANDE FAMILLE, LES COUPS DE LA VIE, LES LARMES DE L'AMOUR, MAITRESSE D'UN HOMME MARIE, CAPTITALES AFRICAINES, and the latest, L’OR DE NINKINANKA, we are increasingly confident in our decision to strengthen our investment in the creation of African long-running, serialized, and daily series. We are therefore continuing with this winning strategy, with seasons 2 or 3 of these series currently in production, while developing new series concepts based on the expertise of creators from Côte d'Ivoire and across Africa.
Our aim is to develop strong brands in line with our audience's expectations in order to capitalize in the long term with concepts that can be adapted into several seasons.
I would also like to point out that the pan-African channel A+, which offers the best of African series, is also performing very well, a sign of the public's growing appetite for the continent's creations.
The health crisis has had an impact on media consumption and advertising revenue. How has A+ Ivoire weathered this troubled period?
It's true: it has been a very difficult period, and it is not yet behind us. Despite a weakened program schedule, mainly due to the shutdown of many of our shoots and productions in the face of the health crisis, this very unusual period has allowed our audience to take more time to enjoy or re-enjoy our programs, with the positive result of expanding our audience base and brand awareness. We have managed to retain the loyalty of local advertisers, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support.
Médiamétrie has just published its July-August survey, in which public and private channels are on a par in terms of audience. What lessons do you draw from this study, to which you are one of the subscribers?
The main lesson is the structuring of a reference tool for channel publishers as well as advertisers and advertising agencies. It is a necessary and essential measurement tool for the successful development of DTT in Côte d'Ivoire. More specifically, for A+Ivoire, it is a valuable tool that allows us to better manage our editorial strategy and, above all, to claim tangible results and leadership in key audience segments across the entire advertising market.