Olivier Laouchez and Head, Sam Onyemelukwe launch International music brand TRACE Urban TV for Anglophone West Africa

“Nigeria is the place to be!” Co-founder, Chairman and CEO, Olivier Laouchez and Head, Sam Onyemelukwe launch International music brand TRACE Urban TV for Anglophone West Africa.

Nigeria makes another leap in global entertainment reckoning with the official media launch of the global TRACE brand in the country today. TRACE Urban, the network’s #1 international urban music channel has officially set up its offices in Nigeria to reach Nigeria and Anglophone West Africa, with a mission to drive the industry with hit music videos,unique content, digital platforms and events. True to the African born network’s roots it is looking to bring content to, as well as create great content  in Nigeria. TRACE was started in Africa with a global outlook and is the only multi cultural, global platform owned and operated by people of African origin. The concept is to bring Africa to the world and the world to Africa.

“Nigeria is the place to be!” said Olivier Laouchez. “We are inspired by the vibrant music scene, the electrifying artists, great music videos and the passionate creative spirit. Nigerian artists are the hub of the continent’s growing music entertainment industry and our expansion into Anglophone West Africa grew from our desire to be a part of the excitement and to promote African music globally”.

This move is set to transform the fixture in the Western African entertainment industry, with a focus on Nigeria and Ghana.  With all of these developments the network is purposefully not going to transform TRACE Urban into a “Nigerian” channel. TRACE is a global media brand and not just a TV channel but an experience offering digital platforms, radio, events and concerts all of which are eventually destined for the region.
TRACE Urban is now officially open to the Nigerian market – already welcoming local sponsors and partners, including Project Fame West Africa Season 4 and Hennessy Artistry 2011. Managed for advertising, branded content and events and sponsorship sales in Nigeria by Entertainment Management Company (EMC), Mr. Laouchez said, “We are very proud to have selected EMC as the representative for TRACE in the region to commercialise the channel and integrate with artists, viewers and other
stakeholders.”

“We are very excited to be on the ground,” said Sam Onyemelukwe, who is Head of TRACE Urban Anglophone West Africa and M.D. of EMC and was previously Business Development Manager for MTV Base. “With this move, we build on the origins and mission of TRACE and we are set to increase the playlist with home-grown music videos and offer more opportunities for artists, advertisers and viewers, but that’s just the beginning. As a Nigerian, I’m proud that we recognize the huge strides our music and
entertainment industry has made and the incredible cross over potential of our artists and TRACE Urban is a major supporter of our talent.”
TRACE Urban is acknowledged as the most watched in public places all over Africa – and it is already the number one music TV channel in South Africa with commanding ratings of 44% market share in prime time and the coolest TV channel and coolest Music TV channel in the influential Generation Next awards for 3 years running. The channel is available on the “access” DSTV bouquet available to the largest number of viewers and consistently ranks in the top 10 channels on DSTV with 37% of viewers in primetime*. Selected TRACE Urban content is now spread to local terrestrial channels, Galaxy TV and NTA to reach a wider audience with prospects to spread to more Free TV channels across Africa.

ABOUT TRACE

Launched in 2003, TRACE is a brand and an international media group that
provides contemporary music and sports entertainment content to a large
and predominantly young audience.

Its core business is original content and pay-tv channels, available in
nine languages, distributed in over 150 countries through 28 satellites
and 200 carriage agreements. These include:

TRACE Urban (HD and SD): A music channel dedicated to urban music and
culture.
TRACE Tropical (SD): A music channel dedicated to tropical music and culture.
TRACE Sports (HD): An up close, factual and lifestyle entertainment
channel dedicated to sports celebrities
TRACE Africa (HD and SD): A music channel dedicated to the best African
music (to be launched in October 2011).

ABOUT EMC

EMC is a total media, branding and advertising solutions provider focused
on the Anglophone African market. EMC brings together brands, content,
media platforms, artists and record labels, and provide a complete suite
of services from brand marketing concept development to broadcast and
event production. Media and Advertising is a cornerstone business for EMC,
with TRACE Urban as a key media platform, but also offering 1Music (TV),
FAB Magazine (Periodical and Weekly Print). Plans are to add Radio,
Out-of-Home and Digital Media in order to provide a one stop shop for
every type of brand communication campaign.