CBI News debuts on StarTimes, Free TV platforms

Creativity Broadcasting Innovation News has officially launched live broadcasts on StarTimes Channel 285 and the Digital Switchover Free TV platform.

Speaking at a media parley and facility tour in Lagos on Friday, the Executive Vice Chairman of Baywood Group—the parent company of CBI News, Chris Ibe, said the launch marked the culmination of 11 years of quiet infrastructure building and strategic planning.

“It’s a very big day for us. After now, I want to see CBI News and CBI Media all over,” he said.

According to Ibe, the decision to debut on StarTimes Channel 285 and Free TV was driven by a deliberate mission to democratise access to credible news and avoid what he described as the “elitist” positioning of existing broadcast operators.

“You will know that the other media organisations, like other operators, are very elitist. And we promise ourselves that we’re not going to be an elitist media organisation,” he noted.

He noted that onboarding onto Free TV ensures that households without satellite dishes can still access the 24-hour broadcast using standard antennas.

“Free TV means that, with your antenna, those people even in Lagos State or in other states who may not be able to afford to buy a dish, with your antenna on Free TV, you can watch CBI News. That means we’re bringing TV to everybody,” Ibe explained.

Reflecting on the 11-year gestation period behind the media outfit, the Baywood Group boss likened the journey to a long-distance race requiring endurance rather than a sprint.

Addressing questions on financial sustainability, he revealed that the venture had been funded internally for over a decade without generating revenue, backed by Baywood Group—which he referred to as CBI News’ “big brother”.

“I’ve built for 11 years not generating revenue. What more when I start generating revenue? I can sustain for 100 years,” he declared. “We’re very big on monetisation. If there’s no monetisation, we are not here.”

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Beyond traditional television broadcasting, CBI News is positioning itself as a mobile-first, digital-first platform designed for Africa’s youth demographic, which the chairman noted makes up roughly 70 per cent of the continent’s 1.4 billion population.

To tackle what he termed the “disenfranchisement” of Nigerian and African content creators by major global tech platforms, he announced that CBI will launch a dedicated monetisation app within the next month.

“In the next month, we’re going to be launching that app that will give every content creator in Nigeria the opportunity to make money, monetise every content you want to think about,” he said. “We’re aware that some major platforms around the world are disenfranchising Africa today, and Nigeria particularly.”

He also disclosed that the organisation planned to roll out an Over-The-Top streaming service called CBI Prime before the end of the year, combining live television channels with on-demand streaming and user-generated monetisation.

“We will not be in a hurry to break that news, but we would like to be the go-to platform that can confirm every news story that is broken,” he said.

The Managing Director of CBI Digital Media Limited, owner of CBI News, Mr Gbenga Adebija, added that the TV station had implemented digital switchover before the 2028 deadline set by the National Broadcasting Commission.

“We are fully compliant, and that has happened. In fact, I’m sure in the next few days we’ll have to give you additional information about the channel number for CBI News. The terminal date was actually for December 2028. But we have complied well ahead of that,” he asserted.

He also disclosed that CBI News had an artificial intelligence usage guideline to prevent deepfakes and misinformation.