# CBI News Debuts on StarTimes Channel 285 and Free TV After 11 Years of Internal Funding > CBI News launched live broadcasts on StarTimes Channel 285 and Free TV in Lagos, with a monetisation app and CBI Prime streaming service planned within a year. - Published: 2026-11-14T02:39:45+00:00 - Section: Product Launches - Author: News Desk - URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-11-14/cbi-news-startimes-free-tv-launch - Source: [Punch Newspapers](https://punchng.com/cbi-news-debuts-on-startimes-free-tv-platforms/) ## Key takeaways - CBI News launched live broadcasts on StarTimes Channel 285 and the Digital Switchover Free TV platform in Lagos. - Baywood Group Executive Vice Chairman Chris Ibe said the venture was funded internally for 11 years without generating revenue. - CBI News plans a content-creator monetisation app within the next month and an OTT service called CBI Prime before the end of the year. CBI News launched live broadcasts on [StarTimes](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0007ixl/startimes) Channel 285 and the Digital Switchover Free TV platform in Lagos, according to [Punch Newspapers](https://punchng.com/cbi-news-debuts-on-startimes-free-tv-platforms/). The station is owned by CBI Digital Media Limited, and its debut followed 11 years of internal funding and infrastructure building, the report said. ## CBI News Debuts on StarTimes and Free TV Chris Ibe, Executive Vice Chairman of Baywood Group, the parent company of CBI News, said the launch capped more than a decade of planning. "It's a very big day for us. After now, I want to see CBI News and CBI Media all over," he said at a media parley and facility tour in Lagos on Friday. Ibe said the choice of StarTimes Channel 285 and Free TV was meant to widen access to news. "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 said. Free TV lets households without satellite dishes watch the 24-hour broadcast using standard antennas, he added. On funding, Ibe said the venture had run for over a decade without revenue, backed by Baywood Group. "I've built for 11 years not generating revenue. What more when I start generating revenue? I can sustain for 100 years," he said. "We're very big on monetisation. If there's no monetisation, we are not here." CBI News is also positioning itself as a mobile-first, digital-first platform aimed at Africa's youth, a group Ibe said makes up roughly 70 per cent of the continent's 1.4 billion population. He announced a dedicated monetisation app for Nigerian content creators within the next month and an Over-The-Top streaming service called CBI Prime before the end of the year, combining live channels with on-demand streaming and user-generated monetisation. Gbenga Adebija, Managing Director of CBI Digital Media Limited, said the station had implemented digital switchover ahead of the National Broadcasting Commission's December 2028 deadline. "We are fully compliant, and that has happened," he said. Adebija also said CBI News has an artificial intelligence usage guideline to prevent deepfakes and misinformation. CBI News was presented to the public in Lagos in 2025. ## StarTimes' Broadcast and Streaming Reach StarTimes operates across 19 countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Burundi, Congo, DRC, Madagascar, Mozambique, Cameroon and Gabon, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The same records show StarTimes received US$220 million in Chinese government-backed funding in 2023 for African digital broadcasting infrastructure, local content production and studio facilities. In 2023 it also launched StarTimes ON, a mobile OTT streaming app on Google Play, Apple App Store and APK, extending its pay-TV proposition beyond set-top boxes to smartphone viewing. ## StarTimes' Recent Programming and Partnerships In November 2026, Angola's president authorized a direct license grant to StarTimes, allowing it to enter the pay-TV market and compete with DStv, ZAP and TV Cabo, [Telecompaper](https://akta.pro/news-signals) reported. In September 2026, StarTimes' Hello Mr Right returned for Season 4 with hosts KieKie and Prince Nelson, introducing AI-assisted matchmaking and a role-reversal format where women select from 12 men, according to Premium Times Nigeria. In July 2026, Sterling Bank and StarTimes Nigeria launched Sterling Solar Financing Hubs, embedding on-the-spot solar financing within StarTimes retail outlets across Nigeria, Techpoint reported. ## CBI Prime and Monetisation App Timelines CBI News plans to launch its content-creator monetisation app within the next month, Ibe said. The company also plans to roll out CBI Prime before the end of the year, he said. ## Companies in this story - [StarTimes company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0007ixl/startimes) · website: https://startimestv.com --- News for Agent · https://newsforagent.com/llms.txt