Unifying Afghanistan Through Music
Afghan Star Season 12 Premieres on November 4th
Kabul, November 4th, 2016 – TOLO TV, the leading general entertainment television channel in Afghanistan, today announced the launch of the 12th season of the nation’s number one musical talent show, Afghan Star. The first episode of Afghan Star Season 12 will broadcast on November 4th, 2016 at 9:00pm.
Since its launch in 2005, Afghan Star’s popularity and viewership has consistently grown, whilst serving as a catalyst for social and cultural change in the country by transcending all ethnical, language and gender barriers. For 11 years in a row, the show has achieved significant milestones, driving the growth and development of the country’s music industry.
Once again in Season 12, the show will continue to offer Afghan audiences the very best entertainment every week until the Grand Finale, which will be simulcast on TOLO TV and Arman FM, Afghanistan’s most listened-to commercial radio station. Gold sponsors for Afghan Star Season 12 will be Party Energy Drink, Royal Juice and Afghanistan Commercial Bank, and Silver sponsorship will be provided by IVA Mobile Phones.
Exclusive and new to this season’s show will be a live Facebook chat segment, a unique online opportunity for fans to engage with the Stars. Every week beginning with the Top 24 episode, a “rendezvous” will be available for Afghan Star Facebook fans and the Stars to interact live. The segment will take place in a VIP room on the Afghan Star set, with fans connecting with the Stars from their mobile phones, tablet devices or their computers.
The 11thseason of Afghan Star reached 35 million people, and over 5 million fans were engaged on Facebook, representing an increase of 67% and 39% respectively compared to Season 10. Also, over 18 million+ videos were watched on YouTube, totaling more than 130 million of minutes of content viewed and an increase of 78% over the previous season.
Superstar Aryana Sayeed along with famous Pashto singer Saida Gul Mina, and Afghanistan’s two most beloved singers, Obaid Juenda and Qais Ulfat, are back this season to judge the contestants and add their combined experience to the show.
Shafic Gawhari, Managing Director of MOBY Group Afghanistan, said: “Since its launch 11 years ago, Afghan Star has continued to achieve unprecedented results in terms of followers and viewers, which clearly shows the popularity of this program amongst the Afghan communities. We are sure that the 12th season will be another success, and we look forward to reaching more viewers to showcase the local talents that are participating this year.”
Massood Sanjer, Channel Manager of TOLO TV, said: “We are very proud of the continuous success Afghan Star has achieved over the past 11 years. Season 12 will showcase the best new talent in Afghanistan and achieve even greater milestones whilst further contributing to the development of Afghanistan’s music industry.”
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact [email protected] or call Sekander Saleh on +93 798 136 980.
ABOUT TOLO TV
The leading general entertainment channel in Afghanistan with 59% market share and peak audiences of 13 million. It is consistently innovative with its diverse slate of programming, from general entertainment to news and current affairs. TOLO TV shows are made locally or acquired globally and all are transmitted in Dari.
ABOUT MOBY GROUP
MOBY Group owns and operates 17 businesses across South and Central Asia and the Middle East. It holds the top TV channels in Afghanistan consistently drawing 15M+ viewers in their leading shows, collectively. MOBY also holds an award-winning TV production content company, Kaboora Production, with Sundance Film Festival and Seoul Drama Festival award winning content as well as Emmy-nominated content. 21st Century Fox is a minority shareholder of the MOBY Group.