What Development Media International does

Development Media International (DMI) is a UK-registered non-profit organisation founded in 2005 by Roy Head to apply scientific rigour to mass media behaviour-change campaigns aimed at improving health in low-income countries. The organisation designs and delivers evidence-based radio, television and mobile-video campaigns across more than 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (with prior activity in Latin America and Asia), reaching an average of 90 million people daily with content covering child survival, family planning, early childhood development, nutrition, water/sanitation/hygiene, tuberculosis, COVID-19 and mental health.

DMI's core product is its proprietary Saturation+ methodology, a three-pillar framework that combines mathematical modelling and formative research (Science), culturally tailored drama in local languages produced with local actors (Stories), and high-frequency broadcast saturation of 6-10 daily spots across multiple languages year-round (Saturation). Impact is rigorously evaluated through cluster-randomised controlled trials co-developed with academic partners including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), J-PAL, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Paris School of Economics; flagship studies have produced peer-reviewed results in BMJ Global Health and The Lancet, including a 56% increase in malaria diagnoses, a 20% relative increase in modern contraceptive use among women, and a 15% average improvement across five early childhood development indicators, at a documented cost of approximately $602 per life saved in child-survival interventions.

DMI is funded entirely through charitable donations and grants from foundations, governments and UN agencies; it does not charge for its services. The group is structured under DMI Network, a UK charitable company limited by guarantee, with Development Media International Associates CIC as its primary operating subsidiary and country-registered entities in Uganda and Zambia. The organisation employs around 80 staff across its London headquarters and country offices in Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Madagascar, Mozambique and Ethiopia, supported by strategic partnerships with UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Comic Relief and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

Name

Development Media International

Legal name

Development Media International Associates CIC

Website

https://developmentmedia.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Development Media International is a UK-registered non-profit that designs and delivers evidence-based mass media behaviour-change campaigns (radio, TV, mobile video) to improve health outcomes in low-income Sub-Saharan African countries, funded entirely by charitable grants and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Communications and Behaviour Change Services

NAICS

Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Media Partnerships & Content Co-productions (NGO/Cultural) (MPABADAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Social Issue & Advocacy Documentaries (MPADADAG)

Keywords

• Mass media health campaigns
• Behaviour change communication
• Public health interventions
• Social behaviour change
• Evidence-based broadcasting

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations and Grants: DMI is a registered UK charity (number 1207394) that operates entirely through donations and grants from funders including foundations, governments, and individual philanthropists. The organization does not charge for its services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Development Media International creates evidence-based mass media behaviour change campaigns delivered via radio, TV and mobile video to improve health outcomes in low-income countries. Using its proprietary Saturation+ methodology, which combines scientific rigour (mathematical modelling, formative research, RCT evaluation), culturally relevant storytelling, and high-frequency saturation broadcasting, DMI designs and runs campaigns on child survival, family planning, early childhood development, nutrition, WASH, tuberculosis and other health priorities.

Product overview

Development Media International (DMI) operates as a non-profit organization offering a unified behaviour change communication service built around its proprietary Saturation+ methodology. The core offering consists of evidence-based mass media campaigns delivered via radio, TV, and mobile video channels, designed to improve health outcomes in low-income countries. DMI's portfolio includes distinct campaign types addressing child survival, family planning, early childhood development (ECD), nutrition, WASH, tuberculosis, and COVID-19. The organization conducts rigorous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to prove campaign effectiveness, with flagship projects including the Child Survival RCT, Family Planning RCT, and Enfance ECD campaign. Campaigns are distributed through an extensive network of radio station partnerships across multiple African countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• 56% increase in malaria diagnoses, 39% increase in pneumonia consultations, 73% increase in diarrhoea consultations
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Poura Radio StationmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2023Historic radio station created during President Sankara's revolution. DMI provided financial support to replace transmission equipment destroyed by lightning, completing repairs in 2023. Partnership dates back to 2011 for child survival RCT.
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLSHTM evaluated DMI's child survival RCT and conducted health economics analysis. They co-created mathematical models to predict cost-effectiveness of mass media campaigns for child mortality reduction. Partnership produced landmark publications in BMJ Global Health and The Lancet.
• Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJ-PAL evaluated DMI's family planning RCT, providing rigorous impact evaluation using survey data from 7,500 women and routine health centre data from 461 clinics.
• Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIPA conducted surveys for family planning RCT (7,500 women in 252 villages) and evaluated the Enfance ECD viral video RCT in Côte d'Ivoire in partnership with Paris School of Economics and University of Lausanne.
• TRECC (Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTRECC group (Jacobs Foundation, Bernard van Leer Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation) funded the Enfance ECD campaign in Côte d'Ivoire.
• UNICEFmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a partner and collaborator on health initiatives.
• UNFPAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with DMI through SWEDD initiative for family planning campaigns in Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mali and Mauritania.
• World Health Organization (WHO)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a partner; DMI's ECD messaging aligned with WHO's Nurturing Care Framework.
• Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLocal partner implementing SRH services at Hawassa Industrial Park; DMI collaborated with FGAE to promote services, achieving 15-fold increase in uptake.
• Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para o Povo (ADPP)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLocal NGO supporting DMI's TB Reach project implementation in Mozambique in collaboration with Mozambique Ministry of Health's National Tuberculosis Control Programme.
• 40+ Radio Stations (Burkina Faso)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDMI has developed relationships with more than 40 radio stations across Burkina Faso over 10+ years, providing technical equipment support and contributing to station sustainability.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BBC Media Action: BBC's international development media charity, producing mass media and communication campaigns for social change in low-income countries. Closest functional peer to DMI — same target geographies, same radio/TV-led behavior change model — and historically connected through founder Roy Head, who built the BBC World Service Trust Health Division before launching DMI.
• Population Media Center: US-based nonprofit using long-running serialized radio dramas and TV programming to shift health, family planning, and gender norms in developing countries. Shares DMI's evidence-based entertainment-education approach and Sub-Saharan African footprint, though relies more on narrative-drama formats than RCT-validated saturation broadcasts.
• PCI Media (now part of Population Reference Bureau): Nonprofit producer of entertainment-education programming for social and behavior change in global health. Comparable offering to DMI's drama-based content, focused on health, environment, and rights themes across developing markets.

Broad incumbents

• Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs: University-based global leader in social and behavior change communication (SBCC), with deep government, USAID and multinational program partnerships across health verticals. Broader and more established than DMI, with overlapping methodology but a portfolio spanning strategic communication, not just mass-media saturation.
• UNICEF (Communication for Development): UN agency running large-scale behavior change and child survival communication campaigns globally, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. A funder and sometimes implementation partner to DMI, and a broader incumbent in the same SBCC space.
• UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund): UN agency funding and running reproductive health and family planning campaigns, including SWEDD in the Sahel where DMI operates. Overlaps with DMI's family planning work and is both partner and broader incumbent.
• Save the Children: Large international NGO running maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) programs across DMI's geographies, often including behavior change components. A former employer of senior DMI country staff and a co-implementer in SBCC projects.
• PATH: Global health nonprofit combining technology, advocacy, and behavior change campaigns across MNCH, family planning, and infectious disease. Comparable target outcomes to DMI with broader service mix.

Emerging players

• MTV Staying Alive Foundation: Media-driven health foundation producing youth-focused HIV, SRH, and mental health content globally, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. Comparable use of mass media and entertainment for behavior change but a narrower demographic and vertical focus than DMI.
• Busara Center for Behavioral Economics: Kenya-headquartered behavioral science research organization running RCTs on health, financial inclusion, and governance programs in low-income countries. Comparable in RCT rigor and African geographic overlap, but focused on research rather than mass-media production.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/followdmi
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DMIfilmsonline
• Facebookfacebook.com/developmentmedia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/development-media-international

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Development Media International