What TRACE TV does

TRACE TV is an international brand and media group founded in 2003 and headquartered in Clichy, France. The company operates a global television channel that commissions content from third-party production companies, including documentaries from producers such as Sirius Media, and extends distribution via a consumer-facing mobile application (trace.plus). It serves mass-market audiences with media and entertainment programming, and operates with a lean team of 51-100 employees, indicating a model weighted toward content commissioning, brand management, and channel distribution rather than large-scale in-house production.

The company's business model centers on operating an international media channel and related branded properties, generating revenue through content commissioning and distribution partnerships, though specific pricing mechanisms, revenue splits, customer segments, and operating geographies are not publicly disclosed in the input data. TRACE TV has executed two acquisitions targeting African entertainment assets — Buni TV in June 2016 and Okuhle Media in September 2020 — indicating a sustained strategic focus on expanding its footprint in African content production and distribution. The company is led by co-founder, chairman, and CEO Olivier Laouchez and co-founder Michel Gotlib, supported by a senior team that includes Group Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director Prescillia Avenel-Delpha, Senior Vice President Leo Manne, Managing Director Valentine Gaudin-Muteba, and Customer Director Rahissa Mahamat.

TRACE TV is a privately held company with no publicly disclosed ownership structure beyond an early-stage funding round from Entrepreneur Venture in February 2010. Its brand portfolio extends beyond the core television channel into educational media via TRACE Academia, co-founded by Michel Gotlib. Overall, the company's positioning combines heritage media operations with selective M&A-led expansion in African entertainment markets; however, the available data provides limited visibility into revenue scale, technology stack, AI capabilities, or competitive positioning, which constrains deeper analytical conclusions.

Name

TRACE TV

Website

https://trace.tv

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

TRACE TV is an international media group founded in 2003, operating a global television channel that commissions content from third-party producers and serves audiences via broadcast and the trace.plus mobile app, with selective M&A-led expansion into African entertainment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Television Broadcasting

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Television Broadcasting Stations (51612), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833), Cable & Other Pay Television Services (4841)

akta.pro primary industry

Music & Youth Culture Cable Networks (MPABAFAI)

Keywords

• Music television channel
• Music entertainment media
• Music broadcasting network
• Music content production
• Digital music streaming

Headquarters

HQ city

Clichy

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Core offering

TRACE TV is an international music-focused television channel and media group that commissions and broadcasts original music-related programming, including documentaries produced by third-party production companies such as Sirius Media. The channel is supported by a digital streaming mobile application (trace.plus) that extends its music content distribution to online audiences.

Product overview

TRACE TV is a media and entertainment company. TRACE TV is a television channel that commissions content, including documentaries from production companies like Sirius Media. No additional product details, platform architecture, or service modules are available in the provided source data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TRACE TV Channel International music-focused television channel that commissions and broadcasts original music-related programming, including documentaries produced by third-party production companies such as Sirius Media, targeting music-entertainment viewers.
• TRACE Streaming App (trace.plus) Mobile streaming application that extends TRACE TV's music content distribution beyond the linear television channel to digital/online audiences via the trace.plus platform.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Sirius XM Holdings: SiriusXM is a subscription-based music and audio media company complementary to TRACE's cable and DTC business, relevant for comparative scaling, monetization, and content-acquisition benchmarks in the music-media category.

Direct peers

• Stingray Group: Stingray is a music-focused media and technology company operating audio channels, TV channels, and digital music services across multiple continents — closely mirroring TRACE's music-media, multi-platform model.
• TRACE (Africa / Trace Global brands ecosystem): TRACE's broader brand family — including Trace Africa, Trace Caribbean, and Trace Urban — represents the most direct peer set, operating parallel music-and-culture channels in the same geographies where the company itself distributes.
• Fuse Media: Fuse operates music and youth-culture cable channels in the US — a niche music-TV network with comparable audience, advertiser, and programming model to TRACE TV's cable operations.

Broad incumbents

• iHeartMedia: iHeartMedia is a multi-platform audio and media company combining radio, digital streaming, and live events — a broader incumbent that competes for both music audiences and advertiser share relevant to TRACE.
• BET Networks: BET is an established US cable network focused on music and youth-culture programming for a specific demographic, making it structurally analogous to TRACE's positioning as a niche music and culture cable brand.
• MTV (Viacom/Paramount): MTV is the original global music/youth-culture cable network and the clear category-defining incumbent. While far larger, it directly competes for the same advertiser, audience, and content-licensing economics that TRACE TV depends on.

Emerging players

• Tidal (Block / Project Panther Bidco): Tidal is a global music and audio streaming service targeting enthusiast and culture-forward audiences, comparable to TRACE's digital extension and youth-culture audience positioning.
• Vevo: Vevo is a music-video streaming platform monetized through advertising, comparable to TRACE's DTC streaming ambitions while competing for the same music-content rights and advertiser budgets.

Regional players

• Viu / PCCW Media: Viu is a pan-regional OTT and music/culture content platform operating across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa — comparable to TRACE for international music-TV and streaming distribution into emerging markets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TRACE_Inter
• Facebookfacebook.com/tracetelevision
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trace-tv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about TRACE TV