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Cinema: The rise of video booths shows there is an untapped audience out there at the right price

Africa’s cinemas saw the decline in audiences experienced elsewhere in the 1970s but failed to have a resurgence in the following years. Some investment is being made in urban multiplexes and there are old single or double screen outlets left over from a previous era. The evangelical Christian revival over the last two decades has meant that many cinemas have been converted into churches. But alongside this rather mixed picture, there has been a relentless growth in video booths. These are basic rooms which show pirated films and TV events (like concerts and football matches) and can be found in almost every African country: they illustrate that a market exists but that it is not yet being properly served. Russell Southwood went to a recent event organised by a Belgian organisation called Africalia that looked at the difficulties and opportunities for distribution and exhibition in Africa.

In this issue

Content

Africa: Big Brother Africa's Back

South Africa’s first 24-hour TV news service

Uganda: GTV Launches Three New Channels

Africa: New classic sports channel

Broadcast

Nigeria: Atiku's Radio Gotel Begins Transmission

Nigeria: LG Set to Launch TV With Nigerian Languages

Uganda: Mugenga Expands Into Telecom Dealership, Starts Radio Station

South Africa: Broadcaster's Cape Bureau 'Still Mismanaged, With Bias'

Distribution

Ghana telecom strikes deal with Indian operator to offer IP-TV

South Africa: Cinemas must go digital to survive

Investment

South Africa: Nasrec Could Become Country's First Tax-Free Media City

South Africa: Mercury Plans to Lift Its Turnover to R1bn

More

Regulation & policy

Technology & convergence

Events

People

Opportunities

Top story

Cinema: The rise of video booths shows there is an untapped audience out there at the right price

Africa’s cinemas saw the decline in audiences experienced elsewhere in the 1970s but failed to have a resurgence in the following years. Some investment is being made in urban multiplexes and there are old single or double screen outlets left over from a previous era. The evangelical Christian revival over the last two decades has meant that many cinemas have been converted into churches. But alongside this rather mixed picture, there has been a relentless growth in video booths. These are basic rooms which show pirated films and TV events (like concerts and football matches) and can be found in almost every African country: they illustrate that a market exists but that it is not yet being properly served. Russell Southwood went to a recent event organised by a Belgian organisation called Africalia that looked at the difficulties and opportunities for distribution and exhibition in Africa.

Video booths are a hybrid distribution channel that has not yet made up its mind whether it is Pay-TV for poor people (as cyber-cafes are to non-PC owners) or whether it is a form of down-market cinema distribution. It thrives in its fullest form in Africa’s cities where there is precious little available in the way of cheap entertainment. Its entrepreneurs have no capital to speak of but have access to a sweaty room with a large TV or a digital projector. All of the products shown are pirated because this is a market that simply does not fit the straightjacket of the film (and other material) rights owners. But none of this has stopped these entrepreneurs from distributing African content and experimenting with new types of productions.

As Martin Mhando, the Director of the Zanzibar Film Festival told the Africalia conference participants:”Until the end of the 1990s Africans overseas saw more African films than those in the continent. African cinema halls never showed the African product. But what was worse was that the effect of having these well-maintained Western-product based distribution circuits has been to sideline any novel and cheap distribution methods that evolve with the economies of African countries”. All of this began to change with the rise of video booths. African cinemas did not disappear, they simply shifted shape to reflect the pockets of their audiences: the urban young and unemployed.

In Rwanda, there are only two cinemas left in the whole country but the costs of going to a video booth give a perfect snapshot of the two-tier market that exists. It costs between US19-56 cents to buy a ticket for a video booth showing. An original DVD (say an international film) costs FRW8,000 (US$15), whilst a pirated one will cost FRW3,000 (US$3.74). The equivalent for an original VHS tape is FRW3,000 (US$5.60) whilst a pirated one costs US$2.25. The choice for users is simple: you either rent from one of only two video libraries in Kigali or you buy pirated videos which are sold more widely. Piracy is rampant and international films come in from all over East Africa and are copied in their hundreds. According to producer and director Daddy Ruhorahoza:” The video libraries make hundreds of copies and the Government tolerates this because it makes money”. However, there have been recent police raids on shops recently selling pirated copies of films illegally.

By contrast, Kenya is a much more developed cinema market with 11 cinemas boasting 27 screens. New, up-market multiplexes have been built in the capital Nairobi. Up-to-date data is hard to come by but on the basis of historic figures, ticket sales are probably in the 300,000-400,000 range. Faced with endless international programmes in English on TV and Hollywood films, local “Riverwood” producers decided to emulate Nollywood and produce low-budget films with local, particularly in the large slum township of Kibera. These productions were made with low-cost hand-held digital cameras for as little as between US$548-685. Retail VCDs of them sold for US$3.50 and wholesaled at between US$2.50-2.80. When this phenomenon started in 2005, sales were as high as 15,000 and there was still a novelty value in local people being able to see themselves on screen. Sales are now much lower but according to Lola Kenya Screen Film Festival Director Ogova Ondego, they still only have to sell 500 copies to break even. Local dramas have now been overtaken by music videos of local East African Bongo Flava performers.

Uganda is much more like Rwanda in that there are only 2 cinemas for the whole country with occasional showings in multi-purpose community halls. As elsewhere, Video booths show mainly Nollywood but they also include in their programmes Hollywood films, Kung Fu movies and big events like Premiership and UEFA matches. Irene Kulabako, Chair of the Amakula Film Festival estimated that there were 1,000 video booths in the country which are known locally as Bibanda.

The country has 52 languages and the urban poor are significantly less likely to speak English or to speak it well enough to understand material in English. For as Kulabako told the Africalia conference:”Imagine trying to understand the plot of Titanic (in another language).” As a result, video DJs began to provide a commentary on English-language films that was both informative and funny. As with the piano player for silent films, these VJs often improvised stories to go alongside pictures. The form has become sufficiently popular that VCD copies are made with the added commentaries and are sold to middle class Ugandans. As Kulabako told the audience:”It spices up the film 200%.”

Tanzania’s video booths are called Kideos. These are poorly organised but unlike elsewhere a large number are controlled by a Tanzanian-Asian. There is an association of owners and it is well socially integrated and the owners are growing in confidence. As elsewhere, they cater mainly for the young and unemployed.. There has been a huge growth in video production over the last five years. The owner of the chain of Kideos puts up the money for a production and sells tapes to the video booth owners for TS15,000. According to Martin Mhando:”(The productions) make their money back very quickly. Film-makers don’t want to undercut themselves because it provides a production revenue stream”.

Another interesting sidelight thrown up by the event was the difference in attitude between Anglophone and Francophone participants. One participant complained that all everyone seemed to be talking about was Nollywood and a Francophone participant asked a question about this very difference. Of the Anglophone speakers, 3 out 4 addressed the topic they had been given of distribution. Of the francophone speakers, only one out of the three did so.

Ignoring any subtlety of description, francophones are much more likely to see film production as “art” which should not be beholden to the imperatives of the market whereas the Anglophones (most successfully articulated in the presentation by Martin Mhando) were trying pragmatically to find an economic ground that might sustain a local film industry.

Hovering in the background of the francophone perspective is the model that France has espoused in the post-war period of supporting locally made films in French and to some extent subsidising exhibition outlets. By contrast, the Anglophones were through a process of looking at what already existed seeking to build a model that might work in a financially sustainable way. But whilst Mhando’s arguments were compelling, there is still a long road to be travelled to make local distribution produce enough money to fund local production.

But what are the alternatives? Every one of the speakers described a world in which the majority of productions were produced for donors or NGOs who inevitably were interested in what has been described as the “Western Union” method of film-making: they want to send a message. The alternative of funding films that might be capable of distribution internationally simply illustrated another kind of tie that binds. For all too often it was possible for an African film-maker to carry awards at European festivals but remain almost unseen in his or her country or continent for film-makers are all-too-often not interested in the detailed and difficult work of getting a film successful film widely distributed. The suspicion lingered in the air that the type of “art-house” film that was appreciated at European Festivals might also be as mysterious as Hollywood’s Titanic to many video booth users.

But from a commercial point of view, every African country has the equivalent of a pirate cinema audience that runs into the thousands and free showings demonstrate a wider appetite. The challenge for film-makers, distributors and exhibitors is how to turn this grey market into one that functions at a price level that allows it to go legitimate. The Gordian knot of this challenge is how to get rights holders to take a flexible position that will see them develop a long-term market of some wider scale than is currently available.

Content

Africa: Big Brother Africa's Back

After the huge success of the first two series of the reality television show 'Big Brother Africa', M-Net has moved quickly to begin work on a new season of the popular show. Big Brother Africa 3 will hit our television screens on August 24 and run for 91 days - with the grand finale set for November 23. As with Big Brother Africa 1 and 2, one housemate will be selected from each of the following countries: Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The selected housemate will then be flown to Johannesburg where he or she will have to live in isolation from the real world with 11 other strangers in the BBA house. Together all the housemates will take part in a series of challenges and tasks, battling it out week after week for various rewards and prizes. The housemates will nominate their least favourite housemate each week and the public can then vote to evict one housemate until there only one left to claim the prize money of US$100,000. With 27 cameras and 48 microphones lurking in every corner of the BBA house, their every move will be scrutinised by all on the continent. M-Net says it is looking for interesting and memorable characters: people who are fluent in English, fun loving, good-looking, sexy, crazy, loud, wild, original and articulate.

The Namibian (Windhoek) 17 April 2008

South Africa’s first 24-hour TV news service

June will see the launch of South Africa’s first ever 24-hour TV news service, the eNews Channel, which will only be available as a pay-TV service to subscribers of DStv’s Premium and Compact bouquets. The eNews Channel is the first offering from e.sat, sister company to free-to-air channel e.tv. Last year e.sat was awarded a subscription TV licence from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). It has since opted to provide programming to MultiChoice’s DStv bouquet of channels, rather than launch its own pay-TV platform.

Well known broadcast journalists Redi Direko and Jeremy Maggs will lead the eNews Channel’s on-air team. They will host News Night weekdays from 7pm to 9pm. Says editor-in-chief of eNews Debra Patta: “The eNews Channel will offer South African, regional and international news, including live reports, breaking news, sport, weather, entertainment and financial information. Included in the line-up will be current affairs shows which will look at local issues in depth. “Our channel will give viewers the opportunity to watch South African based and interpreted independent news when they want. It will be prime time news, all the time.”

CEO of e.sat Marcel Golding described the upcoming launch as a historic moment in local broadcasting history. “We believe that the eNews Channel will become an important voice in South Africa’s democracy.” The eNews Channel will be on DStv channel 403.

Uganda: GTV Launches Three New Channels

GTV has launched three new channels packed with African programming, kids' content, nature programmes and hit series from across the globe, writes Emmy Olaki. "We are delivering what we promised during our launch. Affordable and relevant content," Julian Mclntyre, the founder, said in an interview.

The three new channels are G Africa, dedicated to exclusively African entertainment, G series dedicated to the world's best loved comedy, action and drama series and Kidsco, a TV adventure playground created for kids. One more channel is being tested. "We have attracted a critical mass of over 100,000 subscribers over the past nine months," Mclntyre said.

New Vision (Kampala) 28 April 2008

Africa: New classic sports channel

ESPN and MultiChoice have announced the launch of ESPN's second sports channel in Africa: ESPN Classic. ESPN Classic will be the first sports channel in South Africa devoted entirely to the greatest moments and legends in sport. The channel will show some of the greatest sporting moments from global archives, alongside a selection of sporting documentaries, sports movies, and interviews with sporting legends.

ESPN Classic will be available 24/7, on DStv channel 231 and will complement the flagship ESPN live sports channel (ch 230) which has been providing high quality live sport since June 1994. ESPN Classic will take fans back in time to relive the greatest triumphs, comebacks, upsets and achievements in both South African and international sports history. Leading up to major sports events, viewers will see footage from ESPN's prodigious archives that showcase classic moments from that event's history. South Africa's triumphs and defeats will feature strongly in the line-up. The channel will include programming scheduled to complement real-time live sports events shown on other channels. With a bias towards football, rugby and cricket the programming includes FA Premier league; UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup; Series A; FIFA World Cup, Summer & Winter Olympics, Cricket, Rugby, Tennis; Formula 1 and Moto GP motorsport. In 2008, this includes all the best from 34 years of the Euro football competitions and outstanding Olympic victories over the past four 4 decades.

Lynne Frank, managing director of ESPN, Europe, Middle East and Africa said; “with the launch of ESPN Classic in Africa we are excited that viewers of DSTV will be able to re-live the greatest moments in sports history as well as turn over to ESPN to see those moments being created. Twelve months ago we launched a localised version of our flagship sports news programme, SportsCenter and we acquired cricinfo.com and scrum.com last year to reach cricket and rugby fans. With ESPN Classic sports fans will be able to see live sports, classic archives or on-line articles thorough ESPN.”

Aletta Alberts MultiChoice GM: Content says “Sport is a way of life for South Africans. It helps bridge the divide between young and old, rich and poor. It has the power to evoke overwhelming emotions from audiences who are passionate about sport. We are pleased to welcome ESPN Classic to the DStv platform. Its appealing content will provide our customers with the opportunity to both reminisce and watch sporting history in the making”

In brief

- Muppets Go To Tanzania :In an agreement between non-profit educational organisation Sesame Workshop, Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) and Television Zanzibar (TVZ), 13 television and radio episodes of the pilot pre-school series Kilimani Sesame are being flighted. The series, which is in Kiswahili, will reach and estimated five million children in Tanzania. Kilimani Sesame is a groundbreaking initiative addressing the education and health needs of Tanzanian children ages 3-7 and made possible through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

- Launched yesterday, Tuesday, 29 April 2008, is Clipz, a weekly 24-minute collection of the best clips and videos doing the rounds on email and the web from one week to the next. Presented by 94.7's Darren "Whackhead" Simpson, this new M-Net Original Production will feature all those funnies that had people talking, laughing or hitting the "forward" button. Viewers can also have their 15 minutes of fame by submitting their favourite clips to the "M-Web Inbox" on clipz@mweb.co.za. Clipz is produced by Don't Look Down Productions and premieres Tuesday 29 April at 7pm.

-M-Net launches its technically pioneering new six-part drama Innocent Times, on Wednesday 23 April at 20:00. The series was shot predominantly in front of a green screen for the first time in South African television history. The show is infused with more CGI effects than in any Star Wars movie and it is also the first M-Net project that will be accompanied by a full original local sound track.

-The Women's Show and key SABC Public Commercial Services (PCS) platforms SABC3 and Metro FM have formed an historic and long-term partnership to create a multiple platform experience within the context of the exhibition theme, "Celebrating our similarities".

For more information, go to www.thewomensshow.com

- Judges of the M-Net Africa’s Idols talent search show recently humiliated Zimbabwean Yulith Ndlovu, who is widely regarded as one of the country’s most promising female musicians.

- The SABC pulled a documentary on circumcision hours before it was due to be aired in response to a complaint from a member of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa who had not seen the programme.

Broadcast

Nigeria: Atiku's Radio Gotel Begins Transmission

Radio Gotel, the radio station set up by former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, in Yola, Adamawa State capital, has formally begun transmission. It began transmission shortly after the former vice president visited its premises along Mubi Road in the state capital and inspected its installations and equipment last week.

It has four big modern studios and is transmitting on a medium wave. The contractors handling the project however said no full programming has begun yet, as they are just putting on jingles and making announcements that the station is now on air.

Although no formal launching ceremony has yet taken place, a team of Action Congress (AC) officials from Rivers State arrived in Yola yesterday to witness the formal commencement of the radio's programmes. The team led by Chief Williams Igwe, representing the party's governorship candidate in Rivers State, Tonye Princewill, said they were in the state to witness both the governorship re-run election and the launch of the radio station.

Daily Trust (Abuja) 24th April 2008

Nigeria: LG Set to Launch TV With Nigerian Languages

LG Electronics has concluded plans to introduce the first television with its menu functions in the three major Nigerian languages into the country.

Speaking at an interactive session with newsmen in Lagos, Mr. Mohammed Fouani, Managing Director, Fouani Nigeria Limited (LG's major distributor) said the product is an attempt to create a model that would meet the Nigerian consumer requirements.

" This has just underscored the importance of Nigeria to LG Electronics and the digital display industry as a whole; it is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and Nigeria is also home to several multinational businesses. We are very proud to be part of their growth. Even as we celebrate the opening of our new factory here in Nigeria, we are continually looking at the market here and how it is developing. We are searching for more ways in which we can aid ICT development in this vast and unique country", he said.

He said both LG Nigeria and his company have been working assiduously with LG Korea towards the realisation of the nine-month-old TV project, which displays data and other information in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages including other navigating functions.

Some of the exciting characteristics of the TV, which comes in two model- the 21 FUI and the 29 FUI is the ability to display two different channels at the same time.The box also comes in a very special colour design with an inscription, "LG Loves Nigeria". The physical appearance according to him portrays a royal, glossy black TV.

This Day (Lagos) 16 April 2008

Uganda: Mugenga Expands Into Telecom Dealership, Starts Radio Station

After building a string of successful companies starting with his flourishing clearing and forwarding business, city businessman Tom Mugenga has spread his tentacles to his home area, Kisoro, where he has dived headlong into the seemingly lucrative media and telecom dealership business.

Snoops tell us that Mugenga, whose new business slogan is 'East or West, Home is Best' recently started a radio station, Muhabura 88.9FM, which hits the airwaves last week. Sources close to the businessman say he has been telling all who care to listen that he is grateful to his friends. We hear champagne will flow at the grand launch party in Kisoro this weekend whose guest list reads like a who-is-who on the Kampala business and society hierarchy.

There is even talk of him chattering a private plane to fly his high profile guests to the party. Meanwhile, we are told Mugenga recently scooped a money-spinning franchise to supply Warid airtime in the entire southwest Uganda.

New Vision 25 April 2008

South Africa: Broadcaster's Cape Bureau 'Still Mismanaged, With Bias'

THE SABC's powerful Cape Town bureau continues to be dogged by allegations of mismanagement and politically skewed reporting in favour of an African National Congress (ANC) faction in Western Cape - even though an independent board of enquiry, under former CEO Zwelakhe Sisulu and lawyer Gilbert Marcus, last year apparently recommended that the public broadcaster address the problems.

Last week Business Day obtained information from former journalists, who did not wish their names to be published, that provides context to these concerns and which details some of the reasons that have allegedly led to the SABC's Cape Town newsroom losing at least one senior news staffer every three months since 1999.

One former SABC journalist claims the situation is not much different in other SABC newsrooms. Attempts since Thursday to get SABC comment on these specific allegations were unsuccessful . A request for an interview with SABC board chairman Khanyisiwe Mkonza earlier last week, was denied.

A request for comment from the SABC's Cape Town editor, Jeffrey Twala, was referred to the SABC public spokesman Kaizer Kganyago, who would only say that many recent allegations about the SABC in the media were inaccurate. Some of the alleged mismanagement in the Cape Town bureau includes details of "relentless verbal abuse of staffers" and the "way in which Twala manipulates the news for political gain".

In the first half of last year, "three more reporters resigned, in large measure due to Twala not allowing them to do stories detrimental to the ANC, in forcing them to constantly do stories that attack the DA (Democratic Alliance) and also stories that cast Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool in a bad light so as to benefit (his pro-Africanist party opponent) Mcebisi Skwatsha".

The information provides examples of alleged news bias, such as " when the wife of Sheval Arendse, then with the DA, was convicted of fraud, the story was covered on a daily basis at the instructions of Twala. However, when the wife of Skwatsha of the ANC was convicted of theft, Twala did not allow a single story to be broadcast."

Complaints about the political bias of the SABC's news coverage has stretched from Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), to opposition parties, to civic organisations such as the Freedom of Expression Institute, to even the ANC itself.

For example, ANC MP Lumka Yengeni indicated the party's unhappiness about the SABC on February 13 when she said in Parliament that "we do not want the SABC to be the lapdog of government or of the ANC or of any other party for that matter ... we want them to be a proper public broadcaster that informs and entertains all our people."

The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers' Union said in its submission to the Sisulu-Marcus commission : "The overarching issues which have led to the unprecedented loss of staff since Mr Twala took control of the Sea Point news room some eight years are a) human rights abuses and b) the daily contravention of partisan party political reasons of the SABC's de facto code of journalistic conduct ..."

Business Day (Johannesburg) 29 April 2008

In brief

- Unizik FM, a radio station built by Nigeria’s Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Unizik) Awka in Anambra State, is billed to commence transmission of programmes to the public in less than two weeks. Dr. Kate Azuka Omenugha, head of the Mass Communications Department of the university made the disclosure in Awka while addressing students of the department last weekend. The station would be transmitting on frequency of 94.1.

-SABC Television Sales has decreased its advertising long term rates by an average of 15%, "in the interest of good business practice", the corporation said in a press release this afternoon, Friday 18 April 2008. This is a good way to gloss one of the first signs of a softening in the South African television advertising market.

-For the first time since its establishment more than 150 years ago, the GEDA A.M.E Church in Brewerville, outside Monrovia, is expected to commence a weekly radio broadcast of its Sunday worship service and other activities of the church.

-Last Saturday, top musicians from Uganda descended on the little western town of Ishaka for the MTN sponsored Radio West ninth anniversary celebrations.

- The Member of Parliament of Constituency 95 in Sierra Leone at 4 Mile along the Waterloo highway to Masiaka will soon establish a radio station and construct a mini stadium at the village.

- Executive director of the Institute for Media and Society, Dr. Akin Akingbulu, has called on the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to ensure that Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), owns and operates a community radio station.

- According to Senegalese research agency ADESR said that in a study of radio audiences in the capital Dakar, Walf FM had a penetration level of 91.3%, followed by RFM with 73.9% and Sud FM with 61%.

- The Egyptian Media Production City (EMPC) and the Libyan Jamahariya Broadcasting Corporation (LJBC) signed today a cooperation protocol in the media field. Under the protocol, the two sides will boost bilateral cooperation, benefiting from the EMPC's great potentials and expertise in the media field. The two sides also agreed on training a number of Libyan students to get acquainted with the state-of-the-art technology in the media field. EMPC board chairman Sayyed Helmi and LJBC secretary Abdullah Mansour signed the protocol, Mena news agency reports. The EMPC comprises 54 highly-equipped studios.

Distribution

Ghana telecom strikes deal with Indian operator to offer IP-TV

Ghana’s telco incumbent Ghana telecom has struck a deal with Indian operator Wisenet to offer an IP-TV service to its broadband subscribers. Ghana Telecom provides the marketing and delivery and Wisenet provides the back-end technology and content, covering the costs of rights for the latter.

According to Redeemer Kwame, Head of Business Development for Fixed Network Services, the company decided “to take advantage of the technology. As we had broadband, we thought why not introduce IP-TV? The challenge is to be sure the copper is working fine but we’re getting much better at doing it.”

The deal initially splits revenue 70:30% and there is a two year review breakpoint. Ghana Telecom thinks that it will take four years to break even and it reaches that point with about 10,000 subscribers. Currently Ghana Telecom has around 15,000 subscribers for its DSL service (about 35-40% of the broadband market) but has a target of hitting 50,000 subscribers by 2010. Eighty per cent of current subscribers are in Accra and Tema. The set-top box for the service costs US$250 but they will be giving it away free to subscribers.

The service is currently in its pilot stage with eight channels but when rolled out customers will be offered three bouquets: the lowest at US$12 will give 10 channels and 10 movie downloads; the mid-range bouquet at US$27 will offer 20 channels and 20 movie downloads; and the premium bouquet will cost US$35 and will give 30 channels and 30 movie downloads. There will also be several FM radio channels that will be free to all subscribers. The back-end from Wisenet can handle up to 40 channels.

So what about Triple Play? According to Kwame:”We haven’t done IP Voice before but we will consider it. We would start with low price or free calls between broadband subscribers then extend this to anyone who is a GT subscriber. We’ll be implementing it in stages.”

Content will include the five local Free-To-Air channels, Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood and Ghanaian movies, South African musicals and news channels (Al Jazeera, CNN and BBC). It will show Premiership matches 24 hours after the event and classic sport like the recent Africa Cup of Nations. An interactive element will also be announced once the service is fully launched in May 2008.

South Africa: Cinemas must go digital to survive

With the rise of video downloads, South African movie theatres will have to step up their game if they hope to remain operational. According to George van Gils, head of Questek Advanced Technologies, of SA's 720 movie theatres, only four are digitally equipped. “The industry worldwide has been slow moving in terms of technology. Most theatres are still using celluloid and electromechanical devices to screen films.”

Cinemas have never had to make the change, because advances in film have been in the production arena, he adds. “[But] if cinemas don't start including digital equipment and start screening films in, for example, three dimensions (3D), the digital home will take up the opportunities they are missing.”

However, Van Gils says 3D film will be the catalyst to revitalising the industry's technology. Last year, major Hollywood production houses released a total of four movies created in 3D. “This year we are expecting 18, and who knows what will happen after that.”

3D movies require cinemas to install digital technologies that could cost upward of R1 million just to show a picture. The cost of the conversion to digital includes the purchase of a digital projector at roughly R750 000; a silver screen for the best quality at around R100 000; and other sundries, such as a server to house the film and connectivity to retrieve it. “All of this adds up.”

According to Van Gils, the technology has been available for several years; however, the question of who provides that capital layout has prevented most movie houses implementing it. “Traditionally, the production houses paid for extraneous costs, such as the printing and distribution; now theatres are being asked to put in large overheads for digital film.”

He says 3D film has made the option more plausible for cinemas to pay, because the ticket prices can be increased to offset the capital outlay. Just over 4 500 cinemas globally have made the conversion to digital. In the US, the costs are offset with a payment model known as the virtual print fee. 3D film has sparked an increase in moviegoers across SA. According to the Advertising Research Foundation, average four-week attendance to cinemas increased to 760 000 in 2008 from 710 000 in 2007.

The advantages of moving to digital, especially in the local market, should outweigh the possible expenses, says Van Gils. “Firstly, the quality of digital is better than film. The first few runs of film are good, but after cinemas have screened it a few times, it loses quality.”

He says in SA, cinemas often receive second run films – films that have been screened in international cinema runs – to screen in local theatres. “So the quality for the local market is already degraded.”

However, he says 2010 will see one of the biggest advantages of including digital equipment. “The World Cup will be in June, which is the middle of winter. The games will be shown between seven and eight in the evening to accommodate prime time television in Europe. It will be freezing.”

The alternative to the outdoor screens planned across the country for the 2010 matches would be to bring them into movie theatres. According to Van Gils, this can be done with the digital streaming via the new technology in movie theatres.

In brief

- With telecommunications operators grappling with the anger of customers following the industrial action embarked upon by staff of telco incumbent NITEL, Nigeria' s Pay TV operator Hi-Tv, has appealed to its customers for understanding as efforts are underway to resolve the dispute. Hi-TV has had to contend with long delays in activating subscribers because its activation process is linked to NITEL's SAT-3 cable infrastructure which links Nigeria to the rest of the world

- EuroNews and communications agency FFL Paris will soon launch a complete strategic re-branding of the channel to bring viewers a new logo, a new signature, a new on-air look, new programme names, and a new website.

Investment

South Africa: Nasrec Could Become Country's First Tax-Free Media City

THE idea of an Egoli-wood south of Johannesburg is more than just a dream for Johannesburg Expo chairman Andrew Mthembu. He says they have been considering the idea of creating a media city in Nasrec for some time and he recently went to Hollywood to explore the idea. There, many filmmakers were keen to invest in SA, but government concessions and connectivity were an issue.

The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) to be built at Nasrec may kick-start the development of the entire precinct south of Johannesburg into something akin to Dubai's Media City, the multinational regional media hub in the United Arab Emirates.

The idea to create something like Dubai's Media City sounds ambitious, to say the least, but the idea was aired this week by Communications Deputy Minister Roy Padayachie at the City of Johannesburg's announcement that it had beaten bids by Cape Town and Durban to host the IBC for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

Dubai's Media City was established in 2001 as a tax-free zone and regional hub for media organisations ranging from news agencies, publishing, online media, advertising production and broadcast facilities. By the end of 2006, more than 1200 companies had invested in it and it hosts more than 160 satellite-TV stations.

Johannesburg is already the primary broadcasting hub for international and local television and radio as well as home to almost 60% of all information, communications and technology enterprises in SA.

Providing a tax-free zone in the Nasrec precinct may be asking too much from the central government, but judging from this week's announcement there is no question that the necessary telecommunications infrastructure will be in place at the IBC, which will become a legacy of the World Cup.

One of keys to the success of the Dubai Media City was its tax-free status. Mthembu believes that if the IBC is going to create jobs, attract investment and develop skills, the government may be able to consider support mechanisms to lure investors.

More than R400m will be pumped into the IBC's telecommunications facilities , R120m of which will be funded by the city . Most of the city's funding will go towards rent at Nasrec and it will also provide essential services such as uninterrupted electricity supplies, water, security and transport.

Sibongile Mazibuko, responsible for organising the city's 2010 programme, said Johannesburg had partnered with the national transport, communications, public works and sport departments, as well as the private sector, to invest in the IBC.

It will become the nerve centre for all TV operations during the World Cup. Nasrec, one of the city's largest exhibition centres, will see thousands of broadcasters based there for six weeks during June and July 2010. In the 2006 World Cup in Germany , about 13400 television commentators, presenters, camera crews and technical staff made use of the IBC in that country.

Johannesburg executive mayor Amos Mosondo says the total spend projected to the city due to the hosting of the IBC is R319,9m, based on the fact that existing business tourists spend on average R2002 a day in SA.

According to Padayachie, the IBC will boast the most up-to- date digital broadcast telecommunications systems available. Included will be a fibreoptic cable network and satellite teleport infrastructure that will support 40GB-a-second transmission capacity, which will enable broadcasters to transmit in high definition.

The IBC will provide additional thrust to the city's long-term plans to revitalise the south of the city.

"In this city, we do not regard the 2010 Fifa World Cup as a once-off event ... Many of you will be familiar with the significant changes that are taking place in Soweto with the tarring of all roads, the rapid construction of shopping centres and entertainment complexes and growth in commercial activities. These developments in the Nasrec precinct will, no doubt, accelerate the rise of the south," Masondo says.

The city approved the Nasrec precinct as a development node to bridge the apartheid spatial planning gap between the south and north of Johannesburg in 2001. Nasrec is 420ha in size and home to Soccer City, the Johannesburg Export Centre and the Crown Mines Golf Course.

The partnership has already resulted in the private sector partnering with the city council in investing about R1bn for the development of 500 residential units and a four-star hotel .

Mthembu says the area already attracts a great deal of residential housing for middle-class young black people who do not wish to live in townships, but also do not want to live too far away from their jobs and townships.

A recent study by Deloitte showed the demand for housing was positive and there was a need for vibrant entertainment facilities in the area, similar to those provided by Melrose Arch. The IBC will go a long way to attracting this kind of development capital, says Mthembu

The IBC will change the image of the precinct to a "safe, hi -tech node" that will attract more businesses, which can make use of the telecommunications infrastructure. This should stimulate further residential, entertainment and shopping development.

Business Day (Johannesburg) 25th April 2008

South Africa: Mercury Plans to Lift Its Turnover to R1bn

Media buying company Mercury Media hopes to boost turnover from R464m to R1bn within the next three years as it continues its drive to attract more private sector clients and "take the company global", chief operating officer Morne Ebersohn says.

Mercury Media is one of the first majority black-owned media buying houses -- and the first new entrant in 10 years in an industry renowned for its tough barriers to entry. Ebersohn says turnover has grown from R250,000 in 2003 to R464m last year. Part of its success has been an ability to attract and maintain clients with significant billings, such as the Government Communication and Information System , which acts as a centralised media-outsourcing agency for 28 national government departments

Less than 40% of turnover, says Ebersohn, is derived from government business. This follows a strategic decision taken two years ago to reduce reliance on public sector revenue. A challenge the company has had to overcome was the incorrect perception in the market that because Mercury does a lot of work for the government it is unable to take on private sector clients as well.

"Although we're not too perturbed about this because the government is a solid client, we have successfully increased the proportion of private sector billings," says Ebersohn.

Mercury's strategic approach is two-pronged, the other aspect being the fresh perspective it has brought to the business thanks, ironically, to its later start in the industry. For instance, the agency works with its clients to establish a media strategy. Ebersohn says : "Previously the government used to spend a lot of money just on print advertising, which is often not accessible to large portions of the population in the lower income groups.

"Through our strategic advice, they are now not only targeting the right media, but we estimate that the bulk media buying deals we have been able to negotiate have saved the government in excess of R250m," says Ebersohn.

Another innovation for the industry was Mercury's establishment of subsidiary Pink Advertising, a first-of-its kind specialist agency that targets the gay community. Always on the lookout for business opportunities to grow their offering, gay magazine Wrapped has also been added to the stable.

"Typically we would not invest in media outlets, but this is a specialist publication and we needed some kind of professional media outlet to cater for this market," says Ebersohn.

"One can't only rely on classical media anymore. The 30-second television commercial may not be successful over the long term as audiences are becoming more fragmented, " he says.

"For example, we launched a gay social networking site as part of our strategy to explore new opportunities in the digital media, and by that we don't mean banner advertising."

Business Day (Johannesburg) 17 April 2008

In brief

- Wesgro has been successful in positioning the Western Cape as a competitive international business destination and in its previous financial year it hosted 6 outward missions and 50 inward missions, matchmaking 67 Western Cape companies with their international business counterparts, says CEO Angelo Manzoni.

More

Regulation & policy

Niger: Radio Station Shut Down for Broadcasting Military Brutalities

Sahara FM, a privately-owned radio station based in Agadez, the largest city in the northern part of Niger, was on April 22, 2008, shut down indefinitely by the media regulator, the High Communications Council (CSC) for allegedly “inciting ethnic hatred and undermining the morale of the Army”.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported that the closure followed a complaint by the authorities over broadcast of testimonies of victims of military brutalities on Sahara FM between April 13 and April 17. Several of the victims claimed in a series of interviews, that they had suffered brutalities at the hands of Nigerien soldiers.

The complaint was filed by the Agadez Governor and Commissioner of Police and on April 18, Raliou Ahmed Assaleh, Director of Sahara FM and correspondent for Radio France International (RFI) in Agadez, was summoned to Niamey to answer the accusations

The soldiers had been deployed in Agadez’s region to curb the ongoing rebellion being waged by the Tuareg’s Movement of Nigeriens for Peace (MNJ), more than a year ago.

The CSC, Niger’s media regulatory organ, said in a statement that the closure is “without prejudice to any possible criminal action”, indicating that the shut-down of the radio station does not mean that the case has ended.

Prior to the closure, various newspapers in Niger had published articles on “extrajudicial executions” by Nigerien soldiers of citizens who where suspected to be in collusion with the MNJ.

MFWA is deeply concerned about the continuous oppression of the media spurred on by the government’s efforts against the rebellion. We call on the administration of President Mamadou Tandja to immediately re-open Sahara FM and launch an independent investigation into the claims of random executions by the Nigerian soldiers.

Rwanda: Campaigner Accuses BBC of 'Deliberate' Genocide Negationism

The BBC never gave a platform to German Nazis after the holocaust but is very comfortable hosting convicted Rwandan Genocide criminals on its airwaves, a prominent campaigner and journalist has claimed. Tom Ndahiro accuses the BBC of double standards as regards the Rwandan Tutsi Genocide by giving airtime to already convicted individuals for their role in the mayhem.

Ndahiro is a former member of the Rwanda Human Rights Commission but currently has a political talk-show in which he has regularly invited supposed political opponents of government and grilled them on their positions. In a lengthy note to the Rwanda Information Service - ORINFOR - that provides signal-relay to the BBC and Radio 10 - that airs the popular BBC Great lakes Service program, Ndahiro is specifically bitter with journalists Mugenzi Ally Yusuf and Venuste Nshimiyimana.

Mugenzi is the head of the same 30-minute program that airs at 16:30 GMT and 18:30 GMT in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi targeting Rwandan and Burundians. Nshimiyimana has been a long serving reporter for the program. Campaigner Ndahiro wants ORINFOR and privately-owned Radio 10 to review their relationship with the BBC that he claims has been acting in total disregard of the feelings of Rwandans.

"Sir, the head of ORINFOR and Radio 10, could you inquire from the BBC to avail you with recordings of Hitler's lieutenants after they had been sentenced", writes Ndahiro. "I they do not provide you with those recordings - ask them why that is exactly what they are doing to Rwandans - we need to know."

The British broadcaster regularly interviews political opponents of government and leaders of the Rwandan extremist rebels - FDLR - some of whom stand accused of Genocide. In particular, the group's Executive Secretary Mr. Calixte Mbarushimana - who is now under French government investigation for his role in the mass killings in Kigali.

Ndahiro also says Mugenzi Ally Yusuf deliberately interviews individuals who he is well aware are bent on minimising the Tutsi Genocide. Ndahiro is also angry that Mugenzi has refused to respond to a letter he wrote to him expressing his disappointments and demanding answers.

As for Venuste Nshimiyimana - the BBC journalist, Ndahiro alleges that he was an 'admirer' of convicted Genocide Prime Minister Jean Kambanda and deceased former President Juvenal Habyarimana. Mr. Kambanda is serving a life sentence in Mali for his role in the mass slaughter after he was convicted by the Tanzania-based Tribunal for Rwanda.

On March 20, just days to the 2004 Genocide Commemoration week between April 7 and 14, Nshimiyimana broadcast a 60-miniute program with the convicted premier from his cell along with a host of other top Genocide fugitives. Officials in Kigali and Genocide survivors were up in arms over the program.

Ndahiro does not stop at condemning the BBC alone, but also says the Voice of America as well - have become the two international platforms for critics of government that commonly deny or undermine the Tutsi Genocide. A 2006 Senate report, on prevalence of what has been called here 'Genocide Ideology' revealed that 75% of Rwandans believed the BBC and VOA are promoters of individuals that deny the genocide and propagate hate. Another group in this category was western experts and organizations.

"Rwandans employed by the BBC - just like others Rwandan - do have the responsibility to fight anybody that negates that Tutsi Genocide", says Ndahiro.

Radio 10 and BBC on Tuesday officials established the working relationship that will see the former airing live that Great Lakes program Gahuzamiryango. Under the same program, the BBC broadcasts a 60-minute program Imvo n'imvano on Saturdays at 8hrs GMT.

The VOA broadcast daily at 3:30 GMT to 4:30 GMT. The programs from the two major broadcasters have become very popular among a wide array of Rwandans who give their information more credence compared to any other media locally.

Kigali 23rd April 2008

In brief

- The Egyptian government has initiated a drastic move to thwart satellite channels. It recently raided one of the most important companies offering satellite equipment for rent and confiscated five sets of its broadcasting equipment. This action may have serious consequences on the live broadcasting capacities of several satellite channels such as Al Jazeera, Dubai, Qatar and French TV.

Technology & convergence

Africa Soccer website launched

In the run-up to South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Africa Soccer website (www.africasoccer.co.za) has been launched to offer ‘everything a broadcaster needs in the build up to 2010’. The website has stock footage in the following categories: SA Football, Host Cities, Wildlife, Scenics, News & Updates, Stadiums, Culture & People, etc.

Visitors to the website can be kept abreast of the latest news via the newsfeed which is updated daily. Also available are documentaries which related to South Africa’s football culture, ranging from informal clubs in the townships to titles such as Vuvuzelas – Sounds of 2010 to Goals – The Road to Bafana Bafana, and other stories in production.

Kenya's Safaricom launches mobile TV

Kenya’s largest cellular operator by subscribers, Safaricom, has launched the country’s first mobile TV service. Under a partnership with pay-TV operator DSTV and Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, customers can access ten local channels plus content from international broadcasters such as CNN and the BBC. At launch services are available only to customers in the capital, Nairobi. With a DVB-H handset priced at KES25,000 (USD388) and monthly subscription charges set at KES1,000, subscriber take-up is likely to be slow, for the time being at least.

(source: Telegeography)

People

People

- Gospel Musician Martin Angume (Diamond Production) of Guli Mugiya Nene fame, Catherine Kusasira (Eagles Production Band) of Wafuuka Bikadde, Immaculate Nabiryo (Diamond Production Band) of Kirabe E'biiso and Aloysius Matovu Joy (of Bakayimbira Dramactors) have reportedly been offered jobs as presenters at Ssuubi FM 104.9, a new station on Namirembe Hill.

- Former YFM DJ, Amon Mofokeng, has joined the Metro FM stable to host the Saturday breakfast show from 6am to 10 am, taking over from Sentle Lehoko who is in turn taking over the Saturday 2pm to 6pm slot vacated when veteran DJ Segale Mogotsi was promoted to be the station's programmes manager.

- South Africa’s Humanoid Greg Rom's latest commercial launches Cell C's new brand campaign, which he directed for Network BBDO Jhb, working with Creative Director Brad Reilly, Art Director Darren Cronje and Copywriter Este du Plessis.

Jobs & Opportunities

Africa: Artists' Television Access calls for submissions for its third ATA Film and Video Festival!

Experimental Shorts 20 mins and under

Video, Super 8 and 16 mm

Preview on VHS, miniDV or DVD

Deadline: May 15, 2008

Entry fee: $10

http://www.atasite.org/festival/

The ATA Film & Video Festival was founded in 2006 to showcase some of the best short works by independent and experimental film and video artists exhibiting locally, nationally and internationally. The festival includes several nights of screenings and installations in our Mission District storefront gallery and a lunch for the filmmakers. Throughout the year, work from the festival is broadcast to the San Francisco community on ATV, ATA's weekly cable-access television show, and screened in other national and international venues.

Artists' Television Access is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer, artist-run, experimental media arts gallery that has been in operation since 1984. ATA hosts a series of film and video screenings, exhibitions and performances by emerging and established artists and a weekly cable access television program.

Artists' Television Access
992 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110

http://www.atasite.org

Events

Angola: Luanda Film Festival

November 22-29, 2008

The event is intended to stimulate cultural cooperation, particularly in the field of cinema, between local and foreign producers and directors and re-launch the system of production and distribution of cinema in the country. Addressing the launch ceremony, Miguel Hurst said that Angolan Government intends to award prizes to films screened in Angola, both local and foreign, seeking to increment the production of movies in the country. With the expected participation of local and foreign movies, the festival will comprise competitive, non-competitive categories and parallel activities.

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