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Digital cinema has the potential to take Africa’s under-invested film exhibitors out of the doldrums

Outside of Sub-Saharan Africa’s larger country markets, Africa’s cinemas are few in number relative to population sizes and nearly always in poor shape. A recent transition to digital cinema in South Africa shows that Africa can lead with technical innovations. But the impact of digital cinema may also have a role to play in reviving the sagging fortunes of Africa’s cinemas elsewhere. Russell Southwood looks at what might become possible.

In issue 02

Content

Nigeria: Winners Emerge on Quizline

South Africa: End of Open Time Will Hit M-Net Revenue

Tanzania: EATV Pays $6,250 for Taifa Tie

Kenya: KBC Acquires TV Rights

Namibia: NBC is Now the Talk of the Nation

Broadcast

Liberia: Concerned LBS Workers Want Speedy Probe

Liberia: Sasstown Gets FM Radio Station

South Africa: SABC to Open Bureau in Zimbabwe

Nigeria: Protesters Attack Freedom Radio

South Africa: Satellite Health Channel Reaches Nearly 300 Clinics

Zimbabwe: New TV Station

Botswana: Mini-Choice Satellite Tv

Distribution

South Africa: Viewers Lose as SABC Stumped By Super Eights Coverage

Zimbabwe: ZBC Botches World Cup Deal

Investment

South Africa: Johncom Asset Shuffle May Open Way to Acquisition

Zimbabwe: Govt allocates $8.9bn for New Radio Station – Iran to fund refurbishment

Nigeria: Commercialization of Govt Owned Media Begins

More

Regulation & policy

Technology & convergence

Events

Top story

Digital cinema has the potential to take Africa’s under-invested film exhibitors out of the doldrums

Outside of Sub-Saharan Africa’s larger country markets, Africa’s cinemas are few in number relative to population sizes and nearly always in poor shape. A recent transition to digital cinema in South Africa shows that Africa can lead with technical innovations. But the impact of digital cinema may also have a role to play in reviving the sagging fortunes of Africa’s cinemas elsewhere. Russell Southwood looks at what might become possible.

South Africa’s Central Point Communications with the support of Argil Venture Capital (a technology fund whose investors include Ernst & Young) has concluded the roll-out of digital cinema servers in 36 NuMetro cinema complexes around SA, aiming to enable these cinemas to exhibit high definition advertising and full length feature movies from a digital platform. Using its experience in developing digital signage software and content delivery engines, CPC has developed an advanced Digital Cinema offering based on its popular DC Media Digital Display technology.

“Our software platform is flexible enough to support newer multimedia formats including High Definition (HD), allowing our customer to innovate without the need for re-capitalisation,” says Richard Brock, director of software development at CPC. Aside from facilitating playback of digital content, the CPC Digital Cinema product includes comprehensive management software that provides continuous feedback and remote control mechanisms, he adds.

Digital cinema is ideally placed to address one of the most difficult problems affecting film distribution: the cost of making prints at release date. 35 mm film prints are expensive and this entry-cost is often a disincentive to wider distribution or in some cases any distribution at all. Digital prints can be produced at almost marginal cost and either distributed physically or by satellite. Also rather than splicing advertisements in physically, these can much more easily be inserted digitally.

Film-makers everywhere have been very concerned whether digital prints would be of a poorer quality and if “the feel” of the image would be different. The debates echo what some musicians and sound engineers said when CDs replaced LPs. However, audience tests in the UK (where viewers were shown digital prints with or without their knowledge) showed that few could actually tell the difference. Also those who have viewed films when a print is at the end of its run know that a decline in the quality is reflected on the screen.

Indeed there are positive advantages for film-makers, particularly independent ones. For as Paul Dixon, MD of Argil Venture Capital notes: “With the elimination of the cost of producing and distributing physical film, independent movie producers are able to take their productions to the public at a far reduced cost.” Cinema chains in the UK and elsewhere have also been able to show independent short films far more easily before the main feature than was possible with physical prints.

Digital cinema also offers opportunity for live transmission events. A cinema chain in the UK is currently offering premium price tickets to see a live cast of a performance of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Obviously this is not the kind of product that will go over well in Africa but there are probably real opportunities with boxing matches and premium football events. Ah, I hear you say, but what about pay-TV at home? That’s all well and good if you have a good size screen and can afford the monthly pay TV bouquet with premium sport.

For those who can’t at the moment, they tend to go to the television equivalent of a cyber-café. In Gambia cafes like this charge their customers for premium events and it will not surprise you to learn that the content is pirated and the income does not return to the rights holders. Therefore maybe digital cinema is one way of offering a better viewing experience and the excitement of a live crowd. Digital projectors can throw images that can cater for anything from tens to hundreds of people.

It may even offer film producers more likelihood of a return if the experience of one Nigerian film-maker is anything to go by. According to Eddie Ugbomeh, OON, actor and film producer, "I no longer realease videos or DVDs into the Nigerian market. What I do now with my films is premiere them and take them to select film halls and after I've made my money, I simply retire them to the shelves. The last time I released VCDs to video rental outlets across the country, they never gave me any returns. In Port Harcourt, Rivers state, these rental operators even threaten to kill me if I come for my money. Same thing at Warri, Delta state. So I've made up my mind not to release VCDs in the present circumstances."

Content

Nigeria: Winners Emerge on Quizline

More winners have emerged from the television interactive show, Quizline. Commenting on the winnings, Olu Akinlabi, General manager of GeTV, promoters of quiz line, pledged that his organization, GetTV would continue to introduce entertainment programmes that can change the lives of the ordinary man on the street.

A major winner that has had his life transformed by Quizline is Eze Odiaka Pascal, who had always dreamt of playing professional soccer abroad. As a first step, he went into the Pepsi Academy where he graduated before he started making preparations for the journey of his life. He did his documentations, got his travel papers and was set to go. As it would always happen a 'but' crept in as he didn't have the finances to consummate his ambition. So he has been around waiting for providence to intervene. His prayers were answered about two weeks ago while staying at home and watching TV. He suddenly chanced on Quiz Line on NTA. Luck was on his side. The computer selected him to proceed to the next line of action. He played. Got a bonus play and suddenly, he hit N755, 000 and thus become the highest winner on Quiz Line, which so far has paid 964 winners by the last count.

(source: This Day)

South Africa: End of Open Time Will Hit M-Net Revenue

M-NET's free-to-air, open-time slot, which airs between 5pm and 7pm daily, stopped at the end of March. This will hit the channel's advertising revenue and remove a valuable branding opportunity to recruit subscribers. In 2005, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) ordered the closure of the open-time window from next month, after a run of 20 years.

Icasa said that paid services could not have access to free-to- air, open-time windows, as they would be unfairly competing with other free-to-air broadcasters. The closure, the revenue loss of which two years ago was estimated at R60m, will result in a drop of nearly 40% of the open-time audience of about 500,000, says CEO Glen Marques.

One option was to cut back on scheduling costs, but that would result in inferior programmes, he said.

Instead, the strategy was to create a dedicated "soap hour", with the popular soapy Binnelanders placed back-to-back with Egoli to get more people to subscribe as well as to keep subscribers tuned in every day, Marques said. "It's a risky strategy because it relies heavily on attracting non-subscribers to come on board."

The CEO of media planning agency OMD, Josh Dovey, said that M-Net had started making plans to protect itself when Icasa made the announcement two years ago that M-Net would have to shut down its open time. The company brought channels such as SuperSport and Movie Magic on to the country's biggest pay-television platform, MultiChoice's DStv, in a move to diversify M-Net, Dovey said. It also built up its bouquet, and clearly aligned itself as a part of the pay television network -- and not a stand-alone service.

(source: Business Day)

Tanzania: EATV Pays $6,250 for Taifa Tie

With the funfair that has come about because of Tanzania Taifa Stars' sitting atop its 2008 Nations Cup Group Seven, East Africa Television (EATV) has paid a whopping $6,250 (Tsh8m) for exclusive rights to air the Senegal/Tanzania tie live from Dakar, according to Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) Information Officer, Ms Florian Kaijage.

She said, "EATV has paid us Tsh8m for the exclusive rights to air live the match, therefore, anybody who wants to broadcast this game in Tanzania on March 24 should negotiate with EATV." EATV's Dennis Busulwa told the press that the match would be aired live from Dakar, the capital of Senegal and added that East Africa Radio and EATV would keep on giving the updates of the match before the D-Day.

Last year, EATV also aired live the Taifa Stars 1-1 away draw to Mozambique. In a related development, it has emerged that TFF would use Tsh2.2b for the 2007 season and the federation hopes to raise the said amount through different avenues like the utilisation of the $250,000 FIFA yearly disbursement and premier league gate receipts.

(source: East African Business Week)

Kenya: KBC Acquires TV Rights

Canal France International (CFI) and Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) are now the official broadcasters of this year's World Cross Country Championships. NTV and French company Globe Cast were initially granted the rights to broadcast the event. However, Local Organising Committee CEO Isaac Kalua said the deal was reversed last year in Monaco after proving very expensive.

He said Sports minister Maina Kamanda who initiated the changes after persuading the IAAF on the same. "The deal was weighing heavily on the LOC. IAAF struck a deal with CFI and left us to cover only 50,000 euro.

(source: East African Standard)

Namibia: NBC is Now the Talk of the Nation

Political interference may be keeping the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) from airing controversial views. According to sources within the State-funded broadcaster, recent episodes of the popular panel discussion 'Talk of the Nation' show evidence of just that. The latest episode of the show, which aired on Monday night, dealt with the Namibian diamond industry but had no input from the Ministry of Mines on the selected panel.

This was despite an effort by the producers to involve the Ministry, and the assigning of Diamonds Commissioner Kennedy Hamutenya by the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Joseph Iita, to appear on the show. Ministry permanent secretaries are usually the ones to either appear themselves, or assign other people to appear, on shows such as 'Talk of the Nation'.

However, sources indicate that Iita's decision to delegate Hamutenya was overridden by Mines Minister Erkki Nghimtina, who personally spoke to the NBC's Director General Bob Kandetu to have the decision vetoed. Hamutenya was eventually replaced on the panel by Nghimtina's choice of Works, Transport and Communication Permanent Secretary Shihaleni Ndjaba.

NBC DG Bob Kandetu denied any political interference at the broadcaster, adding that employees who feel there are problems at the broadcaster should speak to him about it. He said he had spoken to Minister Nghimtina about delegating someone for Monday's show, and the Minister gave him the names of two people. These were Daniel Kali, Namibian Managing Director for the De Beers Group, and Works PS Ndjaba. "The show was about the partnership between De Beers and Government, so he thought that it would be best to get those two as they were the ones involved in the negotiations," Kandetu said. He said he later found out that the producers of the show were expecting the Diamonds Commissioner.

(source: The Namibian)

Broadcast

Liberia: Concerned LBS Workers Want Speedy Probe

Concerned workers of the Liberia Broadcasting System have spotted delays by the Board of Directors in probing the LBS management of alleged financial and administrative mal-practices. In a release, the workers said delays, short notice meetings and the appointment of the LBS Director General, Charles Snetter, who is at the center of these allegations, as Secretary to the Board, are attempts to shield the mal-practices at the system.

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf appointed a Board of Directors in February and mandated it to investigate the allegations to submit findings to the Executive Mansion. The Board is chaired by former Information Minister Johnny McClain. According to the statement, since the President constituted the Board, only one member of the concerned workers has been invited for a meeting.

Among other charges, the concerned workers said Snetter failed to include in the 2006 annual report submitted to the President, royalties received from the BBC and Radio France International for relaying broadcast services of both institutions. In the report, Snetter claimed LBS rendered free broadcast services to government ministries and agencies during the period under review but the concerned workers have challenged the report.

A split developed among the employees of LBS since Snetter was appointed to the system last year with one group backing management while the other - Concerned Workers, headed by Broadcast Journalist Oxford Brown, calling for the head of Snetter.

(source: The Analyst)

Liberia: Sasstown Gets FM Radio Station

The Liberia media project has completed a new radio station in Sasstown, in Grand Kru County. Voice of Sasstown - FM 95, according to a statement, covers an area exceeding 70 km radius and has especially been heard in Barclayville and Grandcess in Grand Kru, as well as King Williams Town and Greenville, Sinoe County and other northern parts of Grand Kru.

Voice of Sasstown - FM 95 is part of a programme by the Liberia media project to enhance communication for peace building across the country, and is the fourth of eight stations being established in various parts of the country. Three other stations, Peace FM (Grand Gedeh) and Radio Gee and Voice of Webbo (River Gee) were also established. Additionally four stations will be set in north and central Liberia within the coming month.

According to an MOU, the Liberia Media Project/International Alert will provide "all electronic gadgetry and optional equipment, all technical services related to the installation of the stations, and as well provide the appropriate start up training and services to turn over ownership of the stations to the communities, who shall manage the programs through a multi stakeholder Board of Trustees..."

Alongside the installation, the Liberia Media Project hosted a week-long on-site installation training course for 20 persons, including 5 females, who have volunteered to work with the new station. The Liberia Media Project is a program of the UK- peace building and conflict resolution charity, International Alert, which has chosen the media as its entry point in Liberian communities.

(source: The Analyst)

South Africa: SABC to Open Bureau in Zimbabwe

One of Africa's biggest public broadcasters, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), plans to set up a bureau in Harare to enhance its coverage of events in the country. SABC Managing Director Snuki Zikalala met Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu on Wednesday to discuss the establishment of the office.

The SABC MD said the setting up and operation of the office was planned for April next year. He said apart from seeking to position themselves to fully cover next year's elections, they had also felt it was improper for the South African broadcaster not to be physically present in Zimbabwe when other foreign media such as Al Jazeera were operating from there. SABC has offices in other African countries including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Kenya.

Mr Zikalala said the SABC was planning to bring in more journalists to cover next year's presidential and general elections, adding that they had discussed the accreditation of the journalists with the minister during the meeting. "We brought 54 South African journalists to cover the last elections and we are likely to bring the same number to cover next year's elections," he said.

Minister Ndlovu said the presence of SABC in Zimbabwe would also help strengthen the two countries' communication linkages.

(source: BuaNews)

Nigeria: Protesters Attack Freedom Radio

Thousands of protesters marched on the Kano-based private radio station, Freedom Radio and destroyed its transmitter and other facilities. Four station workers, including security men and duty officers, were injured when the protesters attacked the building at about 4.35pm on April 2nd.

The protesters were demonstrating against an earlier programme aired by the station over the ongoing Maulud celebration. Distraught officials of the radio station told newsmen shortly after the protesters were dispersed by the police that they were attacked by thousands of people who came in buses and other vehicles.

Transmission was cut off immediately after the attack which burnt down the 10 kilowatts transmitter situated at the Kandahar site, few metres away from the main station. After failed attempts to gain entry into the building, the protesters vandalised the transmitter to put transmission on hold, but few hours later the radio began temporary transmission from its 2 kilowatts back-up facility situated within the main building.

A senior official at the station who pleaded for anonymity said the Dutse transmitter is also put on alert for possible transmission as the 2 kilowatt transmitter cannot run for long. Daily Trust learnt that when the protesters came they first demanded to see the producer of the programme, Malam Usman Usman, or the station would be destroyed.

Investigation by our reporters shows that the protesters were there to protest what they called deliberate attempt by the station to allow a section of preachers to criticise the ongoing Maulud celebrating currently being marked by Muslims all over the world.

(source: The Daily Trust)

South Africa: Satellite Health Channel Reaches Nearly 300 Clinics

Harnessing satellite technology, a partnership including the national Department of Health, has been providing health care "info-tainment" to televisions in nearly 300 clinics and hospitals countrywide.

Since pilot operations in 2003, The Mindset Health Channel has been delivering information on Tuberculosis (TB), HIV and AIDS and uplifting health education to facilities. The project is a partnership of the Mindset Network, the Department of Health and state-owned entity Sentech, which provides multi-media services and distributes broadcast signals.

The channel, which began broadcasting TV programmes in October 2003, has advanced to Internet datacasting, reaching an increasing number of clinics and hospitals. Mindset has grown from 48 sites in the pilot phase and now has 298 established sites throughout South Africa. The satellite uplink provided by Sentech, allows datacasting directly to users with information in video, multi-media and print available on demand.

Besides TB and HIV and AIDS information, the public broadcast offers information on maternal and infant health and social issues such as gender violence. The programmes are broadcast in English, SeSotho, isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans through dramas, public service announcements, documentaries, interviews and discussions. The Mindset Health Channel aims to eventually broadcast to 4,000 public healthcare sites, and hospitals as wall as private clinics, prisons and community centres. In so doing, it would reach 97,000 nurses and 36 million South Africans.

(source: BuaNews)

Zimbabwe: New TV Station

The television monopoly of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings could soon end following an announcement by a new pan-African satellite television station GTV that it intends to set up shop in Zimbabwe by mid-year. The television channel, a subsidiary of South Africa-based Gateway Communications, said it was going to roll out its services to people who have been unable to afford satellite subscription services, thus being limited to national free-to-air television channels. Apart from Zimbabwe, GTV is also set to penetrate other African markets, which include Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

The revelation comes at a time when government has maintained solid gatekeeping of the broadcasting sector. It has maintained the loss-making ZBC's monopoly through the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA). The law was crafted under the stewardship of former Information minister, Jonathan Moyo. The legislation set up a statutory broadcasting regulatory body, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which is tasked with issuing licences. He told the Zimbabwe Independent in an interview that government had liberalised the airwaves and had no problems with new stations setting up shop as long as they met the broadcasting legislative requirements of the country.

(source: The Independent)

Botswana: Mini-Choice Satellite Tv

South African based Multichoice DSTV is about to push up the prices for the services they offer in Botswana. The compact bouquet is going up by US$1.67 to US$30.06 beginning April 1st, and the premium selection with all the channels is jumping by US$3.34 to $59.29.

About a year ago, another South African satellite TV company announced it was going to offer an alternative to DSTV for about US$16.70 a month. Unfortunately, nothing more has been heard form Black Eagle Communications so Multichoice customers don't in fact have any choice at all when it comes to satellite TV providers.

(source: The Voice)

Distribution

South Africa: Viewers Lose as SABC Stumped By Super Eights Coverage

It’s fair to say that the SABC gambled (sensitive word in cricketing terms) when it came to their screening of World Cup matches and lost.

Having shown all the group matches, the SABC have largely been left high and dry as soon as the tournament has got interesting. The deal appears to be along the following lines: all six matches featuring South Africa in the Super Eights will be shown live. The rest are at 10pm, "delayed live". SuperSport meanwhile, rub their hands in glee, for they are "showing every ball from every game".

The SABC say it's because they negotiated the rights to show Pakistan, India and South Africa's matches live in the Super Eights. They added that India and Pakistan form a large part of their target audience. So, when those Asian sides were surprisingly beaten in the first round, the SABC were stumped.

(source: Cape Argus)

Zimbabwe: ZBC Botches World Cup Deal

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation embarrassingly botched a $1.5 billion deal for the screening of the ICC Cricket World Cup in West Indies after failing to pay a paltry figure for signal reception.

At first the perennially penniless state broadcaster could not afford the rights to screen the action from the Caribbean until Zimbabwe Cricket came to the rescue by securing a deal through Octagon SA with the South African Broadcasting Company (SABC). Then ZBC on its part only had to locate the signal, but the broadcaster failed to secure the services of a local satellite engineer who, sources said, had asked for about $1 million -- only enough to buy 50 litres of petrol. As a result of the trivial dispute, most Zimbabweans have experienced a blackout of the action in the Caribbean which started on March 13 and ends on April 28.

Only a lucky few have been able to watch the World Cup on DStv's Supersport or on free-to-air satellite channels. The Super Eights stage of the World Cup is currently underway. "We had put together a package for ZBC-TV to screen the World Cup matches, but we understand they had local technical difficulties accessing the signal from SABC," Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman Lovemore Banda said, without elaborating on the technical problems.

The coverage blackout has not only deprived cricket enthusiasts of the action from West Indies but also denied the state broadcaster an opportunity to rake in much-needed revenue. ZBC-TV has resorted to bringing highlights of the World Cup "poached" from foreign broadcasters during its main news bulletin at 8pm. It could not be established if Zimbabwe Cricket would try to recover its money or negotiate for the remainder of the World Cup action to be screened on ZBC-TV.

(source: The Independent)

Investment

South Africa: Johncom Asset Shuffle May Open Way to Acquisition

Johncom’s announcement on April 12 that it will unbundle the Caxton shares from its operational assets by listing itself as two separate companies has been welcomed by analysts, even though it could leave its core media assets open to acquisition.

Johncom CEO Prakash Desai announced yesterday that, subject to shareholder approval, two separate companies would be listed: OpCo -- controlling the operating media and entertainment assets, including Business Day, Sunday Times and Nu Metro -- and Johncom, which would retain the 38% share in Caxton. "The restructuring will enable OpCo to apply greater focus to growing the integrated media and entertainment assets of the group. This is a further step we're making to build value for all stakeholders and to introduce broad-based BEE (black economic empowerment) ownership in the business," Johncom said.

Once Johncom lists -- with Caxton as its only asset -- it will either have to sell its shares in Caxton or increase its stake to 51%. The JSE requires listed companies to have majority control of their assets and failure to do so could lead to penalties. Johncom has only a 38% shareholding in Caxton. With regard to the unbundling of Caxton, Ambekar said the move had been on the cards for some time and that the 38% stake in Caxton was a potential problem for shareholders. "I think it's always been discussed, especially after the M-Net/SuperSport shares were unbundled, that Caxton would make up 40% of Johncom shares. That's an enormous portion of your value in an asset that you don't control," Ambekar said.

(source: Business Day)

Zimbabwe: Govt allocates $8.9bn for New Radio Station – Iran to fund refurbishment

The Government has put up Z$8.9 billion for the new Gweru-based shortwave radio station that is scheduled to start broadcasting soon, Information and Publicity Minister Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said yesterday. He said the radio station, which would fall under the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings, would start airing before this year's independence celebrations on April 18. It will be the fifth radio station under the ZBH stable.

Dr Ndlovu was briefing journalists soon after a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Rasoul Momeni at his Munhumutapa Offices. The two discussed Iran's assistance in the refurbishment and digitalisation of ZBH Bulawayo studios. Turning to the ZBH studios in Bulawayo, he said following discussions with Momeni, Iran would assist in the refurbishment and digitalisation of the studios. The Iranian government also provided five million euro ($115 billion) for the digitalisation of both the ZBC and ZTV studios at Pockets Hill under phase one of the project.

Dr Ndlovu said he recently visited the Bulawayo studios and was shocked to see the state of the dilapidated equipment that was being used. The Government, he said, was working on a programme of upgrading transmitters that would ensure that all parts of the country received local radio and television signals. He said there was need for mobile television studios to be established in all the country's provinces.

(source: The Herald)

Nigeria: Commercialization of Govt Owned Media Begins

The federal government has begun the process of privatising its media outfits across the country with the appointment of consultants to evaluate the companies and make recommendations to it. The media outfits include: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Nigeria Television Authority (NTA); Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC). Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) over the weekend, paid a visit to NAN to see the facilities on ground and have a chat with management and staff of the news agency.

When commercialised, the media outfits would now fix their rates; prices and charges for services rendered on commercial basis; capitalise assets; borrow money and issue debenture stocks where necessary and sue and be sued in their corporate names as the need may arise. Acting Managing Director of NAN, Joe Eje Okhiku, observed that special consideration should be taken in the process of commercialising NAN since it was started as a social service provider unlike other government owned media.

(source: The Daily Trust)

More

Regulation & policy

Zimbabwe: Press Freedom Falls Prey to Arrests And Torture

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) in Zimbabwe has warned journalists of an increasingly hostile working environment after the abduction and subsequent murder of a freelance reporter, and the arrest and torture of two other foreign correspondents. "The unlawful arrest and subsequent severe assault of photojournalist Tsvangirai Mukwazhi while in police custody on 11 March 2007, and that of Gift Phiri on 1 April 2007, behoves Zimbabwean journalists to be on high alert as they conduct their lawful and professional duties," MISA said in a statement.

Mukwazhi was arrested while covering a prayer meeting called by civic society organisations three weeks ago, when opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders were also detained. He was allegedly severely tortured while in police custody, despite having the requisite practicing certificate from the country's media regulatory authority, the Media and Information Commission (MIC). Phiri, an independent journalist who contributes to the British-based 'The Zimbabwean' newspaper, was also arrested last week and severely tortured. He was held in custody for nearly a week before being released but was subsequently charged with practicing without a license and "writing falsehoods".

Last week, Edward Chikomba, a cameraman previously with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the state broadcaster, was abducted from his home in Harare and later found murdered, his body dumped by the roadside near Darwendale, a township about 60km north of the capital, Harare. Many journalists believe Chikomba was murdered for allegedly transmitting the images of a bruised and battered Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of one of the factions of the main opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), to the international media, a charge the police have strongly denied.

The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), which represents the interests of the majority of journalists, also expressed the fear that there was a deliberate government policy to harass and intimidate the media.

(source: IRIN)

Nigeria: Security Forces Close Radio And TV Stations Three Days Before State Elections

Reporters Without Borders called on April 12th on the federal authorities to permit the reopening of two new, Lagos-based broadcast media, Link FM and GTV, which were abruptly closed by the security forces on 11 April 2007, three days before elections for state governors and state parliaments.

"Elections should be a time when the government takes more care than ever to respect the rule of law," the press freedom organisation said. "Instead, the security forces are sent without a warrant to shut down media that could be a nuisance during the polling. There is no justification for the enforced closure of Link FM and GTV, so the measure should be lifted and their personnel should be allowed to return to work."

Eight members of the security forces burst into the Link FM and GTV studios in the Lagos district of Ketu at about 6 p.m. (local time) on 11 April, ordering all the employees to leave and placing seals over the entrances. They said they were acting on "an order from above." The studios were still closed the following morning and staff were not allowed to enter. The two stations began broadcasting just a few weeks ago and their director, Stanley Okoye, said he did not know why they had suddenly been closed.

But a Lagos-based journalist told Reporters Without Borders that the federal government wanted to prevent the opposition from using the media to immediately broadcast the results provided by the observers it is deploying to polling stations throughout the country in an attempt to prevent the ruling party from rigging the 14 April elections.

Somalia: TV Crew Arrested By Order of Presidential Official; Ministry Bans 'Unauthorised' Conferences, Lectures And Public Events

Reporters Without Borders expressed concern on April 11th about press freedom in Somalia after a presidential spokesman ordered the arrest of a TV crew and the authorities in Puntland, a stronghold of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and banned journalists from holding professional meetings without permission.

Abdulkadir Ashir "Nadara," head of the privately-owned TV station Universal TV, journalist Bashir Dirie Nalei and cameraman Hamud Mohammed Osman were arrested on 8 April 2007 at Mogadishu airport and have been held since then, according to the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), a partner organisation of Reporters Without Borders. The three journalists had covered a press conference by the president, during which "Nadara" had asked him about alleged favouritism in his choice of officials. An angry presidential spokesman called the question "the language of terrorists" and the three journalists were arrested by soldiers.

In addition, the Puntland information, telecommunications, culture and tourism ministry on 28 March banned all unauthorised conferences, lectures and public events about media matters, as well as the creation of media associations. Before being elected Somali president by the country's transitional parliament in October 2004, President Yusuf was president of Puntland, whose authorities are still loyal to him.

Uganda: Parliament Insists on Re-Opening of NTV, Fails to Secure Deadline

Parliament has reaffirmed its position that Nation Television (NTV) must be re-opened. "A committee investigated this matter. We have made resolutions. Let's restate our position that NTV should be reopened and leave the rest to government," the Deputy Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, said.

This followed two days of debate that pitted backbenchers against the executive on why the $4m project had not taken off. NTV was switched off by the Broadcasting Council on February 1 on grounds that some of its equipment did not meet required standards. In early April Information Minister Kirunda Kivejinja said: "Uganda Broadcasting council (UBC) is ready to put NTV on air as soon as the legal and procedural requirements are complied with.”

He said purchase of the required gadgets for UBC to host it on the 200m mast would be done. Attempts by security minister Amama Mbabazi to give an account of why NTV was off air were rejected.

Kivejinja told the House that NTV had written to the Ministry of Works requesting for an engineer to assess the quality of the short mast to carry the extra weight of NTV antennas. He said applicants for television licences were required to make a pre and post-installation inspection of their equipment by the council.

(source: New Vision)

South Africa: Dept Clears Pay TV Licensing, Digital Migration Confusion

Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has never called for the suspension of satellite and cable broadcasting service licences, the department has stated. Spokesperson for the department Albi Modise told BuaNews Thursday that the proposal, contained in the Draft Broadcasting Digital Migration Strategy was made by the Digital Migration Working Group (DMWG) and not Dr Matsepe-Casaburri.

Digital Migration involves the transition of the country's broadcasting system from analogue to digital to enable broadcasters to have better capacity to improve and diversify their services. Other benefits include a large number of television channels that could be licensed, better video and sound quality and the transmission of an increased amount of data.

Modise said the problem was that people were linking the minister to the proposal even though it was made by the Working Group. "The working group made a proposal after their own research work and consultations. This was not influenced by the department in any way," Mr Modise said. The group comprised industry experts, he said, from the SA Broadcast Corporation (SABC) and Sentech.

This comes after the DMWG proposed in March the Digital Migration Conference that no new broadcasters should be licensed on the Digital Terrestrial Television platform until the digital switchover is completed in 2008.

Spokesperson for the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) Sekgoela Sekgoela said the body had received about 18 applications for the licences. Applicants, Mr Sekgoela said, included Telkom Media, Sentech and Multichoice.

Earlier the Director General for the Department Lyndall Shope-Mafole said in a statement that there was a confusion regarding the licensing process and the strategy. "At no point has the minister proposed that there be a moratorium on pay television licensing process," Ms Shope-Mafole said. The licensing of broadcasting services, she said, was and continued to be an Icasa process.

Earlier this year Cabinet approved a three year dual illumination period during which both the analogue and digital signals will be transmitted starting from the 1 November 2008. This, according to the department, was essential to ensure that the public had some time to acquire Set Top Boxes (STBs). The STBs are needed for an analogue television set to be able to receive the digital signal as it would convert digital signals into analogue. Consumers are expected to buy these decoders, which have been estimated at R400 each, in order to receive digital broadcasting services.

However the working group estimates that approximately 4.4 million television households in the country will not afford a basic STB decoder. The working group has therefore recommended that government consider subsidising consumers.

(source: BuaNews)

Somalia: Government Shuts Down Al-Jazeera Bureau in Mogadishu

The Committee to Protect Journalists (New York) wrote on March 26th that the bureau of satellite television Al-Jazeera in the capital Mogadishu was indefinitely shuttered on Thursday following an order from intelligence officials of Somalia's Ethiopian-backed transitional government, according to news reports.

The bureau of the Qatar-based broadcaster was "effectively closed" after the station received a letter from the transitional government's National Security Agency (NSA) ordering the termination of its operations, correspondent Mohammed Adow told CPJ. The letter did not disclose the reason for the move, Mogadishu bureau head of operations Abshir Mohamed told the Associated Press (AP). But AP quoted Somali Information Minister Madobe Nunow Mohamed as saying that he had not seen the letter. "But I will tell you that Al-Jazeera has conveyed the wrong messages to the world. We will shut down additional radio stations and channels if they distort facts," he said. Adow denied the allegations.

The move came as former Somali transitional parliament speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan announced in a phone interview from Qatar that he had been invited by Al-Jazeera to participate in a television debate with the chairman of the ousted Islamist group, according to leading independent HornAfrik Radio. Adan was sacked in January after he opposed the Ethiopian military intervention and called for peace talks with Islamists, according to international news reports.

Nigeria: Court Arraigns DSTV Boss Over Copyright Infringement

Multichoice Nigeria Limited, operators of Digital Satellite Television (DSTV) in Nigeria, and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Collins Khumalo were arraigned in late March before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on six-count charge of copyright infringement.

The accused persons who pleaded not guilty to the charge, were alleged to have transmitted on DSTV Supersport channels, the La Liga (Spanish) Football League Matches, without the consent of the copyright owner Entertainment Highway Limited and thereby committed an offence contrary and punishable under the Copyright Act, Laws of the Federation.

No sooner had the charges been read than Khumalo, who also represented the company pleaded not guilty as each count of the charge. It became imperative to include Khumalo, the CEO of Multichoice in the suit because in law, a company is a corporate personality and the chief executive officer of that organisation is an embodiment of the corporate personality.

Following Khumalo's plea of "not guilty", the prosecution counsel, A. T. Kohol, asked for the matter to be adjourned for trial. At this juncture, palpable silence enveloped the courtot immediately known if the judge, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed would order that he be remanded in prison custody till the trial commences.

(source: This Day)

Zambia: Anti-Graft Officers Raid Radio Station, Seize Materials, Intimidate Staff

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek) wrote on April 13th that on 30 March 2007, officers from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) searched the office of Radio Mano, a community radio station in Zambia's Northern Province in Kasama. Station Manager David Chanda said the ACC officers produced a search warrant, which did not state exactly what they were looking for. He said they described the search as a "classified investigation". Chanda said that the ACC officers confined the Radio Mano staff to one room and told them not to leave the premises until the officers were through with the search, which lasted four hours. The station did not go off air, but staff did not report for work the next day for fear of being confined again by the ACC, said Chanda. However, the workers have since returned and normal operations of the station have continued.

Chanda said the officers took the radio station's chequebook, some documents and files, some of which did not belong to the station. He added that the ACC also took his personal diary from his office. When asked whether he had any suspicion on what or who the ACC were investigating, Chanda said: "They could be investigating an individual on corruption or the station as a whole. As for me, they have not approached me to say they are investigating me for such and such a case."

Technology & convergence

South Africa: DSTV Guides By Cellphone

DSTV is sending out programming information to subscribers through a "mobizine" -- a technology that combines cellphone technology with magazine-like content. The satellite platform owned by MultiChoice said this week that "DStv Dish Daily" would feature about 20 articles relating to daily and forthcoming programming highlights that subscribers would download to their cellphones.

Advertising and sale of content are the biggest income generators for mobizines. Nicci Brown, MultiChoice Africa promotions and relationship marketing manager, said the company would not place advertising in the mobizine, as it was purely an added benefit to subscribers. Updated each day at 7am, Dish Daily will allow for more interactive and entertaining content, such as pictures, to be used. The only cost would be the download of the mobizine platform to the subscriber's phone, and the daily data charges for each new edition, which would be 2c-10c a day. Media company Thumbtribe owns the rights to mobizine in Africa, which is beginning to pay off. There are 85,000 subscribers across 35 titles.

(source: Business Day)

Tunisia: Video-Sharing Website Dailymotion Blocked

Omar Mestiri, the editor of the opposition online newspaper "Kalima", is the victim of judicial harassment, Reporters Without Borders said on April 11th of a libel suit that could result in a three-year prison sentence. The organisation also called on the authorities to stop blocking the video-sharing site Dailymotion (http://www.dailymotion.com), which has been inaccessible in Tunisia since 1 April.

"The lawsuit against Mestiri is absurd because it is based on an online article that cannot even be accessed from within Tunisia," Reporters Without Borders said. "But we take this case very seriously. The three and a half year sentence imposed on lawyer Mohammed Abbou in April 2005 for an article posted online showed how the Tunisian courts are controlled by the government and how a libel suit can lead to a heavy sentence."

The press freedom organisation added: "The censorship of Dailymotion's website shows that the government, which is as paranoid about the Internet as it is about the traditional press, is ready to ban tens of thousands of inoffensive videos in order to block a handful it does not like."

The blocking of the http://www.dailymotion.com site may have been prompted by the posting of a number of videos on the political situation in Tunisia.

Namibia: PM Urges Hi-Tech Services for the Region's Masses

Providers of television, Internet and other communications services need to make them more accessible and affordable to lower-income groups and rural communities, Prime Minister Nahas Angula has urged. Speaking at the opening of the annual general meeting of the Communications Regulators Association of Southern Africa (Crasa) last week, Angula said competitors in the industry, such as mobile telephone providers, resisted sharing existing infrastructure.

"They instead invest hundreds of millions of dollars replicating infrastructure that largely exists but they could rather be tasked with erecting new infrastructure that would extend the national transmission network," the Prime Minister said. If regulation was possible to that extent, it could dramatically accelerate network coverage and service provision in rural areas, he said. "What I am a propagating is more lateral thinking of the kind that created the pre-paid airtime solutions that have had such an impact on broadening cellular telecommunications access in our region," Angula urged.

The telecommunications industry could consider offering some facilities like spare channels, off-peak airtime or bandwidth in the Internet and video-conferencing networks to development agents such as social and health workers and agricultural extension officers for open learning, training and meetings. As a regional body, Crasa is responsible for harmonisation in the information and communications regulatory environment in the SADC region and the development of sustainable communications.

(source: The Namibian)

Kenya: Local Broadcast Set to Go Digital

The Government has said the broadcasting industry is expected to switch from analogue to digital broadcasting by 2015. This means that television and radio gadgets in the market would be obsolete with time. Therefore the Government has warned the local media industry of attempts by foreign companies to dump analogue broadcasting equipment. Information minister, Mr Mutahi Kagwe, said the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) had stopped issuing frequencies for analogue television broadcasting to prepare the country for digital technology.

Addressing a news conference, Kagwe said migration to a digital platform would require policy and regulatory change. He launched an 11-member taskforce to facilitate the switchover and setting up of a migration implementation strategy. The taskforce is expected to come up with policy and regulatory framework for migration from analogue to digital broadcasting.

Kagwe said digitisation would enhance electronic transfer of sound and video and improve broadcast transmission quality. "Since digital technology makes it possible for one frequency channel to accommodate more than one programme, a multiplex operator is necessary in the market structure to provide capability for multi-programmes within frequency channel, so that many broadcasters can share the frequency channel," he said.

Kenyans will, however, not need to dispose of their current television sets, as they could buy a set top box to convert digital transmission into analogue form that can be discerned by the equipment. Taskforce chairman, Daniel Obam, said analogue sets would be obsolete in the long run.

"The multiplex operators will be required to provide services to licensees in a non-discriminatory basis. It is evident that by virtue of its disposition, KBC qualifies as a multiplex operator. However, the two other entities would be licensed to offer the infrastructure," Kagwe said. This means the broadcasters would concentrate on developing broadcast content and not manning their transmission infrastructure. Kagwe said the ongoing installation of a fibre broadband would converge with the broadcast digitisation to reduce the cost of Internet services. "It will become a platform for delivery of services such as e-government, e-health and e-education," said Kagwe.

(source: East Africa Standard)

Nigeria: Television coming to Mobile Phones

What promises to be a major application in mobile services in a short while is mobile TV. This service will enable mobile phone subscribers watch television programmes on their mobile phones.

The services and viewing experience of mobile TV over mobile networks differ in a variety of ways from traditional TV viewing. Apart from mobility, mobile TV delivers a variety of services including video-on-demand, traditional/linear and live TV programs. Another exciting opportunity for users is Mobile TV pod casts, where content is delivered to a users’ mobile on demand or by subscriptions. A subscriber can store this content on his handset and view later even when there is no network connection. And a service provider can schedule the delivery to "off-peak" hours, for example during the night.

It is expected that the most popular genres and programmes on mobile TV will be entertainment (soaps, reality shows, comedy, animation), news, sport, music and children's programmes. This content will be tailored with the mobile viewer in mind. Experts predict that mobile TV programming will be a combination of original content from broadcast television and new content made specifically for mobile.

Ultimately, the mobile TV service of the future will be broadcast to multiple subscribers simultaneously. There are already technologies to achieve this. They include 3G Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS), Digital Video Broadcast Hand-held (DVB-H), Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) and MediaFlow. How early this novelty takes root in Nigeria will be determined by how soon 3G networks are fired up. Already, the Nigerian Communications has offered provisional licences to four operators to provide 3G services.

(source: The Vanguard)

Zimbabwe: Econet Wireless Completes 3G Network Installation

Econet Wireless is now ready to roll out its 3G network following the completion of installation of the equipment, CEO Mr Douglas Mboweni has said. "We are now on the testing phase," the Econet boss said in an interview. The 3G network was expected to be in place by March 31 this year, but its rollout was postponed following delays in the procurement and installation of the equipment.

3G is an advanced cellular technology which allows subscribers to transfer simultaneously both voice and non-voice data such as downloading information, exchanging mails and instant massaging. It also provides video telephone.

(source: the Herald)

Nigeria: Time Machine - A Personal Computer, TV Tool

At times like this when the awareness of Information and Communication Technology and innovations is on the increase, the convergence between Television and Personal Computing (PC) technologies as a tool is at optimum.

The Managing Director of LG Electronics, West African operation, Mr. B.W. Park had said recently that The Time Machine TV, which is one of LG's latest technological innovations, is perfectly placed to fill an important gap in the market because the busy lifestyles of consumers have created a need for integrated products and the company is the first manufacturer to address this growing trend with the high definition Time Machine TV. Speaking at the launch, Park, had noted that Time Machine function allows users to pause, record and replay TV programmes with a built-in 80 Gega Bytes (GB) hard drive that could store up to 40 hours of digital standard-definition programming, eliminating the need for external storage devices.

Nigerians have confirmed as timely the introduction of the Time Machine TV by the Korean home appliances and mobile communications giant, LG Electronics, into the nation's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market from the date of launch till date. Over six months of its launch in the Nigerian market, the product has continued to receive commendations from notable Nigerian professionals for its immense capabilities and technological edge. The latest accolade came from ace television presenter, Mr. Soni Irabor, who described the LG Time Machine TV as "A brilliant piece of technology that meets the need of the time." Irabor stated "With the Time Machine TV, you can record for hours and you will be able to catch all the minute details of your production. The picture quality of this machine is also second to none in television viewing."

Since its launch in Nigeria on September 9, 2006, LG's Time Machine TV has also become associated with some of society's leading lights, especially icons in the entertainment and sports industry.

(source: This Day)

Events

HIGH SPEED ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES CONFERENCE

19-21 June 2007, Gallagher Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa

IQPC's 2nd Annual High Speed Access Technologies conference is perfectly positioned giving you answers at a critical time offering an objective platform for you to hear case studies on current obstacles and successes of Broadband. You will also be able to join us for a Site Visit To the Eskom Test Site. This site visit will show you what progress has been made over the past few years and what MainNet is doing to promote broadband over Power Lines.

For more information please contact Susan Theron on +27 (0) 11 669 5019 or visit our website http://www.iqpc.com/za/highspeed

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