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Sofitel Capital puts up US$60m loan for Foisi Broadcasting Network’s free-to-air, ad-financed channel

Last week Foisi Broadcasting Network announced that it had obtained a US$60 million loan from Sofitel Capital Corporation. With this money, it would begin phase one of capital build-out to create an advertising financed, free-to-air, pan-African television channel.

In issue 09

Content

Nigeria: HITV On With Premiership

Morocco: Sound of the Soul

Ghana: DSTV Shows Sporting Muscle As Its Multi -Channel Coverage Proves Its Strength

South Africa: SABC Withdraws Urgent Bid to Halt Screening of Mbeki Doccie

Egypt: Youth Show to Broadcast Live from Egypt

Nigeria: Fifa Under-20 World Cup Final Live On DSTV

Ghana: Multichoice launches new product in Kumasi

Broadcast

Africa: SABC News International Launches Next Week

Uganda: Star FM to Be Refurbished

Zimbabwe: Power Fm in Troubled Waters

Uganda: Lira's Customised TV Station

Nigeria: FBN to Transmit Afro-Centric Programmes

Uganda: GTV Goes Live

Distribution

Africa: Pan-African Mobile Coverage of UK Football Tournament

South Africa: Naspers braces for pay-TV price war in South Africa

South Africa: SABC Seeks Soccer Rights Freeze

Botswana: New Pay TV Exploits Legal Loophole

Investment

Botswana: Botswana invests in Mma Ramotswe film

Rwanda: Chinese Firm to build US$20m TV Station

More

Regulation & policy

Technology & convergence

Events

Top story

Sofitel Capital puts up US$60m loan for Foisi Broadcasting Network’s free-to-air, ad-financed channel

Last week Foisi Broadcasting Network announced that it had obtained a US$60 million loan from Sofitel Capital Corporation. With this money, it would begin phase one of capital build-out to create an advertising financed, free-to-air, pan-African television channel.

According to its Nigerian-American founder and CEO, Dr. Aaron F. Nmungwun, the new channel will start test broadcasting in about twelve months time, initially in Nigeria, and launch some time in Autumn 2008. The US$60 million loan will be used to build a broadcast studio in Abjua and a satellite and terrestrial transmission network across the continent.

BT Global Services is the primary technical partner for a team that includes US-based GlobeComm Systems. In welcoming the chance to work with Foisi Olivier Campenon, President EMEA, BT Global Services spoke not only of television but also radio production that it will be implementing for the company.

According to Nmungwun, the decision to go free-to-air was taken because he doesn’t believe the continent is yet ready for Pay-TV:”The model is free-to-air because Africa is not yet ready for subscription TV. You have to crawl before you walk.”

Foisi Broadcasting sees its revenue coming from advertising from the 80% of global companies that have a presence in Africa who are currently do not have a channel to advertise across Africa. As Nmungwun sees it:”Subscription TV will only reach at most 8 million people. Whereas free-to-air TV will reach 250 million people. We will use satellite to distribute signals across Africa and the only requirement will be a television in your home.”

He envisages distributing the signal to different countries and then setting up its own transmission network in the countries where it will roll-out. He foresees a roll-out to (in the following order) to South Africa, Kenya and Senegal. The latter will become its operational hub for the French-language programming it will put together. However, in the initial market of Nigeria, believes that there will be an audience of between 10-30 million viewers when the channel is fully operational.

But what programming will Foisi Broadcasting be running to attract viewers? Nmungwun believes that success will come through “focusing on programming that emanates from Africa.” He points out that most African broadcasting regulators insist on some kind of local quota for programming:”In Nigeria, this is a 60/40% quota in favour of local programming. We will exceed this by having 70% African content and 30% international.”

African broadcast content will consist of: African news, sports, movies, wildlife, and talk shows. The international content will be broadly similar including world news, foreign movies and international interviews. The company plans to produce, co-produce, acquire and distribute programming, adding potentially another buyer of local content to the continent.

With advertising the key revenue, Foisi Broadcasting will clearly need to make an impression on those all-important, international advertisers but it’s early days yet:”We’ve not zeroed in on any particular advertisers so far. We’ve got feedback that companies are spending money in each country to advertise. When we’re on air, they’ll be able to do a one-time spending to reach the same number of people. It will be all the international brands but we don’t want to leave out indigenous brands like the banks (Nedbank, for example) and the gold mines.”

So what will the rates be for this vital revenue stream? Nmungwun is cautious in his response:”We’re still working on it. The Marketing Department will come up with a rate that is acceptable to our partners.”

Nmungwun’s vision for the new channel is very much attuned to the “new Africa” rhetoric that is part and parcel of recent economic growth:”We are trying to establish a voice for Africa. The only time you hear about Africa is when something disastrous happens. We want to create a positive voice for Africa. For generations, Africa has lacked a voice in the international community. FBN Africa will be a reflection of Africa and the emergence of the African perspective on others in the world.”

Content

Nigeria: HITV On With Premiership

HITV, a Nigerian-owned communication firm, has concluded arrangements to beam eight matches of the English Premiership, live, every weekend on its terrestrial and digital satellite cable network

Unfolding this development weekend in Lagos, the Managing Director of HITV, Toyin Subair also unfolded the firm's plan to roll out its service on the Direct To Home Satellite network, on August 1, a development which means that its service can be assessed at any location in the world.

Speaking at the Planet One Entertainment Centre in Maryland, Subair, also announced that HITV is going to give 100,000 decoders and dishes free as part of its contributions towards the cheap and easy acquisition of satellite transmission by Nigerians, desirous of watching top-notch matches from the English Premiership, the Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie A.

On its plans to beam eight matches of the Premiership, which has top Nigerian acts like Nwankwo Kanu, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obafemi Martins, John Utaka, to mention a few, all starring for different clubs, Subair said HITV has the exclusive rights to beam the most matches in the highly sought-after club football property in the form, adding that dedicated sports channels were going to come upstream on August 1 to achieve the aim of ensuring that Nigerians watch the said matches, without paying through their nose.

"There are 38 weeks of the English Premiership and on any given weekend, there are at most ten matches to be seen by viewers. In Nigeria, we have the rights to show eight of these matches live and we also have the privilege of showing the top matches.

"It is also pertinent to note that we have the exclusive rights to show the Spanish League in Africa, which means that the matches cannot be shown by any other broadcaster without our due consent. We are also going to show the Italian first division league and it promises to be a massive celebration of soccer on our sporting channels, beginning August 11, when the English Premiership stars", added Subair.

Speaking on its decoder offer, the HITV boss said that 100,000 decoders and dish would be given to people signing up for a year’s subscription, at the rate of N3,000 (US$24) per month, noting that instead of paying N33,000 (US$264) for the acquisition of its system, inclusive of a month's subscription that a customer can watch the best of satellite television with just N36,000 (US$288) for 12 months.

"This is our own little way of supporting the development of satellite television in the country. We are Nigerians, who want to afford our countrymen the best of television, as cheap as you can get it", he said.

(Vanguard (Lagos), 16 July 2007)

Morocco: Sound of the Soul

The Tiburon Film Society will present the following film at the Bay Model located at 2100 Bridgeway in Sausalito [Phone: (415) 332.3871] on Thursday, August 2, 2007 @ 6 PM.

Religious tolerance is in short supply in many critical areas of the globe but in Fez, Morocco, the tolerant atmosphere is palpable. Perhaps the most vivid example of religious pluralism in that Moroccan urban center is the annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, known as "the Fez." This week-long event brings together musicians from throughout the world who represent many spiritual paths.

Fez is a 1,200-year-old city long known to be a center of Sufi spirituality. The camera in this new documentary wanders through the narrow alleyways of Fez and focuses on singers, musicians and dancers ranging from Japanese drummers to the Irish vocal group Anuna to African berber women to a Harlem brass band. In this cinematic journey through the ancient North African city, whirling dervishes circle endlessly and a French early music group sings 12th century chorales.

As an Afghani sings during the festivities, “Music is the sound of the soul.”

Ghana: DSTV Shows Sporting Muscle As Its Multi -Channel Coverage Proves Its Strength

The Tour de France is a legendarily demanding race that sees the best cyclists in the world competing for one of the sport's biggest prizes. The British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone is a dramatic highlight on the international motor-sport calendar.

The Wimbeldon Men's Final epitomises tennis's elegance and power. These are three major sports events with two main things in common - they all happen on July 8 and they are all shown live on DStv.

And in screening all three events on three different sports channels, DStv has proven there's more action, more excitement and more comprehensive access to the world of sport on DStv than on any other multi-channel offering available anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. As the first multi-channel pay-TV product in Africa, DStv launched a 24-hour soccer channel for Africa, and was a pioneer in screening multi-channel coverage of major sporting events like the Olympic Games, and a pioneer in committing to screening local sporting content on its channels.

MultiChoice Ghana General Manager Sam Baimbil-Johnson said MultiChoice Africa's record of providing the best sports content was enhanced by the company's support for African sport. "DStv is proud of it reputation for being an African product, firmly rooted in the continent's success, and the Super Sport channels screen major African sporting events that no one else can offer."

Super Sport Communications Manager Ponga Liwewe said DStv's coverage of the MTN Champions League, the KCB Kenyan National Rally Championships and its landmark agreement to screen the Nigerian Football League gave DStv a clear advantage over its competitors.

"Our subscribers also have access to magazine shows like Soccer Africa, Football Africa and DHL Sports Africa. Super Sport has focused on showing African sportsmen and women at their finest," Liwewe said.

He said going forward DStv subscribers can look forward to over 800 soccer games, across the French, Italian, African and Portuguese leagues, helmed by Super Sport's live coverage of the prestigious UEFA Champions League. Plus there's MUTV, Chelsea TV, Liverpool TV, Real Madrid TV and Barcelona TV to keep club fans up to date with their favourite teams.

MultiChoice Africa's determination to provide a world-class sports service to Africa has seen it focus its resources and invest heavily in acquiring top-quality global sports action, allowing its subscribers to be first to see the widest range of premier sporting events available.

There's more athletics ahead including IAAF Golden League action, IAAF Super Grand Prix action, the World Championships from Osaka in Japan, and more. Tri-Nations Rugby hits DStv as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa gear up for the Rugby World Cup, which will also be screened on Super Sport. This will mark the second time this year that a World Cup has found a home on DStv, following the recently concluded Cricket World Cup.

There are nine sports channels available on DStv, four news channels that all provide up-to-the-minute breaking sports stories plus live and delayed coverage of major sporting events. In addition, Super Sport Active provides sporting fixtures at the press of a button. The PVR decoder has revolutionized sports television across the continent, allowing viewers to record, stop, start, and pause a game in progress.

DStv's sheer range of coverage of every major sports code in the world is unparalleled and includes athletics, basketball, boxing, cricket, cycling, equestrian, extreme sports, fishing, golf, gymnastics, motorsport, rugby, rowing, sailing, skating, soccer, swimming, surfing, tennis, volleyball, wrestling, and more.

If you were a DStv subscriber from January this year, this is what you saw you saw the birth of a champion when Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian F1 Grand Prix. You saw AC Milan triumph in a thrilling UEFA Champions League final.

You saw Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer to win his third straight French Open tennis title. You saw Laila Ali defend her title and her famous family's boxing legacy. You saw Floyd Mayweather defeat Oscar de La Hoya live from Las Vegas. You saw Tiger Woods start the year in the style, winning the Buick Invitational. You saw the Copa America kick off and you're still watching as it heads towards its July 15 Final, which you will see live.

There's more golf from the U.S. and European PGA Tours, the Super Bike championships and live action from all the remaining Formula One races in what is shaping up to be an intense championship season.

Led by an in-studio team of veteran continental television personalities, including several prominent former sports stars such as Gary Bailey, Kalusha Bwalya and Abedi Pele, and supported by its multi-channel capacity to carry simultaneous events, Super Sport offers the widest choice to its audiences.

Super Sport has the unique ability to cope with the often unpredictable nature of sport, so whether rain stops play at Wimbeldon or a game goes into extra time, Super Sport has the option to provide the additional time and space where required.

And as the year hits the midway mark, there's so much more to come on the DStv sports channels, which include Africa's own Super Sport channels and the global sports giant ESPN. DStv's news channels offer their own insight with programs such as World Sport, Living Golf and Mainsail on CNN, Sport Action on SABC AFRICA, Sky News' Sportsline and Sport Today on BBC World.

(Accra Mail (Accra), 12 July 2007)

South Africa: SABC Withdraws Urgent Bid to Halt Screening of Mbeki Doccie

The SABC last week withdrew its application for an urgent interdict to stop a private screening of the controversial Thabo Mbeki documentary. The urgent interdict had been intended to halt the Mail & Guardian's Critical Thinking forum from screening the documentary, Unauthorised: Thabo Mbeki and the African Country, last night to 200 high-profile guests who had not been able to view the documentary because the public broadcaster has so far refused to flight it.

The broadcaster said last week it had decided to hold off on the hearing until August 22 and withdraw its "urgent" status. SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said this was due to "logistical reasons" and would apply only to this specific case. "We've agreed to send some SABC people to be a part of the (Mail & Guardian) discussions and we will discuss future screenings thereafter."

The Freedom of Expression Institute , which has criticised the SABC's delays in screening the film, said the move was unacceptable in terms of the SABC's role as public broadcaster. "In principle, they've maintained that Broad Daylight (the producers) was wrong to distribute the documentary. For what reason, I don't know, because they clearly aren't interested in screening it themselves," said the institute's Simon Delaney.

He said the SABC would be free to make its complaints heard at the hearing next month , "if it still wanted to" as "by then I'm sure the whole country would have seen the documentary".

Redi Direko, co- producer of the documentary, said she believed Broad Daylight owned the rights to the documentary as it had given the SABC notice in March that the contract with it had been cancelled. Kganyago said last week no such notification had been received.

(Business Day (Johannesburg), 19 July 2007)

Egypt: Youth Show to Broadcast Live from Egypt

CKI FM's youth talk show Conversations will be broadcasting live from Egypt at the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) Conference and Youth Summit, 21 - 26 July 2007.

The aim is to expose the station's listeners to different cultures as well as to share in the global dialogue for sustainable development. The theme of the conference is: Connecting Cultures...Respecting Differences: A Global Dialogue for Development and Sustainability. The international youth summit will focus on Leadership and Youth Empowerment.

Conversations is a platform for young people to have a robust dialogue and meaningful interaction on issues that are pertinent to their development. The station believes in young people being drivers of their own development, hence the talk show being presented by a young person, Naye Lupondwana.

The station will start its broadcast with The Nest on 22 July and Conversations will continue live from the conference venue 23 - 26 July.

The conference is expected to attract international speakers and leaders in the field of ICT, education, cross cultural understanding, and peace education. Among the many distinguished guests, organisers have confirmed the participation of Citizens Project, Eisenhower Fellowship, European Higher Education for the World in Poland, International Institute of Education, Kellogg Foundation, Ministry of Education in Denmark, Ministry of Education in UAE, Pr. Peter Copen, Director of the Copen Family Fund and Founder of iEARN, People to People International, UNAIDS, and U.S. State Department, ECA office.

(Biz-Community (Cape Town), 18 July 2007)

Nigeria: Fifa Under-20 World Cup Final Live On DSTV

DSTV recently has concluded plans to bringing audiences more great soccer action with live coverage of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Showcasing some of the best youth talent in the world, the Under-20 World Cup, being held in Canada, is set to keep audiences entertained.

According to Segun Fayose, Public Relations Manager Multichoice said that the 24-team tournament, which started on June 30, will run until July 22 with continued live action from the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third place playoffs and the final showing live on DSTV.

The FIFA Under-20 World Cup, established in 1977, is not only the second oldest FIFA competition, but with 24 participating teams, it is also the second largest. Only two host teams have ever claimed the championship crown. In Lisbon in 1991, a strong Portugese side featuring Luis Figo, Rui Costa and company struck gold. The Soviet Union in 1985, Chile in 1987 and Australia in 1993 nonetheless also managed to exploit home advantage to reach the semi-finals.

(Daily Champion (Lagos), 19 July 2007)

Ghana: Multichoice launches new product in Kumasi

After extensive marketing research to meet customers' needs, MultiChoice Africa, operators of Digital Satellite television (DStv) in the continent, has launched a new product called "family bouquet".

The product, which comprises over twenty (20) great television channels, is aimed at creating a platform for families in Africa to live in harmony by watching a variety of TV programmes that are family-unit-based.

To herald this good news, the "family bouquet" product was launched in Kumasi at Adum Post Office Square under the distinguished chairmanship of Mrs. Judith Agyeman, Manageress of Kapital Radio, after a two-hour float through the principal streets of the metropolis.

Samuel Baimbill-Johnson, General Manager of MultiChoice Ghana, who assured subscribers of DStv of quality premium services, said the new product requires a monthly subscription of GH¢17.90 to enjoy it always without any hitch for new customers.

"DStv will continue to provide a world class programmes preferred by our subscribers and this new product comes up with premium sport, movie, news, music and kiddy channels that are good for Ghana's family unit", he stated.

The MultiChoice Manager told The Chronicle in an interview after the launch that the company hoped to expand its currant subscription base from 14,000 to 18,000 by the end of March 2008, hoping to achieve this through door-to-door advertisement and other mass media.

(Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra), 18 July 2007)

Broadcast

Africa: SABC News International Launches Next Week

The SABC will officially launch its African news channel, aimed at providing an African perspective on domestic and international stories, on 20 July 2007 at the new Montecasino Theatre. The Pan-African channel soft-launched on 7 June to test the reception in the market. The soft launch included live feeds from SABC's six international bureaus in Kenya, DRC, Washington, Brussels, New York, Senegal and Nigeria. SABC News International will replace the SABC Africa overnight feed on SABC 2. It will initially broadcast weekdays only. As from April 2008, it will have a full 24-hour schedule.

Initially, the channel will be broadcast via Sentech's Vivid Satellite Digital Decoder which currently broadcasts to sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Europe. In addition to news bulletins, the channel will feature current affairs and investigative programmes, including news magazine shows which will incorporate broader content such as weather, sports, and economic news and studio interviews. The channel will also include French news bulletins which are currently streamed live on the SABC News website.

Dr Snuki Zikalala, SABC group executive for news and current affairs, says, "With the establishment of SABC News bureaux within Africa such as Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya and overseas countries such as New York, Washington, London and Brussels; and in the pipeline are following countries; Jamaica, Peoples Republic of China, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Senegal. SABC News is sure to deliver news from an African perspective - which will form part of a broader and long-term plan of selling content to other broadcasters in Africa and beyond." Zikalala reports that there is already considerable interest from African, American and European broadcasters in carrying the channel.

(Biz-Community (Cape Town), 10 July 2007)

Uganda: Star FM to Be Refurbished

Star FM, a government-owned radio station based in Kampala, is to be revamped. Uganda Broadcasting Corporation spokesperson Jane Kasumba, on Wednesday announced that the station would acquire a new frequency of 87.5 FM from 100 FM.

"This will enable motorists listen to it, which was not possible earlier," she said. The measure is meant to boost the performance of the station and ensure that it competes favorably. Kasumba said the station will acquire modern equipment including studio equipment to boost its signal.

She added that they would recruit new staff. "We are open to new talent but we also want to retain the best." The station has over 40 staff. Kasumba, however, denied allegations that the staff went on strike on Monday.

(New Vision (Kampala), 12 July 2007)

Zimbabwe: Power Fm in Troubled Waters

Midlands-based radio station, Power FM is in a Catch-22 situation on whether or not to relocate to Harare from Gweru amid reports that the station has started courting former Radio 3 disc jockeys in a bid to improve mediocre programming and a dwindling audience base, Independent Xtra heard this week.

Sources at the station said the decision to relocate to Harare has been brought about by the need to revamp the station, whose programming has seen it reportedly becoming the worst performing radio station in so far as advertising revenue and listeners are concerned. The country has four radio stations -- Sport FM, Radio Zimbabwe, Power FM and National FM.

Most of the station's musically astute presenters at the then Radio 3 deserted it following sweeping broadcasting content directives introduced by former Information minister, Jonathan Moyo who imposed 100% local content.

"The station is in a gridlock," sources said. "And management is contemplating moving back to Harare where most of the former Radio 3 presenters are based. There is a strategy to invite back to the station the likes of Tichafa Matambanadzo and DJ Munya among others to spearhead the campaign to turn around its fortunes."

"Power FM is no longer generating meaningful revenue, which is why they're struggling to pay competitive salaries to their presenters and import up-to-date international music." DJ Munya, who returned to Zimbabwe from Malawi last month, said he was not aware of the new developments at Power FM adding that although things had changed at the station unlike when he was among a crop of disc jockeys who captured the imagination of their listeners when it was still Radio 3, there was room for improvement at the station.

"I just came back from Malawi last month where I was working for a radio station in the capital," said the former presenter. "I really don't know what's going on at Power FM at the moment. What I know however is that there is still room for the station to improve as it commands a sizeable following with the country's youth."

Independent Xtra failed to get a comment from Tinashe Chiname, who is said to be acting head of the station. Independent Xtra is reliably informed that former Radio 3 DJ's who have so far been approached have demanded the station relocates to Harare as a condition for their return and that they be paid lucrative salaries.

(Zimbabwe Independent (Harare), 13 July 2007)

Uganda: Lira's Customised TV Station

There is a plausible explanation as to why free-to-air broadcasting is mostly a Kampala affair, especially for the private TV stations. Uganda's capital is also its commercial hub hence the guarantee of recouping the monies investing in TV may gobble. That may explain why the formerly Jinja-based NBS TV has relocated to Kampala. I am told its programming comprises enthralling Bollywood movies from the Mahatma Ghandi era.

Other regions have mostly had to wait on the benevolence of TV station proprietors after research showed rolling out to other towns was economically viable. Not so for Lira town which can boast of having its own TV station, NTV (Northern TV). NTV (broadcasting on UHF 49) is a community television station with programming tailored to help Lira get back onto its feet after the Northern Uganda insurgency.

The studios may not amount to much in terms of hi-tech gadgetry but the programming comprises relevant content especially for the region's socio-political setting. It comprises a market report, a show on family sanitation, vox populi on a pertinent issue, focus on small business and gender issues. This is interspersed with a varied menu of music, children's programming and news that includes a primetime newscast in Luo.

The station prides itself in setting the news agenda when it comes to the Northern region. Its close proximity to the Juba peace talks complete with resident journalists means NTV does not have to depend on armchair reports culled from international newswire services. The station has correspondents in key regional towns like Arua, Gulu, Pader, Kitgum, Apac, Owam and Amolatar who also feed its sister radio station Radio Lira.

Christian broadcaster TOP TV has been chest thumping lately about its improved signal. It still remains a channel hopping experience for me, one where a viewer only settles for a while to see if there is anything interesting to watch. It should not surprise whoever runs that station that TOP TV's newspaper schedules get nothing more than a passing glance. Speaking of Christian broadcasters, I wonder if LTV will make its own audit of the local televangelists that form the bulk of its programming. I would be curious to know if those "falls" are not induced using electric shocks.

The Pentecostal movement is also reeling from another scandal, that of a sodomising Pastor which provided the missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in a recent edition of Focal Point [WBS TV, Sundays 7p.m.]. Bart Kakooza had mostly concealed his interviewee's face and had also bleeped out the errant pastor's name every time it was mentioned. An NTV news anchor/ reporter seems to have blown the pastor's cover in last week's Sunday Monitor lead story whose information was so similar to Kakooza's show.

Shouldn't Simon Kasyate have done a TV feature or documentary to put him in the running for another shot at the CNN/Multichoice African journalist of the year award?

My heart goes out to UBC TV's Bbale Francis who has to work in an environment of ineptitude that waters down his standing as a world-class anchor. Saturday night's newscast was a near disaster though not comparable to that tale about his studio encounter with a snake. Bbale grappled with a mix-up in the news footage and when the cameras came back to him, he was caught reaching for and shuffling the news script he had dropped.

The Japanese government recently handed the public broadcaster a financial shot in the arm worth $10m. Some of that money had better be spent on acquiring a teleprompter, which should be standard equipment for any modern day television station of note.

(The Monitor (Kampala), 15 July 2007)

Nigeria: FBN to Transmit Afro-Centric Programmes

Foisi Broadcasting Network (FBN) has been granted the broadcast licence to transmit afro-centric programming from Nigeria to the rest of Africa.

The essence of FBN's offering according to a statement is in the arena of broadcasting, production and distribution. The firm also plans to establish Africa's first inter-continental television network.

The core business includes commercial Radio and Television Network broadcasting and Internet Services. The flagship event that will mark the official opening of FBN's operations will be the formal launch in the United States.

Executive Vice President Administration, Mrs H. O Adasi, the company said: "We are very excited about the prospects of starting off a truly global-rated intercontinental broadcast network that will present Africa to the rest of the world. We are even more pleased that this has received enthusiastic support of key stakeholders in Nigeria and other key African states".

Foisi Broadcasting Network is the initiative of Nigerian-born international business man, Dr Aaron F.Nmungwun, who is the Founder, Chairman and CEO. Also on the board are other eminent Africans, including the famous Professor Ali Mazrui.

The event will have in attendance major stakeholders from the Media, Government and Business from across Africa and the Diaspora. Notable personalities expected to be in attendance are His Excellency, President Musa Yar'adua of Nigeria the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, among others.

FBN is expected to produce, co-produce, acquire and distribute television programming specifically intended for the diverse African and foreign viewing markets. Through sophisticated satellite telecommunications, FBN according to the statement, will broadcast entertainment, news, business, cultural and educational programming to the world's fastest growing market for broadcast television. The station will also provide companies in Africa with a medium to advertise and promote their products and services efficiently and cost effectively too. Go live date is planned for quarter three of 2008. A full broadcast facility is also being built in Abuja , Nigeria 's Federal Capital Territory .

FBN is said to have received enthusiastic support from various key facilitators such as Sofitel Capital Corporation of USA Inc, the American Exim Bank and Nigeria Intercontinental Bank Plc. Also on board are British Telecoms and Globecomm Systems Inc as Technical Partners.

By leveraging their talents, creativity, specialized knowledge, and commitment to excellence, FBN promises to fully deploy the skills of its team of professionals who have a solid pedigree from previous broadcasting concerns. FBN says its strategy is to reach an untapped African viewer market with a combination of original Afro-centric programming and over-the-air broadcasting by owned-and-operated stations in major African markets that pick up network feeds via satellite and distribute them via terrestrial. This strategy is uniquely suited to the challenges of distributing radio and television network programming across vast distances in the absence of well-established cable and home-satellite infrastructure. The event will hold at the prestigious Waldoff Astoria Hotel , New York

(This Day (Lagos), 18 July 2007)

Uganda: GTV Goes Live

GTV service began its operations in Uganda recently, promising to revolutionise pay television and home entertainment. The arrival of GTV brings the number of mainstream pay-TV providers in the country to two; after DStv.

GTV promises to increase one percent pay-TV penetration by providing lower subscription and instalment prices. "Our goal is to get 100, 000 of the 1mn colour TV sets in Uganda onto GTV by providing a service that costs no more than a monthly utility bill," says GTV Managing Director, Julian Mcintyre.

GTV will offer subscribers two choices to pick from. They are G Base, a 12-channel offering comprising general entertainment and news channels costing Ush45,000 monthly and G Plus comprising the G-Base offering and an additional three sports channels for Ush 70, 000 monthly.

(Business in Africa (Johannesburg), 19 July 2007)

Distribution

Africa: Pan-African Mobile Coverage of UK Football Tournament

The mobile content firm, MTech and OSMi, a sports marketing company say that they have won the rights to power a ground-breaking mobile Premier League highlights and news service across the African continent (excluding South Africa). The Premier League is a UK football (soccer) tournament.

The new offering will provide near-live coverage of all the 380 Premiership matches in the 2007/2008 season, individual match and weekend 'round-up' highlight packages as well as SMS competitions and other mobile content. MTech will go live with the service in Nigeria and across sub-Saharan Africa when the Barclays Premier League begins on the 11th August, with operator partnerships to be announced shortly beforehand.

"The popularity of the Barclays Premier League is at fever pitch across the continent. African newspapers devote huge space to match reports, and radio talk shows feature heated debate between rival supporters," said Chika Nwobi, Managing Director at MTech. "Combine this popularity with the potential that mobile content is showing in Africa and you have a winning proposition."

"During the 2006/2007 season we received over 5 million subscribers to our Premiership-related SMS News service," added Chika Nwobi. "This was a significant achievement and we are confident that the new service which includes near-live video and pictures will easily surpass that figure in 2007/2008."

East Africa: Coca-Cola East Africa and MTV Base connect with East African Youth in landmark marketing alliance

The Coca-Cola Company and music channel MTV base are entering into a major marketing alliance that will partner the two brands on air, on-the-ground and on pack. The two companies are joining forces to activate MTV Coca-Cola VJ Search & MTV Coca-Cola Xpress, an integrated 360-degree sponsorship campaign and TV show targeting young music lovers, the youth and young adult community in East Africa.

Under the terms of the deal, Coca-Cola will build on its strong association with music in East Africa by becoming the exclusive sponsor of MTV Coca-Cola VJ Search & MTV Coca-Cola Xpress, an exciting combination of grassroots’ talent search and TV music chart show running from July to December 2007. Heavyweight promotion for the campaign commences on-air in July 2007, before MTV base and Coca-Cola embark on a joint quest to find MTV’s first ever TV presenters (VJs) from the region, via an extensive audition tour reaching three cities in Kenya, two in Tanzania and one in Uganda. The finalists will go on to compete in a series of live TV ‘finals’ where the new presenters for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be chosen by a panel of celebrity judges, MTV base, Coca-Cola and members of the public voting via SMS. The three ultimate winners earn a bone fide contract to host TV show MTV Coca-Cola Xpress.

Compelling TV programming from the MTV Coca-Cola VJ Search will be aired on TV from August 2007 in MTV base programme ‘blocks’.

Commented Judy Kiruri, East Africa Marketing Manager, Coca-Cola East Africa, ‘With this campaign, Coca-Cola is underscoring its reputation for creating new and unique experiences for our consumers while cementing our brand’s association with the cutting edge of music and youth. By partnering with MTV base on this project, we are paving the way for youth to express their passion for music and entertainment via this dream-come-true opportunity.’

Commented Alex Okosi, Vice President & General Manager, MTV Networks Africa, ‘MTV base has built a reputation in East Africa for creating imaginative, one-of-a-kind experiences and TV programmes which profoundly engage and connect with young adults. We’re delighted to partner with Coca-Cola on this wonderful project, which will excite the imagination and ambition of young music fans, and create even more opportunities for them to interact with our two brands in innovative and rewarding ways.’

South Africa: Naspers braces for pay-TV price war in South Africa

South African pay-TV monopoly Multichoice expects the onset of competition next year to spark a profit-eroding price war and says fixed-line phone operator Telkom will be its toughest rival. Multichoice, which is owned by media firm Naspers and runs Africa's DStv pay-TV network, says it may have to cut its prices when South Africa's regulator licences competitors next year and is braced for higher content costs.

"We will lose staff to competitors, we will see price wars, our margins will be affected and we will see churn which means ultimately revenues may be affected," Multichoice Chief Executive Nolo Letele told a media briefing on Wednesday.

He declined to put a number on how many subscribers Multichoice expected to lose and how that would affect revenue and profit. Multichoice contributes more than half of Naspers' revenues. South Africa's communication regulator is due to issue pay-TV broadcast licences by March 2008, introducing competition for the first time to a market dominated by Multichoice.

Telkom, public broadcaster SABC and 16 other firms have applied for a licence, with most applicants aiming to undercut Multichoice, which, at R439.90 (US$63), has made its main monthly package too expensive for many South Africans. "Telkom Media is the frontrunner, they will be our toughest competitor. They are throwing a lot of money at pay-TV," said Letele, adding he expected his new rivals to launch offerings below R200 (US$29) a month.

Telkom is investing R7.5 billion over 8 years in TV in a bid to offset sagging phone revenues. It will offer packages of channels starting at about R100 (US$14.50) a month. Multichoice said it would compete at the lower end of the market by launching cheaper channel bouquets rather than cutting the price of its traditional premium DStv package.

"Our competitors will probably launch with various prices under 200 rand," he said, noting the firm had recently launched a new package for 139 rand which was being marketed and distributed by cell phone operator Vodacom. The company also hopes to retain an edge over new competitors and safeguard margins by launching new technologies like mobile TV, high-definition TV and video on demand.

Multichoice has tested mobile TV with all three mobile operators in South Africa and said it was ready to launch the service commercially as soon as a licence is awarded and frequency allocated.

Vodacom, owned by Telkom and Britain's Vodafone, and its rival MTN have both said they want to partner with Multichoice to offer mobile TV. Multichoice said it hoped to sign as many deals with both operators. Shares in Naspers fell 1.64 percent to 183 rand by 1258 GMT, lagging a slightly firmer Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks.

(Reuters, 11th July 2007)

South Africa: SABC Seeks Soccer Rights Freeze

The SABC has taken legal action against the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and broadcasters SuperSport and e.tv to freeze a R1.6bn broadcast rights deal to prevent any party entering into agreements with SuperSport , which was last month awarded the rights by the PSL.

According to those involved in discussions between the PSL, SuperSport and the SABC , the SABC is now resorting to challenging the awarding of sublicensing rights to e.tv as it has apparently failed in its attempts to take back the full PSL package from SuperSport, for which the SABC has paid R350m over the past five years.

After lengthy talks in the past month, the national broadcaster declined what seemed like an attractive offer from SuperSport in which it would have been offered, exclusively, 120 of the 140 available free-to-air matches as well as having the first choice of weekend games. PSL CE Trevor Phillips described the offer as "extremely generous".

However, he said the indication from the SABC was that while it agreed to the deal, it would not accept this from SuperSport and would only deal with the PSL on the matter. Pending the outcome of an arbitration process which the SABC initiated even before the rights were awarded to SuperSport, the SABC said that with the urgent interdicts it would be enforcing what it believed were its "matching rights", which allowed it to match any deal awarded to another broadcaster.

According to Phillips, issues such as the number of games allocated to the SABC were ironed out and agreed to in principle and the fact that the SABC would only deal with PSL was outside of the PSL's control as it had already signed the licensing agreement with SuperSport.

He said that because the indications were that the SABC had found no problem with the package, the PSL asked the SABC to drop its arbitration case against the PSL. "Now they want the court to award them an interdict to use these matching rights. But in our view and in our lawyers' view it is too late."

The SABC negotiating committee was sent questions regarding the matter, but Business Day was told that it would not be able to respond by the end of the day.

"If the interdict were successful it would mean e.tv, for example, could not enter into any legal agreements with the PSL and SuperSport," said Dan Rosengarten, e.tv's legal representative.

The date for the hearing is set for July 31, which Rosengarten said would be a dirty tactic should the appeal be won, as it would then affect the screening of the Telkom Charity Cup, the rights for which are currently held by e.tv.

Bell Dewar & Hall partner Eric van den Berg said yesterday: "If the interdict was granted and e.tv screened the match, they would be in contempt of court and would be liable for lock-up or a fine, or both." He said that the channel would also be liable for damages, which would probably be in the form of turnover lost by the SABC for not airing the match .

(Business Day (Johannesburg), 19 July 2007)

Botswana: New Pay TV Exploits Legal Loophole

The National Broadcasting Board (NBB) has said they have no official dealings with GTV - the recently established pay TV. NBB chairman Dr Masego Mpotokwane told Mmegi that so far, they have only known about the TV through newspapers. "We are not aware of it except through a newspaper article and until we know the facts we have no response," he said.

GTV, a pay television established by former Multichoice Botswana manager, Billy Sekgororoane is scheduled to go on air in August. Sekgororoane has said they will use a court ruling that favoured Botswana's only pay TV service provider Multichoice to start operations without referring to NBB. The judgment said the NBB had no powers to regulate services similar to those offered by Multichoice Botswana.

"The dilemma faced by the Board (NBB) is easy to see. It has been given duties and responsibilities but not the teeth to implement and enforce. Quite simply the relevant legislation has not kept pace with advances in technology. The only regulating authorisation the Board can issue is a broadcasting license. There is most certainly need to regulate various aspects of the broadcasting industry but this need cannot be met by arbitrarily using the only weapon at the disposal of the Board to fight every conceivable situation, without creating absurd and untenable results," the court ruled.

By last week, the NBB could not clarify what it is doing to ensure that more companies rendering similar services like Multichoice do not just come and up in Botswana without a licence. The board did not explain if it has already started putting measures in place to regulate services offered by companies like Multichoice. However Mpotokwane told Mmegi that they have appealed the court ruling and the case is up for hearing on July 19. "Let us wait for the outcome," he said.

(Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone), 13 July 2007)

Investment

Botswana: Botswana invests in Mma Ramotswe film

Botswana has invested about P31 million (US$5 million) in the filming of a movie The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency film and television series. The Weinstein Company will begin shooting the film on July 9. Places identified for filming include Gaborone, Gabane, Tlokweng, Mochudi and the Okavango Delta.

The movie will go on to become a 13 episode television series. The film is based on Alexander McCall Smiths global best selling The No.1 Ladies Detective Series, which marks a milestone in the history of Botswana.

Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Kitso Mokaila says the production will not only help promote the tourism sector but create employment opportunities for Batswana.

He says the film will help sell Botswana because of its geographical location as, countries surrounding it always overshadow it. He says the film presents a rare opportunity that will help fast track awareness on Botswana as a preferred tourism destination than the book has already created to the world.

Tourism is a very competitive sector. It serves as identity of people and the country. Thus the movie will help highlight the identity of the country. This is a real situation which will put Botswana on the map, he says.

Mokaila negotiated for the shooting of the film to take place in Botswana by lobbying with cabinet ministers in view of the opportunities the filming will create to the country. Producer of the film, Amy Moore underscores the importance of how the filming will help Botswanas young film industry. Botswanas young film industry is not yet seasoned enough to support a film of this magnitude.

And furthermore, the investment in the film will somehow create a film industry here, she says She says because of this South Africa was better placed as it would offer the financiers cash rebates to film there than in Botswana.

She commends the government for investing in the film. Your leaders understood that as filmmakers, we had to make an economic case for making the movie in Botswana, she says.

Ms Moore explains that 46 per cent of the people in the crew are locals. She says 28 Batswana have standing roles, nine musicians, 20 traditional dancers and 1,200 extras. She also notes that they are working with local film producers.

Academy Award winning filmmaker Anthony Minghella of The English Patient with the scripts he wrote together with Richard Curtis directs the film. Grammy award winning Jill Scot will star as Precious Ramotswe, the heroine who has become one of the most beloved characters in the book.

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is a passionate story chronicling the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, the traditionally built, sensible and wise proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. She investigates cases, helps people solve problems in their lives, and falls in love with the highly respectable owner of a local garage.

(BOPA, July 5th 2007)

Rwanda: Chinese Firm to build US$20m TV Station

A Chinese company, Star Communication Network Technologies is set to establish a $20 million television station and an Internet provider company in Rwanda. The company owners have already established a subsidiary firm, Star Africa Media Company to steer the plan that would later spread out to other parts of the continent.

Pang Xinxing, the company's Chief Executive Officer who met President Paul Kagame last week at Village Urugwiro, said that they chose to invest in Rwanda due to stable political leadership and geographical location. "This meeting has been very pleasant and encouraging. We are confident of being successful in building the world's pay-TV and also broadband internet system in Rwanda," Xinxing said.

Xinxing who was accompanied by the Chinese ambassador to Rwanda, Qi De'en, explained that 'Rwanda is the centre of Southern Africa and is strategically located.' He said that the prospective television channel would offer a variety of good programmes at affordable costs and extend its services to neighbouring countries later. The Director General of Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency (Riepa) Francis Gatare said that the venture is the largest Chinese investment in the country. It comes after President Kagame's visit to China in May. Kagame addressed Chinese business community during his visit.

Star Africa Media Co. Ltd will create a wireless digital Pay-TV operation system based on DVB-T technology. The company is a powerful large scale system integrator that deals with core technologies and is a product provider and network operator in China's broadband industry.

(New Times (Kigali), 14 July 2007)

More

Regulation & policy

Somalia: Radio Shabelle Raided Four Times in 48 Hours, Troops Threaten to Kill Staff, Following Coverage of Military Abuses

A prominent broadcaster covering public reaction to a large-scale government security crackdown in the commercial district of the capital, Mogadishu, was raided four times over the weekend by Somali government troops, according to news reports and the National Union of Somali Journalists.

In four separate raids since Friday, troops searched the offices of Radio Shabelle, a leading independent station, according to the same sources. Troops searched for weapons, threatened staff at gunpoint, and disrupted live broadcasts, but the searches did not yield any weapons, journalists at the station told CPJ. Last month, authorities confiscated guns carried by the station's security personnel after conducting a search, according to CPJ research.

The station had aired recent interviews in which merchants and local residents alleged abuses by joint Somali-Ethiopian military forces in and around Mogadishu's main Bakara market, local journalists told CPJ. Authorities launched a massive security sweep of the market last week in response to a spate of deadly attacks in the area, according to news reports.

Thousands of people have been killed or wounded in grenade attacks and roadside blasts set off by armed groups, and in counter-attacks by security forces since Ethiopian-backed Somali forces ousted an Islamist group from control of Mogadishu late last year. Battles in Mogadishu between March 12 and April 26 alone killed at least 1,670 people, The Associated Press reported.

"The repeated raids on the premises of Radio Shabelle and the death threats against its staff are in direct response to its independent coverage of the volatile situation in Mogadishu," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. "The Somali transitional government must restrain its security forces and stop harassing the radio station immediately."

The station was first raided on Friday afternoon when about eight soldiers entered the studios, interrupting a live broadcast from newscaster Abdinur Mohammed Kadie, according to sources at the station who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. Soldiers searched the station room to room, threatening to kill staff, including sports producer Abdi Rashid Abdi Ahmad, if any weapons were found. They also detained a staff security guard for an hour.

Separate groups of soldiers respectively returned on Friday evening, Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon, forcing staff out of the studios and conducting more searches, the sources said.

It was the fourth time this year Radio Shabelle had been harassed, according to CPJ research. Last month, the station's coverage of another government security crackdown led authorities to shutter the station for four days on accusations of fomenting unrest.

Somalia has had no effective central government since the fall of dictator Siad Barre in 1991. Rival Somali factions are scheduled to participate in a key reconciliation conference next week, according to news reports.

(Committee to Protect Journalists (New York), 10 July 2007)

Technology & convergence

Africa: Watch Dstv On Your Phone

Television fans may soon enjoy their favourite programmes from their mobile phones if plans by Multichoice Uganda to introduce the system come to fruition. The system will be made possible with the help of a new broadcast standard called Digital Video Broadcasting - HandHeld (DVB-H), that allows linear television to be delivered and viewed on a mobile phone.

South African officials from Multichoice Africa; Harry Pratt, the Business Development Manager and Martin Ungerer, the Africa Platform Manager, revealed their plan recently at the Multichoice Uganda offices.

In Africa, Multichoice's Dstv Channel uses DVB via satellite. Pratt says by 2015, the DVB-H technology will have spread worldwide. The system can be operated from any mobile device like DVD screens in cars, planes or laptops. A number of countries in Europe have carried out trials on it.

"We could have one frequency with about 12 channels including sports, music and local programmes say on UBC. Programming will vary with time," Pratt explained.

He said that in America and Europe, mobile TV programming is being made and that programmes like soaps have had episodes prepared for mobile TV. "Now companies are developing what they call mobisods (short duration drama episodes and films)."

Pratt says one could watch an entire soccer match or movie on mobile TV. "It is one's choice to watch either the ordinary TV or mobile TV." Asked about X and PG rated material, Pratt explained that family-type programming would be considered. "We have a strict policy on adult material."

(New Vision (Kampala), 10 July 2007)

Events

§ Media Relations and Democracy Building in Liberia (Seminar, Monrovia, July 12th 2007)

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