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MTV Networks Africa launches events to “up the game” of video makers

Alex Okosi, MTV Networks Africa’s MD believes passionately that Africa can and should compete with best of the world in terms of music videos. It is the life-blood of the channels MTV runs in Africa. So next week, together with Shell as sponsor, it is launching a series of events to help makers “up their game”. This is probably the first time a major broadcaster has sponsored a series of programme making events.

In issue 16

Content

Botswana: PLC Negotiates Broadcasting Deal With Btv

Botswana: Vision Tracks to be Aired On Sabc-2

Africa: CNBC Africa Kenya Deal

South Africa: Zikalala Tells of 'Positive News' Policy At SABC

Broadcast

Uganda: South Africans to Train Vision TV, Radio Teams

South Africa: Cape's TV And Radio Signals Go Awol

Cameroon: New TV Channel Closed Down

Namibia: NBC Workers Threaten Strike

Distribution

Namibia: Broadcasters Zero in on World Cup Showcase

South Africa: SA's Most Expensive World Cup TV AD

Investment

Angola: Cableco gains USD21 million expansion loan

South Africa: Mweb Buys Afsat Giving Firm Foothold in Africa

More

Regulation & policy

Technology & convergence

Events

People

Opportunities

Top story

MTV Networks Africa launches events to “up the game” of video makers

Alex Okosi, MTV Networks Africa’s MD believes passionately that Africa can and should compete with best of the world in terms of music videos. It is the life-blood of the channels MTV runs in Africa. So next week, together with Shell as sponsor, it is launching a series of events to help makers “up their game”. This is probably the first time a major broadcaster has sponsored a series of programme making events.

When it started, the number of African music videos of quality was pretty low but Okosi was unwilling to compromise the quality of the output. And for some time, he faced criticism for not running more locally produced videos.

Because when MTV started its operations, music videos were not used to promote albums and outside of South Africa, African record companies were, by and large, small-scale affairs without the resources to support them. Now every band has its video and Okosi says “it’s not that expensive on DV cameras.” So 40% of the output is produced in Africa and his ambition is that this output will eventually be so good that it will be shown internationally.

The first master classes (5-11 November) will be launched in Johannesburg under the title of MTV Making the Video with Shell and it will be followed by four others in Accra, Lagos, Nairobi and Libreville. This first master class pairs veteran British video director Nick Quested - director of videos for Nas, Timbaland, Diddy, Nas, Brandy, TI, Eve, The Firm and KRS1, among others - and US R&B diva Amerie with South African video directors and local musicians. He will bring with him a crew of five from outside of the continent.

As part of the workshop process, a local South African artist will have the opportunity to have their latest video shot by Nick Quested, with a guest appearance by Amerie. MTV viewers and music fans will participate in the project by nominating their favourite local artist via online and SMS. One lucky viewer will win the opportunity of making a cameo appearance on the video.

Each MTV Making the Video with Shell workshop will be conducted by the internationally-acclaimed director, covering modules such as scripting, storyboarding, sound-mixing, editing and production. At the culmination of the workshop, the local directors and movie makers will be assigned specific roles with the international director to shoot the music video for the local artist chosen by MTV viewers.

At the end of the workshop roadshow, MTV base will produce a series of 5 half-hour TV ‘rockumentaries’, also entitled ‘MTV Making the Video with Shell’, which will chart the progress of the five separate music video shoots and feature the premiere of the African artist videos. The shows will subsequently air across sub-Saharan Africa on MTV base (DStv Channel 322) and terrestrial partners in Ghana (TV3), Kenya (NTV), Nigeria (STV) and Uganda (WBS).

Jeremy Nathan of DV8 who are organizing the masterclasses notes:”When you look at international acts, their music videos are big, slick and brilliantly done. In Africa, we don’t have the resources or the creative vision yet. We need to raise the bar for local content and inspire local producers.”

The music video is vital to the success of African music acts for as Okosi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa commented, 'A great video is a powerful marketing tool which can enhance and uplift an artist’s music, while communicating their artistry, vision and personality to their fans – helping them to sell more albums and bringing them to the attention of new audiences. On the other hand, a badly shot or poorly constructed video can really detract from your enjoyment of a track, and ultimately your perception of the artist. '

Content

Botswana: PLC Negotiates Broadcasting Deal With Btv

The Premier League Committee (PLC) secretary, Setete Phuthego said last week that they are negotiating with the state-owned Botswana Television (Btv) to broadcast the Mascom Premier League games.

He said they will make an announcement as soon as the negotiations are complete. A spokesman in the government department of broadcasting services, Simon Seisa said last week that they hope the negotiations bear fruit because the prospect of failure has not crossed his mind. This is good news for soccer lovers around the country after fears that they will never watch the local league on television this season. Btv has not televised any Premier League since the start of the season.

Instead it has been airing English Premier League games and local soccer lovers have been wondering whether they will be able to watch any of the Mascom Premier League games this season.

(Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone), 25 October 2007)

Botswana: Vision Tracks to be Aired On Sabc-2

Director and producer of the documentary Vision Tracks, Kagiso Booysen flew to South Africa lasst week to promote the film on SABC-2 today. Launched in June by Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Minister Kitso Mokaila, the documentary was filmed in Makgadikgadi Salt Pan, covering tourism, culture and religion. Booysen said the film is about a man from Nata who while travelling sees an angel. He then meets a pastor with a similar vision and the man is converted into the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA).

The film also shows bird life, the lodges, the beauty of tourism and the lifestyle of the people who live in those areas. Booysen said the documentary "brings a new perspective" to promoting the people, lifestyle, and tourism. She said it had taken three years to produce it, and they had to wait for different seasons. She said they spent well over P300,000 and received donations from several private companies towards the project.

Booysen said the documentary is a product of a five-person crew and was done in conjunction with Tri Flex Solutions. Booysen told Mmegi in Gaborone yesterday that she had managed to secure an appointment with South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC-2) and Motsweding FM for today (Thursday) in an effort to promote her film.

(Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone), 25 October 2007)

Africa: CNBC Africa Kenya Deal

CNBC Africa programmes will soon be viewed free-to-air in Nairobi, Kenya. A broadcast deal between the business broadcaster and Kenya's Capital will enable the terrestrial station's viewers to pick up the business channel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The partnership also opens up opportunities for advertisers who want to reach an upper income target audience in Nairobi, with minimum wastage. The CNBC Africa program line up will include regional based advertising slots and sponsorship opportunities at highly competitive rates. Opportunities will be packaged according to the advertiser's needs by experienced sales people.

The official launch will be held on Thursday, 29 November 2007, in Nairobi, Kenya.

(Biz-Community (Cape Town), 23 October 2007)

South Africa: Zikalala Tells of 'Positive News' Policy At SABC

The journalistic mindset of South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC came into sharp focus last week when its Head of News spelled out its “no go” areas. SABC head of news Snuki Zikalala last week defended the public broadcaster's policy that "every story must affect the country positively" and that critical journalism did not mean negative journalism.

Zikalala told delegates to a South African Human Rights Commission debate that while the SABC was not made up of "sunshine journalists", neither its policy regarding its news coverage, nor its board would ever had allowed the broadcaster to run with a story such as the Sunday Times' story alleging Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was "a drunk and a thief" .

The commission hosted a panel discussion last week on freedom of expression versus privacy . High-profile media commentators grappled with the issue of whether the Sunday Times' story was in the public interest or whether it was a violation of privacy.

While neither the SABC's editorial policy nor its mandate makes any mention of it having to report "positively", Zikalala said it mentioned that the public broadcaster's role should reflect a "plurality of views and a variety of news". This has placed the broadcaster under close scrutiny from lobby groups and the mainstream media.

When asked how the public broadcaster decided whether a story was positive or negative, Zikalala said the broadcaster, which reaches about 24-million viewers daily, "debates each and every story and asks whether it falls within the constitutional framework". He said publishing a story such as that by the Sunday Times involving the health minister was "disrespectful".

Zikalala said there was a growing belief among South African journalists that "if you attack the president you will be very popular". He said that increasingly black journalists were becoming guilty of this. According to the SABC's own research, it had a 93% credibility rating, he said.

The comments came amid a flurry of opposing perspectives on the Sunday Times story and the complaint of theft laid by the Cape Town Medi-Clinic from which the minister's personal medical files were allegedly stolen. South African Medical Association chairman Dr Kgosi Letlape said that medical records should not be disclosed without consent and that medical ethics should never be sacrificed, even in the face of the law.

(Business Day (Johannesburg), 24 October 2007)

Broadcast

Uganda: South Africans to Train Vision TV, Radio Teams

A team of six broadcasters is in Kampala to train New Vision journalists on how best to integrate radio and television into Uganda's leading print setup and website to create a world-class media giant. As part of the Vision Group expansion from print to broadcasting, the company has enlisted the help of Tommy Makhode, Alf Mosenya, Conrad Burke, Paul Molefe, Raj Sanker and Angie Kapelianis from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

Company CEO Robert Kabushenga pointed out that in partnering with SABC, The New Vision was not only gaining knowledge from one of the biggest broadcasters on the continent, but also ensuring front-seat TV and radio coverage of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November.

(New Vision (Kampala), 23 October 2007)

South Africa: Cape's TV And Radio Signals Go Awol

The inhabitants of Cape Town were left without television or radio signals on Wednesday afternoon - but no culprit has been identified. All three SABC television channels, as well as e.tv and M-Net, were broadcasting "snow" across large parts of the city and for most of the day. Radio channels were also intermittent, with some stations not available at all, according to several readers who telephoned in from various parts of the metropole. DStv channels, which broadcast by satellite and do not use the terrestrial service provider, Sentech, were available.

A spokesperson at Sentech's national transmission centre blamed an "Eskom power failure in Constantiaberg", the site of one of the two transmitters that cover most of the city. However, an Eskom spokesperson said there wasn't even "a planned outage" in Cape Town, although Kleinvlei and Eerste River were without power because of "planned maintenance". The Constantiaberg area did not fall under Eskom's control, she said.

The City of Cape Town's electricity department said it was aware of blackouts in Kuils River and Sarepta, but knew nothing about outages in the Constantia region. By late on Wednesday, transmission had not fully returned. Phones at Sentech's national transmission centre went unanswered after 4.30pm. The reason for the "whiteout" remains a mystery.

(Cape Argus (Cape Town), 25 October 2007)

Cameroon: New TV Channel Closed Down

The chaos of the Cameroonian licensing process continues. Activities of a private television station called New TV have been closed down. The action follows an order from the Ministry of Communication to close down the channel following the illegal use of frequency bands for the audiovisual sector. As a result of such indiscipline by these channels, it is common to find the appearance of signals which are unknown in the register of frequency spectrum.

Another private television channel, Liberty FM was also broadcasting without authorisation. Last August 30, the Minister called on these television channels to stop broadcasting but only Libert_ FM obeyed the instructions. According to the Provincial Delegate of Communication, Jean Claude Nanga Abanda, New TV claims to have an authorisation from the government whereas no such authorisation exists. As for Liberty FM, broadcast has been temporarily halted and documents forwarded to the Ministry of Communication while waiting for authorisation.

(Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé), 25 October 2007)

Namibia: NBC Workers Threaten Strike

Hundreds of disgruntled Namibian Broadcasting Corporation workers have threatened to take industrial action over wages during the Swapo Party Congress, one of the employees said. The employees last week held a meeting at which 90 percent were in support of the planned industrial action, said an employee who attended the meeting.

The planned strike comes after the NBC Director-General, Bob Kandetu, promised the workers a six percent increase on top of the nine percent that was supposed to be effected end of last month. According to reliable sources, an agreement was reached early this year between Kandetu and the Namibia Public Workers Union to increase wages. During the meeting, it was agreed employees would get six percent across the board but Kandetu later back-tracked on the agreement citing lack of funds.

NBC shop-steward chairperson, Kennedy Onesmus, confirmed last week's decision to go on strike. He would, however, not say when the strike would take place. Onesmus said the union and management had negotiated for a six percent increase to come from the 2007/2008 budget, but this did not materialise.

"We have a problem of implementing the increment which was agreed on in principle. Management kept postponing and they kept coming up with conflicting stories. The employees are unhappy and see industrial action as the best way to address the issue. Employees would also want to get answers from the management," he said. "They are the ones that came up with the counter offer and all of a sudden, they turn around and say there is no money. There is also inconsistency in the way people are getting paid, management thinks we are not aware, but we are and we have made enquiries," he said.

Onesmus maintained that the agreement was supposed to come into effect on July 1. Because of these 'excuses', some employees became so frustrated they resigned.

One employee said the corporation was going through financial problems, yet it hired a South African company to provide satellite equipment for the company's live broadcast during the Heroes Day commemorations at Eenhana.

The NBC apparently paid N$300 000 to the South African Dimension TV Facility hired for the live broadcast. NBC employees also complain that it paid N$11,584 in subsistence and travel allowances to its board chairperson, Ponhele ya Frans, to attend commemorations at Eenhana on August 26.

Ironically, it only gave daily allowances of N$50 to its crew for Outside Broadcasting (OB) forcing some of them to squat with relatives and some booked into cheap lodges where they shared rooms. Initially the OB crew was booked in at a hotel at Ondangwa but the booking was cancelled at the last minute, it is alleged.

According to the NBC employees, there are reports of TV licences that were issued but whose receipts remain uncounted for. TV licences from number T4 52001 - T4 52100 and T4 91801 - T4 91900 inclusive paid in Oshakati remain unacounted for resulting in the company losing almost N$10 000 in licence fees, they say. However, this is not the first time licences are unaccounted for and the employee says the shortfall can be between N$100 000 to N$200 000 for NBC.

NBC Acting Director-General Umbi Karuaihe-Upi confirmed most of the allegations raised against the company. "Yes, we did spend N$ 347,411, 91 during the Heroes Day commemorations, of which N$ 247,000 was used to pay the hired South African company which provided us with the satellite, while the remaining N$100 000 included the workers S&T, accommodation and the board chairman since he is also on an AA rate of the company. He was invited to attend the commemoration," said Karuaihe - Upi. "It is also true that the DG had taken a decision for the employees who were booked in at Cresta Lodge to cancel their bookings and go for cheaper lodges. This was due to the company's financial constraints," she said.

She could, however, not confirm the TV licence money that is unaccounted for and promised to respond as soon as she gets the right information.

(New Era (Windhoek), 30 October 2007)

Distribution

Namibia: Broadcasters Zero in on World Cup Showcase

The Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA), an association of state-run broadcasters in the region, has identified the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa, as one of its focal points for the years running up to the global event.

Advocate Dali Mpofu, President of SABA and Group CEO of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), said a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed to ensure continental broadcasting enhancement during the World Cup.

State broadcasters gathered in Windhoek yesterday to commence a three-day annual general meeting - its 15th this year - to discuss public broadcasting and regional integration.

The meeting will, among other things, discuss sport rights of the World Cup and CAN 2008, challenges for broadcasting in the drive to regional integration, public broadcasting reforms, and digital migration of broadcasters.

Speaking on behalf of President Hifikepunye Pohamba, Minister of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, John Pandeni, said long-term planning for capital investments must be carried out to develop modern broadcasting infrastructure that can enable the region's citizens to have access to electronic media, especially radio.

He said the regional integration of public broadcasting, which includes sharing of scarce resources, technologies and joint efforts in the acquisition of broadcast rights is crucial in light of the upcoming African Cup of Nations (in Ghana next February) and the 2010 World Cup.

"By working together, we will be better positioned to enable our broadcasters, more so the public broadcasters that do not have access to big budget allocations to broadcast these special events," said Pandeni. He further said public broadcasters should keep abreast with the latest technological developments in the industry, especially in view of the fact that the International Telecommunications Union resolved that analogue transmitter technologies would no longer be produced after 2015.

Mpofu said that broadcasters had committed themselves to empower their citizens to drive the "new struggle for democracy and development".

(New Era (Windhoek), 23 October 2007)

South Africa: SA's Most Expensive World Cup TV AD

The most expensive 30-second ad in South Africa's television history was auctioned last week, with the highest bid going to Supa Quick and its partner advertising agency, TinFish CLM Advertising. The 30-second spot, which was aired at halftime during the final 2007 World Cup match between South Africa and England, was auctioned in just 25 hours for a staggering R151 000. The entire amount will be donated to charity by SuperSport and Oracle Airtime Sales.

"We are thrilled to announce that the entire value of R151,000 will be donated to the Chris Burger/ Pedro Jackson Players Fund, which was set up to assist rugby players who have been seriously injured whilst playing rugby at school, club level or as a professional," commented Peter McKenzie, Oracle Airtime Sales MD on the joint initiative started by SuperSport and Oracle Airtime Sales. David Lehr, TinFish CLM Advertising MD, who topped up their client Supa Quick's bid as a gesture of appreciation for their continued 10-year support, saw this as "the perfect opportunity to pay homage to those players who ultimate paid a price playing the sport they so loved".

"Making peoples' lives safer, both on and off the road, has long been a cornerstone of Supa Quick's commitment to safety," said Gavin Kockott, chairman of Bridgestone South Africa Retail. In turn. "We are delighted with the news and are pleased that the airtime auction proceeds will be going to such a worthy cause."

(Biz-Community (Cape Town), 23 October 2007)

Investment

Angola: Cableco gains USD21 million expansion loan

TVCabo in Angola has received a EUR15 million (USD21 million) loan from The European Investment Bank, to finance the construction of a two-way broadband cable network in and around the capital, Luanda. The project is expected to provide high speed internet, radio and TV broadcasting, and should enable the development of future services such as interactive TV, videoconferencing and telemetry. TVCabo, established in 2002, is owned by national PTO Angola Telecom and the Portuguese Visabeira Group.

South Africa: Mweb Buys Afsat Giving Firm Foothold in Africa

MWEB, a subsidiary of South African media and communications conglomerate Naspers has bought satellite data transmission services company Afsat communications. This acquisition gives the company a foothold in 26 African countries making it the biggest satellite-based Internet Service Provider (ISP) on the continent.

MWEB, the Internet solutions arm of Naspers - the company that also owns Multichoice Africa and popular magazine arm Media 24 - said it had bought Afsat including its subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria. Employees at the company's Kenya offices denied knowledge of any such sale.

In Kenya, Afsat is known for its satellite Internet connectivity solutions to both residential and business customers. It also supplies corporate and state owned customers with reliable and secure corporate data network solutions. This service is provided through VSAT connectivity using the popular iWay brand, which has its regional headquarters in Kenya.

Afsat serves the Kenyan market through a distributor network of ISP's such as Callkey Networks and Virtualsat. It provides last mile connectivity to remote locations such as Lokichoggio, Mandera, Lamu, Homa Bay, Garissa, Dadaab, Wajir and Namanga but also has a large number of VSATs in Nairobi. There are over 485 iWay VSAT terminals in Kenya.

In a press statement released yesterday, MWEB said it had completed the acquisition process and would be taking over the operations of Afsat across Africa.

iWay services are available in over 26 countries in Africa, and its partnership network currently consists of 32 distributors with four subsidiaries in East Africa and Nigeria.

The Kenyan operation is 14 years old, but only started operations four years ago after a ten year wait for a VSAT network operators license.

The acquisition extends MWEB Africa's representation on the continent from 16 to 26 countries. MWEB Africa has subsidiaries in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria, and is a division of Multichoice Africa Limited. It was established in 1999 to service the markets in the rest of Africa.

The acquisition significantly strengthens MWEB's African presence, making it one of the biggest providers of Internet connectivity services, with more representation and clients than any other service provider on the continent.

"The AFSAT iWay service is a perfect fit with our current MWEB VSAT service. The AFSAT platform is the leading satellite data service in Africa and will enable us to offer our customers in these markets a high quality, reliable and flexible service," said Harry Aucamp CEO of MWEB Africa. Of additional benefit to MWEB customers will be the various cross-border connectivity and facilities linking to both the USA and Europe.

News of the acquisition came just days after South African media erroneously claimed that Kenyan infrastructure provider KDN had been bought by Altech, another South African firm.

(Business Daily (Nairobi), 17 October 2007)

More

Regulation & policy

Somalia: Government Harassing the Media, Warns HRW

The Somali transitional government is systematically harassing journalists and has failed to protect the fledgling independent media in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa country, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"The violent attacks on Somalia's journalists threaten their courageous reporting on the crisis in Mogadishu," Peter Takirambudde, HRW Africa director said on 22 October. "The Somali government must condemn and investigate these attacks as well as cease its own harassment of the media."

The closure of media houses and failure to investigate the killing of eight journalists has also damaged independent reporting in Somalia, the human rights watchdog added.

Somali minister of information Madobe Nuunow Mohamed downplayed the criticism, saying the difficulties faced by journalists were common to all prominent Somalis, and caused by general insecurity. "We fully support a free and vibrant private media," the minister told IRIN on 24 October. "There is no policy of harassment of the media. Our charter [interim constitution] guarantees free media and freedom of expression." However, he added: "We have closed from time to time certain media houses, and only for a short period, but always to preserve the security of the larger public."

In the latest attack on journalists on 19 October, Bashir Nur Gedi acting manager of Shabelle Media was shot dead by unknown gunmen, bringing the total number of reporters killed in Somalia in 2007 to eight.

On 11 August, Ali Iman Sharmarke, managing director of HornAfrik Radio, was killed when his car hit a remote-controlled explosive device. He was driving from the funeral of Mahad Ahmed Elmi, a popular talk show host, who had been shot by unknown assailants earlier the same day in Mogadishu.

HRW said Somali government officials had consistently failed to condemn the killings, much less investigate, arrest, or prosecute anyone in connection with them.

But Mohammed said the killings were "the work of elements who are opposed to the restoration of peace and stability" in Somalia. The government, he added, was investigating and would make sure the perpetrators were brought to justice.

(UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, 24 October 2007)

Niger: Media Regulatory Body Threatens to Close Radio And Television Stations

The High Communications Council (CSC), the media regulatory body, has threatened to withdraw the licence of any radio or television station that allows journalists to criticise the CSC. The Media Foundation for West Africa's (MFWA) correspondent reported that this was revealed by the institution's president, Daouda Diallo, during a meeting between the CSC and the owners of private radio and television stations on 17 October 2007.

MFWA's correspondent reported that during the meeting, Diallo accused the private media of providing a platform for certain journalists to "insult" CSC members. He therefore declared that henceforth, the CSC will not hesitate to close down radio and television stations and to sue those who attack its members.

Since the resurgence of the armed rebellion in northern Niger in March 2007, the CSC has taken several disciplinary decisions against the media. Several newspaper and radio stations have been suspended, while warnings have been issued against others. The Council also banned live debates on the rebellion by the independent media (see IFEX alert of 20 July 2007).

(Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra), 25 October 2007)

Congo-Kinshasa: Thirty-Eight Broadcasters Banned

A Congolese government minister invited two television journalists to his office in the capital, Kinshasa, and then ordered police to beat them when they arrived, according to news reports and local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger. The incident came on the heels of a government decree summarily banning 38 private broadcasters over alleged regulatory noncompliance.

Higher Education Minister Sylvain Ngabu ordered policemen to beat news director Heustache Namunanika and cameraman Didier Lofumbwa of private broadcaster Horizon 33 after the station aired a news program discussing Ngabu's decision to suspend Dieudonné Kalindye, the chancellor of a local university, according to news reports. In the program, shown on October 19, and again two days later, Namunakia raised critical questions about the government's role in the controversy after interviewing both Ngabu and Kalindye.

Lofumbwa was preparing his camera to film Ngabu when five armed officers assaulted him from behind, using rifle butts to beat him while dragging him out of the office, he told CPJ. He received treatment for bruises and chest pains, according to Namunika, who escaped the beating, but had his clothes torn in the scuffle.

Calls from CPJ to Information Minister Toussaint Tshilombo Send were not immediately returned, but his chief of staff, Faustin Fwafa, said Send "deplored" the incident, adding that a government cabinet meeting would discuss the issue on Friday.

A complaint against Ngabu and the guards for unlawful confinement and assault and battery was filed on the journalists' behalf on Wednesday, defense lawyer Jean-Pierre Ngunda told CPJ.

"We are outraged that a government minister would lure two journalists to his office with the bait of an interview and then order police to beat them and drag them outside," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. "It is inconceivable that a democratically elected president such as Joseph Kabila, who meets with President Bush at the White House this week, could sanction such behavior by one of his ministers. We hope that President Kabila will ensure that all those responsible for this brutal attack on Heustache Namunanika and Didier Lofumbwa are brought to justice swiftly."

Horizon 33 has been off the air since Monday, after Send summarily ordered 22 private television channels and 16 radio stations closed on Saturday over alleged regulatory noncompliance, according to news reports. Fwafa said the broadcasters operated without official authorization or documentation, and were in default of required fees or taxes, he told CPJ. The ban is for an indefinite period, and while several stations report having since paid their dues or submitted required documents they remain shut down.

Several journalists interviewed by CPJ said the ruling came without notice or hearing, denying them the opportunity to address the allegations. Fwafa denied the ban came without forewarning, adding that the government had announced its intent to audit media outlets since March.

"We remind the government that the closing of radio and television stations without due process amounts to censorship," said Simon. "We call on the government to adhere to due process as guaranteed under the country's constitution."

Local journalists told CPJ the ruling was an attempt to intimidate stations close to the opposition just as the government is about to distribute the equivalent of US$2 million in state subsidy funds to the DRC's impoverished public and private media houses.

The audit has so far only affected commercial broadcasters in Kinshasa, but will continue into the provinces, according to Fwafa. If applied to countryside broadcasters, the audit threatens to silence dozens of community radio and television stations unable to pay regulatory fees, including the 2 million Congolese francs (US$5,000) required for a broadcasting license, according to the Congolese Federation of Community Radios.

(Committee to Protect Journalists (New York), 29 October 2007)

Technology & convergence

Africa: MacPower's D7-3500 brings digital media to the home

Ingram Micro South Africa has announced the local availability of the MacPower D7-3500 media adapter - a compact high-performance and feature rich digital media player that substantially reduces the complexity associated with bringing digital media into the lounge of the future. "The D7-3500 is for all intense purposes a digital-media centric set-top box," explains Gustavo Pinto, product manager at Ingram Micro South Africa.

"It features an internal 3.5" SATA hard disk for media storage and offers support for all major video, audio and digital still photo formats in use today," Pinto continues. "With MacPower's inclusion of a high-speed USB 2.0 interface, a wired Ethernet port and Wireless 802.11b/g in the device, users can transfer media to the D7-3500 in the manner that suits them best.

"Furthermore," he adds, "the device's wired and wireless networking capabilities allow users to stream media from other devices on their network, or even the Internet."

Pinto says that the D7-3500 has been designed for entry-level media consumers and as such doesn't require a high-level of technical proficiency. "The fact that it's driven with a remote control and not a keyboard or mouse immediately tells you that it's designed for the home user," he says. The interface is clear, concise and easy to navigate - even novice users will find it a breeze to operate."Viewing digital media of all kinds has never been this simple," he concludes.

The MacPower D7-3500 is available exclusively to Ingram Micro South Africa's registered resellers and carries a recommended retail price of R1999.00.

Nigeria: ITU Defines Future of Mobile Telecommunications

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radiocommunication Assembly has approved new developments for its 3G standards.

The assembly, which met ahead of the Radiocommunication conference which commenced on Monday at the International Conference Centre in Geneva, Swizerland, approved the deployment of a range of voice, data, and multimedia services to both stationary and mobile devices.

Significantly, it opens the door to mobile Internet, catering to demand in both urban and rural markets. The Assembly took a decision of global importance to include WiMax-derived technology in the framework of the (International Mobile Standard) IMT-2000 set of standards.

The assembly formally recognised technology derived from IEEE 802.16 by incorporating it as the sixth terrestrial IMT-2000 radio interface. This is the first addition to IMT-2000 since the original five were adopted years ago as part of the 3G radio standards being used globally and significantly pushes the technological envelope of IMT-2000 capabilities.

IMT-2000 - "International Mobile Telecommunications" - is a global standard defined by ITU in a set of interdependent ITU recommendations, which include the specifications for the radio interfaces of advanced wireless communications systems such as 3G mobile.

An initial application for the IMT-2000 advanced standard was made at the ITU-R WP8F meeting in Kobe, Japan, in January this year. The adoption of the latest radio interface was the culmination of tireless effort among administrations, industry and ITU experts.

"It gives me great satisfaction to observe that the ITU Radiocommunication Sector continues to be responsive to the most pressing needs of the wireless industry in the deployment of innovative technological solutions," said Valery Timofeev, director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau. "The successful approval of the two new resolutions and four draft recommendations dealing with IMT technologies represents a pinnacle in the recent technical achievements of the sector."

"WiMAX technology currently has the potential to reach 2.7 billion people," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "Today's announcement expands the reach to a significantly larger global population."

According to the global telecommunication body, the new technology will facilitate delivery of broadband wireless services at lower cost and include multiple wireless broadband Internet services, including VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The specific terminology of the IEEE 802.16 standard in ITU-R M.1457 recommendation is 'IMT-2000 OFDMA TDD WMAN'.

Roger Marks, chairman of the IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband Wireless Access, said, "I am immensely gratified that the international community, through ITU, has recognised the significance of the IEEE 802.16 Wireless MAN standard."

Proposals to the forthcoming World Radiocommunication Conference starting next week in Geneva that will be requesting additional spectrum for the deployment of the IMT 3G-type systems worldwide will take into account the new IMT-2000 OFDMA TDD WMAN standards derived froom the IEEE 802.16 mobile component.

The Radiocommunication Assembly ended its meeting on Friday in Geneva after deliberating for a week on new directions in radiocommunications. Held every three to four years, the assembly deliberated the future direction of radiocommunications, including a new Study Group structure and the establishment of a work plan for the study groups of ITU's Radiocommunication Sector.

A statement from the body said the meeting was chaired by Mr Bruce Gracie (Canada) and assisted by six vice-presidents: Mr R. Beaird (United States), Mr E. Sestacov (Moldova), Mr M. Matsumoto (Japan), Mr N. Kisrawi (Syrian Arab Republic), Mr R. Liebler (Germany) and Mr I. Jazaïry (Algeria). Over 600 participants attended the assembly.

Discussions also covered several areas: the working methods and procedural issues of the Study Groups with review of the ITU-R resolutions that describe the structure, working methods and work programme of the ITU-R Study Groups;

Technical issues which included International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) for which two new draft ITU-R resolutions were approved relating to future studies on IMT

However, since the tsunami of December 2004, attention focused on increasing the effectiveness of telecommunications in emergency situations and in responding to disaster relief. Two new resolutions were approved placing on a sound footing the activities of the study groups on the emergency and disaster management.

(Leadership (Abuja), 24 October 2007)

Kenya: Country Makes a Technology Leap With Mobile TV

Mobile phone owners are set to have a new addition to their menu following the launch by a digital broadcaster of a service that will stream television content to their handsets. The service could see up to 11 million mobile phone subscribers access television content on their phones leapfrogging Kenya into the cutting edge technological era where the TV and the phone have converged.

Kenya is among a handful of countries that MultiChoice has picked for trials of the new technology known as DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld). "DVB-H gives us the two best-selling consumer products -- the telephone and television combined in one device," Information minister Mutahi Kagwe said in speech read for him by his permanent secretary, Dr Bitange Ndemo.

"Research has indicated that there is genuine consumer desire for superior quality video and audio content, anywhere, anytime," the minister said. Technology experts say this convergence marks the speed which Kenya has climbed the technology ladder coming from a purely cable telephone country to handheld digital video broadcasting in seven years. This period has seen the mobile phone evolve from a simple voice-enabled gadget to a multi-tasking device that has combined several gadgets in one.

This development portends even a greater impact on television viewership as it has the potential of increasing access 10 times by streaming content to the 11 million owners of mobile phones up from the 1.5 million owners of television sets. Industry regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), says it expects several companies to follow Multichoice's lead by streaming TV content through the mobile phone.

By adopting this technology, Kenya joins the family of technology savvy countries that had enabled more 300 million mobile users to receive TV content through their handsets by end of last year.

Analysts say in the next three years more than 150 million people around the world become regular users of mobile broadcast services. Martin Mbutho, the sales and marketing manager at Digital Mobile Television (DMTV) said MultiChoice had picked Kenya as a trail market because of the positive growth of the mobile sector and the trend-conscious profile of its consumers.

DMTV Kenya is the new division of MultiChoice Kenya that will manage the DVB-H trial and sign up active subscribers. In Africa, only Nigeria, Namibia and South Africa have started the trials with Namibia expected to be the first to go live commercially in a few months.

Consumers need a DVB-H enabled mobile phone with a configured SIM card to receive the mobile TV signal. DSTV's service is only available on the Samsung P910 model, which retails for Sh28,000. To subscribe to a specialized bouquet of ten mobile television channels, consumers will have to purchase scratch cards worth Sh1,000 every month and load it onto their phones just as they do for airtime. Mr Mbutho said the service is currently available only on Safaricom's network but plans are underway to extend it to other networks and to allow other compatible handset models to be used.

South Africa has been keen to commercialize the technology ahead of its 2010 hosting of the World Cup, hoping to increase broadcast revenues from a myriad of channels. "It is my expectation that by 2010 every South African will have access to telecommunications; will have access to high speed broadband data; will have access to television on their phones," said Alan Knott-Craig, CEO of Vodacom.

DVB-H differs from 3G (Third Generation) mobile technology, which utilizes cellular telephony network infrastructure and frequency and is a one-to-one or point-to-point transmission -- and subject to bandwidth and quality limitations. If too many users try to watch video content simultaneously on their mobile phones, the network could become overloaded and picture quality can be adversely affected.

DVB-H, by contrast, is a one-to-many, or "true" broadcast format that does not suffer such limitations. With DVB-H, the quality of the stream can be tailored flexibly to the content thus enabling optimization of audio visual quality.

(Business Daily (Nairobi), 24 October 2007)

Events

- Banff World Television Awards

29th Banff World Television Festival held June 8 - 11, 2008, at the Fairmont Banff Springs in the Canadian Rockies.

This annual event is the world’s premier gathering for television content creators and commissioners. Each year more than 800 entries vie for the coveted Best of the Festival, making the Banff World Television Awards the most highly-contested international television program competition in the world.

www.banff2008.com or contact: Kerry Stauffer, Director, International Program Competition; 1-403-678-1216 ext 101; kstauffer@achillesmedia.com

- African Regional Conference of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

Abuja, Nigeria

November 12th-14th

The theme: "Building a Strong and United Voice for African Journalists" & to explore the possibility of establishing an umbrella association for African journalists to be known as the Federation of African Journalists.

- Prisa Namibia conference

Namibia

October 2007-10-30

“main aim of the conference was to add value to the communication industry and to highlight the benefits of Prisa Namibia membership”

- Media Conference regarding 2008 African Cup of Nations Tournament

La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Ghana

“an effective platform to help raise journalistic standards with a view to influencing positively coverage of the MTN 2008 African Cup of Nations tournament in Ghana.”

Jobs & Opportunities

Africa: Call for Shorts, Yahoo's Global City Beats Deadline Reminder

REMINDER - DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 15. 2007

Global City Beats is YAHOO's first User Generated Content Theatre Movie. All Users, Filmmakers, Videomakers, and Animators around the world welcome.

Upload your short films and videos between 2 and 8 Minutes to http://video.yahoo.com/

Upload period is from September 30. 2007 until November 15. 2007.

Please do not forget to tag your video with - Global City Beats Yahoo!

The 15 to 20 best shorts will be part of the theatre movie Global City Beats and receive a cash prize of Euro 1.000,- ($ 1.400,-) and a share from the theatre income.

The Movie premiers in Theatres in Germany and will than be distributed internationally.

For more Information on the competition, please visit: http://de.movies.yahoo.com/global-city-beats/
en/globalcitybeats.html

Africa: BANFF WORLD TELEVISION AWARDS – CALL FOR ENTRIES

The campaign for the 29th Banff World Television Awards is officially on and new program categories at this year’s Rockie Awards are Environmental Programs and Social & Humanitarian Programs.

Rockies will be awarded in the following 22 categories for BEST OF CATEGORY by Selection Juries from around the world. In addition to the two Special Jury Prizes and the Grand Prize, four new prizes will be awarded by the International Grand Jury. The four new prizes are Best Documentary; Best Drama; Best Entertainment Program; and Best Feature Length Documentary.

Enter by January 31 and save on the early bird fee of $250 CDN per entry.

The FINAL DEADLINE is February 14, 2008. Entry fee is $275 CDN for final entries.

Your program is eligible for the program competition if it was made for television and it falls within one of the following categories: http://www.banff2008.com/prog.comp.categories.php

It was (or will be) transmitted for the first time anywhere in the world during 2007 or 2008 OR it will be available for first transmission not later than February 14, 2008. Entries for the 2008 international program competition may be submitted any time from October 8, 2007, until the final deadline of February 14, 2008. The above summary does not replace the detailed regulations, which remain definitive and binding. http://www.banff2008.com/prog.comp.rules.php

www.banff2008.com or contact: Kerry Stauffer, Director, International Program Competition; 1-403-678-1216 ext 101; kstauffer@achillesmedia.com

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