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Multichoice Africa’s CEO Eben Greyling looks to 20-30% growth over “the next couple of years”

As the long-time player in the African market, Multichoice is the largest Pay TV operator in all Anglophone markets. Last year a range of new competitors entered the market and before long there will be new competitors in South Africa. Russell Southwood spoke to Eben Greyling, CEO – Sub-Saharan Africa Pay TV, Multichoice Africa about how the new competition has affected them and what they’re planning in the coming year.

In issue 22

Content

Namibia: Hundreds Audition for Local TV Drama Series

Kenya: Vernacular Radio Blamed for Fuelling Hatred

Kenya: Government Lifts Ban on Live Broadcasts

Uganda: Museveni Criticised Over CNN Deal

Broadcast

Namibia: NBC Strike Called Off

Cameroon: New Appointments Deepen Conflict At CRTV

Gambia: Ban On RFI Broadcasts Lifted After 10 Days

South Africa: Icasa may shut new free broadcaster

Distribution

Africa: ZTV Screens Nations Cup

Kenya: Pay-TV Firms Plan More Content At Reduced Rates

Investment

South Africa: Revised Film and Television Production Incentive

Location Film and Television Production Incentive

South African Film and Television Production and Co-Production Incentive

South Africa: Cape Town backs 'film city' with R30m

More

Regulation & policy

Technology & convergence

Events

People

Opportunities

Top story

Multichoice Africa’s CEO Eben Greyling looks to 20-30% growth over “the next couple of years”

As the long-time player in the African market, Multichoice is the largest Pay TV operator in all Anglophone markets. Last year a range of new competitors entered the market and before long there will be new competitors in South Africa. Russell Southwood spoke to Eben Greyling, CEO – Sub-Saharan Africa Pay TV, Multichoice Africa about how the new competition has affected them and what they’re planning in the coming year.

Q: What do you think the impact of competition has been on the market?

If you look at it from various angles, the increase in competition in the market increased awareness of Pay TV. So it was positive in terms of subscriber growth and we had a good year.

The area where it was negative was in terms of the cost of doing business. You see the cost of sports rights going to unsustainable levels in terms of doing business.

Q: How many players can survive in Sub-Saharan Africa?

It’s a difficult question to answer. You can look at Pay TV examples in more developed countries and there are very few where there is more than one player doing more than just surviving. Probably therefore there will be one, two or three players, depending on the strategies of the different companies. It’s not like the cellphone business.

Q: What are your bigger markets in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Nigeria and Angola are the only two above 100,000 and these are followed by Zambia, Kenya and Namibia which are in the 30-40,000 range. All the others are smaller.

Q: What’s the rate of growth?

In the current year, we have been looking at between 20-30% growth. We think we can maintain levels of 20% a year for the next couple of years.

Q: How does that growth break down between the cheaper and the premium bouquets?

When you talk about price, you have to look at content as well. If you look at our premium offering versus our competitors, their prices may be cheaper but the content is not comparable. We have a greater level of channels in depth. Our competitors are focusing on football. But we’ve got much wider coverage of sport and the latest movies. We cover all the genres and have a wider choice. They’re just competing on lower price packages.

These lower price packages have opened up the market. In the last year, our lower price bouquets have been growing at a much higher rate off of a lower base. The premium bouquet subscribers are growing at a slightly lower rate.

Q: Why didn’t you buy the Premiership rights for Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa?

You know the way the bidding process works. You go into the tender process and you’ve no idea what the others are putting on the table. We went in with a reasonable price, an increase of 400% on the last time. Unfortunately our bid was not high enough and you can’t go back and negotiate. We have an idea of what price was paid and if it was offered to us at that price, we would have paid it. It’s rather like playing roulette, you hope that your number comes up.

Q: What level of advertising are you generating as a percentage of total turnover?

It’s very small and the revenue goes to MNet and Supersport. It’s a couple of million Rand, around 1-2% of total revenues.

Q: How much African content have you commissioned and are you planning to increase your level of commissions?

We’ve done quite a lot over the last two years. Our flagship is the Africa Magic Channel. This is 70% Nigerian movies and the balance is movies from the rest of the continent. We’re looking to extend that with a lot more movies from the rest of the continent.

What we’ve commissioned, we’ve done through MNET and they’ve done a lot of local shows like Big Brother Africa and Idols. Some of these are produced in Nigeria.

From the sports perspective, we’re investing in local football leagues. We’re into our second season of doing this through Supersport and we’re adding Kenya and Zambia. We’re also looking at one or two other countries. The cost of producing these games on television is high against local subscriber growth so we’re going to be going into countries with a critical mass of subscribers – existing and potential.

Q: What about new bought-in programming?

We’ve quite a few in the pipeline, some aimed at our Portuguese-speaking subscriber base. There will be 3-4 additional channels to promote this offering. The development of the English-speaking channels is focused on local productions. There’s a couple of areas where we can bring in more relevant content, both commissioned and bought-in, to create another 4-5 new channels.

We’re launching a new bouquet called Easyview which will have roughly eight channels plus the local Free-To-Air channels, giving a total of 10 channels for effectively US$2.50 a month. As it’s a small sum, this will be paid annually in advance. The aim is to make Pay-TV affordable at an entry level. It’s our contribution in terms of digital migration. We want to move people on to digital, making that transition easier for African Governments. We’re 100% digital already.

Q: How fast do you think the digital transition will happen in Sub-Saharan Africa?

It’s going to be a challenge, especially for terrestrial transmission. The biggest issue is cost. There’s the cost of the roll-out of the transmission networks and the cost of receivers for the consumer. Will Government subsidise the cost of receivers. It’s a hard challenge to get Governments to do that with all the competing financial demands. There’s going to be opposing forces.

Q: When will you launch High Definition (HD) programming in Sub-Saharan Africa?

We’re looking at introducing an HD decoder. We’ve not yet got the satellite capacity available but we’ll definitely introduce it next year when we go on to W7. It’s a question of timing.

Q: How many HD-enabled televisions do you think are out there in Sub-Saharan Africa?

It’s a very low percentage of the population. You see them for sale in all of the electrical shops and retail outlets. But it must be below 5% of the population. However, take-up will be driven by the introduction of HD/Blu-ray DVD formats. It’s big enough to start the launch of a service.

Q: How do you see the new entrants who are doing IP-TV and triple play?

We’ve seen people talk about IP-TV but not many have launched and where it has been launched it’s very small. Their biggest challenge is the cabling in terms of reaching homes. If you have a big population like in Dakar, it’s possible to provide coverage. It’s a case of cost vs return. It will come to Africa but the roll-out will be slower than elsewhere. We’re keeping a close eye on it and looking at partnerships. We want to be in the space.

We’re working with (our sister company) MWeb to offer triple play services in Africa. It’s early days as the pricing of broadband is still too expensive but we’ve got it in our strategic plans.

Q: How do view the mobile operators getting involved in content?

It depends what they’re looking at. The jury’s still out on 3G as a broadcast technology. It’s good in terms of data but it’s difficult to offer proper broadcasting on 3G.

Q: What are you doing yourselves with mobile TV?

We’re rolling out in several countries and we see it as complementary to what the mobile players are doing with 3G. We have a number of good mobile partners in Africa for our DVB-H offering.

We’ve got less of an issue in terms of spectrum than there is in Europe but there is the challenge of handset prices. We’re working to get these down over the next 2-3 years. To be a mass market, the handset has to be below US$100. Currently they average US$400 but this year we’ll get that down to US$200. Price all depends on the functionality. If it’s a simple phone that can do voice, data and DVB-H then the price can come down to the levels we need.

Q: What’s the relationship between the Internet and your broadcast offerings?

The first question is what is going to be the predominant broadband platform: adsl, Wi-MAX or cable/fibre? It will probably be a wireless service. The two (Internet and broadcast) will move closer together, especially on broadband Video-On-Demand (VOD) and catch-up TV and these will enhance the offering to the consumer.

We were amazed by the number of people who accessed clips from Big Brother Africa on the Internet. There’s huge opportunities in that segment. Obviously we have Internet companies as part of the (Naspers) Group so we will be part of it. But where we don’t have companies we’ll make partnerships. Everyone can’t own everything these days.

Content

Namibia: Hundreds Audition for Local TV Drama Series

Some 500 first-time, established and would-be Namibian actors have auditioned for Namibia's first fully fledged 26-part television drama series soon to be shot on location in the capital. The series to be known as 'Things that Bind Us' is to be produced before the end of June by Optimedia of Abius Akwaake, who was also involved as a producer in the making of the feature film, Namibia: The Liberation Struggle.

"The response has just been overwhelming after my company had advertised extensively in the local print and electronic media during last year. This gives me hope for the future of the film industry in our country," said Akwaake, the producer of the series to be screened on NBC-tv by June this year.

The series was part of the NBC's commissioning television film system in 2007 and was given to Optimedia. "We are well on our way in completing the episodic scripts of which the first ten have already been submitted for final approval to the NBC commissioning editor. We are confident that the scripts will be accepted, after which time shooting on the serious will commence in and around the capital," he said.

According to Akwaake, the final character selection process has not gone very smoothly. "White character roles are still wide open due to the fact that so few white Namibian actors showed any interest and responded to our public call. This can be ascribed to the fact that white Namibians do not watch NBC and the fact that the series is produced and will be screened by the national broadcaster”.

(New Era (Windhoek), 1 February 2008)

Kenya: Vernacular Radio Blamed for Fuelling Hatred

Vernacular radio stations that air comments referring to communities as "baboons," "weeds", or "animals of the west" are being singled out as a partial cause to the ethnic bloodletting in Kenya. The messages are rarely direct calls to violence but are laced with cultural references that are given legitimacy when a station broadcasts them, says Strategic Research executive director Caesar Handa, who has been monitoring the airwaves after the election.

"You'll hear things like 'let us remove the weeds from our crops,' or 'let us remove the spots amongst us," said Handa. "Because of the rate of believability of radio amongst locals, it becomes very easy for people to take up what is said on radio and believe it as a form of gospel truth."

Handa said these uncensored messages are "one of the reasons" behind the escalation of violence in recent weeks. Hate speech in the form of metaphor can be chillingly powerful over the airwaves. Historians believe comments broadcast by the vernacular station, Radio Mille Collines in Rwanda, helped to fuel ethnic hatred behind the genocide there in 1994. Guests on the station's call-in shows referred to the Tutsis, the long-dominant tribe in the former Belgian colony, as "cockroaches."

With ethnic divides in Kenya leading to at least 850 deaths and up to 300,000 people displaced, all ears are now on the country's vernacular radio stations with worries they could plant similar seeds of hate. While Handa said there had been blatant calls to reclaim stolen land on the stations, it is often comments made in a community's language that are rich with meaning that can incite violence. Stations are often seen as representative of their community's aspirations and positions, he said. An individual's views that are broadcast can, therefore, be interpreted to be those of the entire community. The stations that have been singled out in the latest condemnation of vernacular radio include those broadcasting in Kikuyu, Luo and Kalenjin languages.

In the lead-up to the December 27 poll, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights chairman, Maina Kiai, warned the Electoral Commission of Kenya to keep a close ear on vernacular stations. At the time, there was already evidence of inflammatory statements and hate speech being broadcast, he said.

A pre-election survey of radio stations by Strategic Research found that despite the presence of hate speech on vernacular radio, mainstream radio stations were not broadcasting it. There was also a marked reduction in the amount of inflammatory comments being aired on the vernacular channels following a dark period during the 2005 referendum. Kass FM was taken off the air three days before the 2005 poll for allegedly inciting violence and was then ordered to submit recordings of its broadcasts before its licence was re-instated.

In October, the KNCHR released a report, Still Behaving Badly, documenting human-rights abuses in the lead up to the December poll. It found there had been a decline in hate-speech and inflammatory statements since the 2005 referendum, but that the use of unsavoury language "continues unabated," said the report. The report lamented the failure of the Ninth Parliament to pass proposed legislation to criminalise hate speech by anyone, including politicians.

(The Nation (Nairobi), 2 February 2008)

Kenya: Government Lifts Ban on Live Broadcasts

The Government has lifted the ban on live coverage of political events. In a statement signed by Information and Communications permanent secretary on Monday, 4 February 2008, the Government said that the ban had been lifted with immediate effect. PS Bitange Ndemo said that the ban was lifted by Internal Security minister George Saitoti following the improvement of security in the country.

The ban was slapped on local media houses on December 30 after President Kibaki was sworn in to begin his second term in office after a disputed re-election. In a letter addressed to all media houses, Dr Ndemo had directed the houses to stop broadcasting any inciting or alarming material and take responsibility for such broadcasts. But after the ban, the media fraternity demanded an unconditional withdrawal of the order. The Media Council of Kenya described the decision as "retrogressive" and an attempt to curtail Press freedom.

Council chairman Wachira Waruru said the order was impractical and difficult to implement - call-in programmes and all news coverage at the top of the hour are covered live on radio and TV stations. Waruru then threatened that if the Government did not review its stand, the media would have no option but to defy the ban. "We are not ready to comply with orders seeking to muzzle the Press. However, we are appealing to the Information ministry to withdraw the order," he had said.

The National Convention Executive Council (NCEC), the Kenya chapter of the International Commission of Jurists and Cotu also criticised the ban, saying the media should be allowed to do their work. The International Press Institute also added its voice to the calls.

Last week, the Media Institute went to court seeking orders to quash the ban. The ban, announced by former Internal Security minister John Michuki, was justified on claims that emotions demonstrated during live broadcasts were inciting violence.

Source: The Nation (Nairobi)

Uganda: Museveni Criticised Over CNN Deal

The Democratic Party (DP) has criticised President Yoweri Museveni for allegedly playing a key role in the $1million (Shs. 1.7billion) six-month deal with CNN to market Uganda as a top tourist destination in Africa.

Party President John Ssebaana Kizito said on Tuesday that Museveni's alleged involvement in the deal discredited the Office of the President. "Giving contracts to relatives and friends is President Museveni's tradition especially when there is a juicy deal which is wrong," Ssebaana said.

Ssebaana's remarks follow a revelation by Ministry of Trade Permanent Secretary, Dr. Sam Nahamya that President Museveni pushed him to flout procurement laws to seal the deal.

Source: The Monitor (Kampala)

In Brief

- SABC’s suppliers are suffering delayed payment difficulties because it has just installed SAP software for payment among other things. The most high-profile non-payment has been the delay in getting contracts and payment to Endemol for Isidingo. We are told that normal service will be resumed shortly…

- Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation is setting up a second channel as a subsidiary to compete with the country’s FTA channels, Mobi TV and Movie TV.

Broadcast

Namibia: NBC Strike Called Off

The strike at the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), which started on Tuesday morning, was suspended yesterday morning after the NBC management and the workers' representatives reached an agreement. The industrial action was suspended on condition that the NBC pays the striking employees a six percent salary increase, which the NBC promised last year, as well as a 9 percent back payment that has been outstanding since 2003.

The workers, who returned to work after they were reassured by the acting Minister of Information and Broadcasting Nangolo Mbumba, said they would go on strike again if the outstanding money is not in their bank accounts this afternoon. Mbumba informed the striking workers that it has become clear that the NBC is a strategic institution and that all parties should work together.

He said the negotiations were difficult and complex as they meant consulting the President and Minister of Finance to arrive at a solution. He noted that the negotiations were even more difficult because the trade unions had to consult with the workers all the time before a decision could be reached.

Mbumba said although he could not technically be involved in the payment of the money, he was assured by the NBC management that the money will be paid in last week. He urged the NBC employees to work harder now as citizens await their services more. Mbumba said the NBC has listenership in Namibia and beyond.

Napwu president Eliphas Dingara said if the money is not paid in by last week, they will regard that as sabotage and will not hesitate to resume the industrial action. Dingara blamed the NBC management for the industrial action. He charged that the management did not pay the employees although the money was there. Dingara also thanked the Namibian government for their intervention, and expressed the hope that the money will be paid in so that the strike can be called off permanently.

Kennedy Onesmus, who was also part of the negotiating team, warned the NBC management against victimizing NBC employees who were leading the strike. Onesmus said he has been informed already that the NBC management is targeting some of the employees and will harass them.

(New Era (Windhoek), 1 February 2008)

Cameroon: New Appointments Deepen Conflict At CRTV

A battle royal has commenced at the Cameroonian state broadcaster CRTV between the General Manager of the station and a number of journalists who oppose the changes he is making at the station. Following CRTV's board meetings last week, its Chair and Communication Minister, Jean Claude Biyiti Bi Essam, appointed some officials of the state broadcasting house.

The Post learned that the new appointments stood in total disregard of the list the Corporation's General Manager, Amadou Vamoulke, proposed during the board meeting of January 11. Members of the CRTV Board of Directors are said have rejected the General Manager's list, causing the meeting to last only for 15 minutes. According to the proposal Vamoulke made, Charles Ndongo, who was maintained as the Director of Information on Television, was to be appointed to the same rank at the radio station.

Alain Belibi who was appointed one of the Directors of the Nlongkak radio house, Ephraim Banda Goghomu and a few others journalists were to be sacked from CRTV. As a CRTV source put it, these journalists were to be banished to Siberia in the Ministry of Communication.

The Post tried in vain to get the CRTV General Manager to react to these allegations that were widely published in the press. But a source close to the outfit's management said Vamoulke never made any such proposals. Another source that asked for anonymity, said the list the CRTV boss proposed was a vicious attempt to settle scores with his opponents in the house. "Why would anyone recommend that one of the finest journalists in CRTV like Belibi be sent to idle in the Ministry of Communication?" another source wondered.

The Post also learned that all the CRTV workers who signed an open letter to their boss last year, have since been blacklisted for victimisation. Following the publication of the letter that carried the grievances of the workers, the CRTV boss declared in a meeting that he considered the initiators of the memo as "neo-Talibans."

Charles Ndongo was accused as the man who led the "rebellion" against management. That is why, our sources claimed, the CRTV boss recommended his transfer to the radio. His reappointment as Director of Information was seen to be at variance with Vamoulke's wish.

The battle over these appointments gave a new lease to the power struggle between the CRTV Board Chairman and General Manager. Moreover, there is said to be conflict in the house, especially because the journalists the General Manager recommended for the Ministry of Communication, look at him as someone who wanted to victimise them. Last week's appointments largely maintained the status quo. For one thing, only few a Anglophone journalists were appointed to occupy their traditional role of assistants to their Francophone colleagues.

Senior journalist, Peter Ful Ngong, hitherto Station Manager of CRTV in Bertoua, was appointed Deputy Director of Information at the TV house. The former Editor-In-Chief for TV news, Prince Ephraim Banda Goghomu, was named Deputy Director of Programmes in the same house.

The appointment of other CRTV officials, including the managers of Provincial stations, is expected to take place this week. It is alleged that the CRTV board meeting will be held again to approve the appointments. Local observers believe CTRV boss Vamoulke is determined to reform the state broadcaster but is facing stiff resistance from conservatives.

(The Post (Buea), 24 January 2008)

Gambia: Ban On RFI Broadcasts Lifted After 10 Days

On 25 January 2008, the Gambian authorities lifted their ban on Radio France International (RFI), a French public broadcaster, transmitting on FM in Banjul. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that after 10 days of absence on the air, RFI is now back. A release issued by the Department of State for Communication, Information and Technology said the decision to lift the ban was as a result of an agreement it reached with RFI's management.

The release said RFI was suspended following its failure to renew contractual agreements with the government-controlled Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), which expired on 22 December 2007. "Negotiation is ongoing between the two institutions for the renewal of a contract, but listeners in the Gambia have been able to get signals from their local affiliate FM," the release stated.

An earlier release from the same Department on 21 January explained that the action of the authorities was in line with the professional ethics of the media in The Gambia, accusing RFI of "unprofessionalism" following its reports that some Mauritanians accused of killing four French nationals fled to Guinea Bissau through The Gambia.

MFWA says it is not surprised at this obvious contradiction in the approach of President Yahya Jammeh's administration, “since it only demonstrates the government's long-standing intolerance of critical opinion. Under similar circumstances it has arbitrarily closed down newspapers and radio stations. Several journalists and members of the opposition have been detained for months without trial, while others have fled the country for fear of persecution”.

(Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra), 28 January 2008)

South Africa: Icasa may shut new free broadcaster

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) warned on Friday that it could block Free2View's satellite signal, or take other action, if the UK-based free-to-air broadcaster continued operating without a licence. Free2View launched its satellite broadcasting services last week, which will provide consumers with access to a variety of channels; such as live news programmes and documentaries for free. Consumers will only make a once-off payment of R1,400 (US$194) for a decoder and a satellite dish. Icasa, which regulates the broadcasting and telecoms sectors, has not issued Free2View with a licence or permission to operate. Any entity that planned to provide a broadcasting service in South Africa requires a licence and any attempt to provide such service without one constituted a criminal offence, Icasa said. If Free2View continued operating, Icasa could approach the court for an interdict to stop its operations.

In Brief

- African TV liberalisation is gathering pace. Botswana regulator BTA is licensing four more television stations and the Malawian regulator three new stations. Joy TV was closed down because it had not paid for a licence. It looks unlikely that it will apply for a licence. In addition, Tanzanian regulator TCRA is about to offer two more TV licences, one of which will go to Clouds TV (owned by the FM station of the same name). Mozambique is about to give licences to two new FTA TV channels.

- A mortar shell hit Shabelle Radio’s headquarters in the vicinity of a conflict-ridden area in Bakara market overnight on Monday. Destruction hit the telephone system, cable line, wires of the radio and the archive room, but fortunately there were no human casualties.

Distribution

Africa: ZTV Screens Nations Cup

Zimbabwean soccer fans from last night joined in the fun and action at the 2008 African Cup of Nations finals after the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings secured the rights to beam the matches live on television. The welcome development will see Zimbabweans being able to follow action at Africa's biggest football showcase from the comfort of their homes on national television.

When the Nations Cup finals roared into life with hosts Ghana edging Guinea 2-1 in a Group A match in Accra on Sunday, only a small proportion of local viewers who had access to satellite television enjoyed the privilege of watching the game.

But with Guinea and Namibia, two of Zimbabwe's next opponents in the 2010 World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifiers taking part at the tournament in Ghana, the Warriors fans were keen to take a closer look at the two teams.

The Nations Cup finals have also traditionally been beamed live on local television. However, there was a massive outcry from the majority of Zimbabweans who felt the national broadcaster had done them a disservice by failing to bring them the African Cup of Nations action as it unfolds in Ghana.

But ZTV indicated that they were working on securing the foreign currency needed to pay for the live transmission of the games. The Confederation of African Football have given exclusive rights for live broadcasting to all the matches to Sports Five Network, who in turn asked other networks and broadcasters to pay up for the signals.

Such is the significance with which viewers across the continent place on the tournament that some irate Zambian fans even ran amok and destroyed traffic lights in protest to their broadcaster's failure to secure the rights. But a ray of hope filtered in for the local viewers on Thursday when ZTV began advertising their intention to catch up with the live action from Ghana.

And last week ZBH chief executive officer Henry Muradzikwa confirmed the development. "Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings is pleased to advise its viewers, listeners and the public that rights to broadcast the on-going African Cup of Nations being played in Ghana have now been secured," Muradzikwa said.

Last night, ZTV began their coverage with the screening of the game between Cote d'Ivoire and Benin before broadcasting another Group B tie featuring Nigeria's Super Eagles and the Eagles of Mali in Sekondi. Because the majority of Zimbabwe, including key stakeholders like Warriors assistant coach David Mandigora, failed to get a glimpse of Guinea, Muradzikwa said ZTV would be obliged to screen those matches that have already been played. "ZBH has also been granted the rights to broadcast those matches which have already been played.

"This will enable the public to watch matches they had missed," said Muradzikwa. The ZBH boss, hinted that the national broadcaster could also be re-screening some of the games which would have been beamed live to enable some viewers a chance to catch up with the action.

"Essentially, ZTV wants to broadcast every game live but that is not possible. "So we will have to record some of the games and play them as delayed games," Muradzikwa said. But while the majority of Zimbabweans will welcome the live coverage of African Cup of Nations, Muradzikwa said their normal broadcasting schedule would be heavily compromised.

ZECO Holdings has been sponsoring the live broadcasting of the two European leagues and it might mean more football on television, as there is already an existing contract. Muradzikwa also apologised for their delay in switching onto the continental football showcase and said it had been ZBH's wish to broadcast the Nations Cup matches from the official opening ceremony last Sunday.

"The broadcaster apologises for any inconveniences caused due to the delay in securing the rights". ZBH's general manager for radio and television services Robson Mhandu added that the broadcaster was legally getting the signals.

"We have paid the full amount that was required for us to get the signal. "The money was paid in Euros and we have signed everything as a legal requirement," Mhandu said. Mhandu said the Confederation of African Football were now aware that ZBH would be screening the matches live and would remain in good standing when they ask for signals for other Caf tournaments such as the future Nations Cup or the MTN Champions League.

(The Herald (Harare), 26 January 2008)

Kenya: Pay-TV Firms Plan More Content At Reduced Rates

Local Pay-Television viewers will enjoy more content at reduced prices as competition for subscribers among two players hots up. The protagonists- MultiChoice Kenya and GTV- have unveiled their game plan for 2008 that will see them improve packages and offer lower prices, a move that sets the stage for a bruising battle for control of the local Pay-TV market that has remained sluggish over the past decade.

Now, both players are dangling the pricing card as a way to stir up the Pay-TV market, which for long has been considered a luxury in most homes. This, besides expanding their number of channels, notably with more local content, is emerging as the best bet to crack the lucrative although difficult Pay-TV market.

The latest entrant, GTV, is promising to cut its rates to below those charged by market leader MultiChoice Kenya as it races to maintain a foothold in the local market. GTV maintains that the penetration of services in the Pay-TV arena has been held back by high installation fees and monthly charges.

Earlier, GTV was talking of a price drop of up to Sh700 (US$10.35) per month, over a period they did not specify. MultiChoice Kenya, on the other hand, is working on another round of price cuts as it seeks to grow and defend its market turf from GTV and Oxygen Digital Television.

The Pay-TV scene has witnessed a number of price cuts in the past six months since GTV entered the local market, prompting a shift in the market structure where MultiChoice had maintained a monopoly.

MultiChoice was the first to lower prices to Sh1,750 (US$25.88) for a bundle of 33 channels before the entry of GTV that arrived with two bundles of 15 and 13 channels selling for Sh2,750 (US$40.67) and Sh1,750 (US$25.88) respectively. The GTV entry forced MultiChoice to unveil another lower cost bundle of 27 channels for Sh1,350 (US$19.96). Another round of price adjustments is aimed at stirring up the sluggish demand for Pay-TV products.

In Kenya, despite booming growth in telecommunications such as the online and mobile phone sectors, few Kenyans subscribe to TV services that charge a monthly fee. Of three million households in the country with TVs, fewer than 30,000-or one per cent - subscribe.

This compares poorly with the two per cent penetration levels in Africa, 93 per cent penetration in the United States and Europe whose penetration levels range between 15 and 36 per cent. MultiChoice is working on a strategy that will see it increase channels with more local content. GTV is also promising new channels and "better content" in 2008 and beyond.

(Business Daily (Nairobi), 28 January 2008)

In Brief

- Sierra Leone’s Communications Minister Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo praised the GSM providers in Sierra Leone for coming to the aid of the country's state broadcaster Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) radio stations in provincial towns of Kono, Kenema, Bo and Makeni to broadcast twenty-four hours a day by utilizing their electricity facilities gratis.

- A Ugandan film on the 20 year-old war in northern Uganda has been nominated for the prestigious Oscar Awards. War Dance, a feature-length documentary filmed in Uganda, highlights the plight of the people caught in the conflict. The news of the nomination was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. War Dance, initiated by AMREF, tells the story of three children - Dominic, Rose and Nancy from Patongo displacement camp. They are members of a school music group who get a chance to compete in Uganda's national music festival. The film was funded by Shine Global, a non-governmental organisation, dedicated to ending abuse and exploitation of children through the production of media products.

Investment

South Africa: Revised Film and Television Production Incentive

The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is pleased to announce the amendments to the film and television production incentive. The revised film production incentive, which is intended to increase local content generation and improve location competitiveness for foreign film productions in South Africa, comes into effect on 01 February 2008.

The new film and television production incentive comprises of the Location Film and Television Production Incentive, and the South African Film and Television Production and Co-Production Incentive. The incentive is intended to increase local content generation and improve location competitiveness for filming in South Africa.

Location Film and Television Production Incentive

The Location Film and Television Production Incentive will replace the Large Budget Film and Television Production Rebate, which the dti implemented in 2004.

This component is only available to foreign-owned productions with Qualifying South African Production Expenditure (QSAPE) of R12 million and above. It provides a rebate of 15 per cent of the QSAPE to qualifying productions in the following formats: feature films, telemovies, television drama series, documentaries, animation and short form animations. Its aim is to attract large-budget overseas film and television productions to South Africa.

South African Film and Television Production and Co-Production Incentive

The South African Film and Television Production Incentive is being introduced in order to provide more financial support for locally-owned productions and co-productions.

This component is available to both South African productions and official treaty co-productions with a total production budget of R2,5 million and above. It provides a rebate of 35 per cent for the first R6 million, and 25% for the remainder of the qualifying production expenditure. The following formats are eligible: feature films, telemovies, television drama series, documentaries, animation and short form animations.

The value of the rebate for any qualifying production is capped at a maximum of R10 million.

Effectively, the following key changes are being introduced:

* The reduction of the threshold from R25 million QSAPE for foreign-owned productions to R12 million;

* A differential requirement that local-owned productions and co-productions must have at least R2,5 million of total production budget;

* An increase of the rebate from 25% up to 35% for local productions in order to ensure higher financial support for local productions;

* The reduction of the threshold will make the bundling of productions unnecessary for producers

* The provisions of the incentive will encourage production companies to advance industry transformation through adherence to the requirements of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment.

Moreover, the incentive is structured in such a way that it will provide necessary impetus to the growth of the South African film and television production industry thus creating an environment conducive for South African producers to attract investment and develop stable output and sustainable production companies.

All productions approved in terms of the Large Budget Film and Television Production Rebate would still be treated under the rules of that scheme, and will not be able to convert to the new incentive.

In addition to the financial support provided through the new rebate incentives, a number of other measures are being implemented as part of the broader sector development strategy. These include capacity development for emerging production companies, the development of writers and editors through the enterprise development programme and the establishment of five pilot programmes in different locations to address distribution infrastructure, local content and audience expansion.

Leading South African film producer Anant Singh greeted the revisions positively: “We welcome the Revised Film and Television Production Incentive announced by the dti today. It will continue to boost production activities in our country. The 10% increase in the rebate for local productions up to R 6 million, and the reduction in the threshold for local productions and will prove to be very attractive for emerging filmmakers with access to smaller budgets.

Most importantly though, there will be a significant increase in the generation of local content, which is always a good thing.

The reduction of the threshold for foreign-owned productions will give South Africa a competitive edge as a location for international film shoots which will ultimately mean more work for our talented actors and technicians. It will also promote economic development and boost South Africa’s international profile as a desired film destination.

It will also see the transformation of the industry through the requirements of Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment. The Revised Incentive has provided key elements for a vibrant and sustainable film and television industry. We commend the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa and the Film Sector Team of the DTI for a well designed Revised Incentive scheme.”

South Africa: Cape Town backs 'film city' with R30m

The City of Cape Town is making R30-million available to restart the development of the Dreamworld Film City project, which is still hoping to turn the eastern suburbs of Cape Town into a southern-hemisphere Hollywood.

Simon Grindrod of the Independent Democrats, mayoral committee member for economic development and tourism, said on Wednesday, after the spending was approved by the city council that his department has spearheaded efforts to make available the city's R30-million contribution -- in terms of the provision of bulk infrastructure for the Dreamworld film studio.

"This project represents the single biggest opportunity to secure billions of rands' more income for the city in terms of film production and associated industries," he said. "The Cape Town film industry is estimated to be worth R20-billion."

South African film producer Anant Singh was chosen to build the country's first major Hollywood-style film studio in Cape Town four years ago. It was to be built on the Vergenoegd Farm in Faure off the N2 just outside Somerset West.

That decision came four years after the construction of a mega film studio in the city was first proposed by the Western Cape provincial government.

In Brief

- Telkom Media is going “deep-pockets” in its forthcoming battle to win a presence in the Pay TV market. According to an interview with CEO Mandla Ngcobo. Absa has given it “short-term general banking facilities” of R9.1 billion and Standard Chartered has given another facility of R4 billion. Ngcobo’s line is that the project will cost R7 billion and that it is therefore twice covered by its overdraft provision. Wait for him to eat those words (or we will) as Pay TV nearly always costs those who get involved more money than they initially thought it would.

More

Regulation & policy

Egypt: Al-Jazeera Reporter Arrested By Authorities

Reporters Without Borders called on the Egyptian authorities to stop harassing reporter Howayda Taha of the pan-Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, who was arrested on 28 January 2008 together with her cameraman while doing a report on farm workers in Nikla, a village near Giza (20 km southwest of Cairo).

"Taha's investigative reporting on mistreatment of detainees and social problems upsets the Egyptian authorities," the press freedom organisation said. "She is already subject to a prison sentence for which she is currently awaiting the outcome of an appeal. We call on the authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment and intimidation of this journalist."

Taha has been working on a series of reports on those who are "forgotten and excluded" for an Al-Jazeera documentary. Her lawyer, Ahmed Helmi, told Reporters Without Borders she had the impression she was being followed by intelligence operatives.

"She was arrested (. . .) after conducting several interviews about the problems of corruption and unemployment experienced by the inhabitants of the village of Nikla, subjects that do not help the government's image," he said.

Taha and her cameraman, Alaa Salah Eddin, who had a permit to film issued by the interior ministry, were questioned for four hours before being released. The police refused to return the interviews they had recorded. They were not charged.

Taha was sentenced by a state security court on 2 May 2007 to six months in prison and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (3,500 euros) for "attacking national interest" by preparing a report on the torture of detainees in Egyptian prisons. Her appeal is due to be heard on 11 February (see IFEX alerts of 9 March, 31, 18 and 16 January 2007; please note that in previous alerts, the journalist's name is sometimes spelled "Huwaida Taha Mitwalli").

(Reporters sans Frontières (Paris), 30 January 2008)

Uganda: IFJ Calls On Govt to End Harassment of Journalists

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on Ugandan authorities to put an end to the harassment of journalists in the country after five journalists and editors of the privately-owned Daily Monitor newspaper were charged with defamation after they published stories alleging the government's Inspector General is involved in a salary scam.

"These journalists should not be charged with defamation simply for investigating allegations of government impropriety," said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa office. "We call on the Ugandan authorities to put an end to this attempt to intimidate journalists doing critical reporting. The Inspector General should use the right of response to clear herself of these allegations instead of launching a court case as a means to silence these reports."

Two managing editors at the Daily Monitor, Joachim Buwembo and Bernard Tabaire, were charged on January 28 with defaming the Inspector General of Government, Justice Faith Mwondha.

They were charged after their colleagues, News Editor Robert Mukasa, Chief Parliament Reporter Emmanuel Gyezaho and Special Projects Writer Angelo Izama, were already named in the suit.

In a column published on the paper's website Tuesday, Gyezaho said that the charges stem from two reports published in the newspaper in August 2007 accusing Justice Mwondha of claiming a judge's salary, which was higher than the one she received as the inspector general. All of the charged members of the Daily Monitor's staff have been released on bail pending their trial.

Separately the Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) is calling for an investigation into an attack on journalists Rogers Muyanja from Bukedde newspaper and Herbert Ssempogo from New Vision. The two reporters were beaten in Kampala by police on January 19 when they covered an unauthorised demonstration led by opposition Members of Parliament. The IFJ condemned the attack and backed EAJA's calls for an investigation.

(International Federation of Journalists (Brussels), 2 February 2008)

In Brief

- Ghana has its first community TV station, Cape Coast TV, covering the area of the same name. It is currently conducting test transmissions.

- Mauritius MMDS Pay-TV operator is in Court for not paying a licence fee to the Independent Broadcast Authority. It argues that it was set up before the regulator and therefore is exempt from payment.

Technology & convergence

Kenya: LG Electronics launches digital TV sets

LG Electronics has launched its digital broadcasting TV set in the Kenyan market laying the foundation for the country's plan to switch to digital broadcasting. The launch comes eight months after last year's release of a transition timetable that will see the country switch from analogue to digital broadcasting by 2012.

George Mudhune, LG's regional marketing manager, said the move had been necessitated by the keen interest that local media houses had switching to digital broadcasting. "As media houses make the switch, consumers also have to move with the technology and invest in digital sets," he said. Digital television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving images and sound through digital signals with improved reception quality.

In 2006, the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) set a June 2015 deadline for all broadcasters to make the transition to digital broadcasting. In Kenya, a task force was formed to look into the migration process leading to release of the transition timetable.

With over 99.5 per cent of televisions broadcasts based on the analogue system, the migration to digital broadcasting is expected to open new market opportunities for electronic companies. "The digital convertor is a temporary solution and eventually everyone will have to own a digital TV," the head of marketing at Hotpoint Appliances, Rahul Kochhar said.

LG's new digital TV is a 42 inch set and will retail at a price of Sh190,000 (US$2,809). The current set comes with an internal hard drive that allows viewers to pause and rewind live television. The set will be available at all LG distributors including Hotpoint and other leading supermarkets.

(Business Daily (Nairobi), 30 January 2008)

South Africa: State Plan for Digital TV to Go to Cabinet

The communications department says it will give the cabinet its long-awaited proposals on the move from analogue to digital terrestrial TV by the end of March. The strategy will include government recommendations on subsidising the set-top boxes required to receive digital signals and on whether the boxes would be made in SA or imported.

"In order to continue viewing TV using the current analogue TV sets, the public will be required to use set-top boxes, which convert the transmitted digital signal to analogue," Deputy Communications Minister Roy Padayachie said last week at the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation conference in Sandton. "Otherwise it will be necessary to acquire digital-enabled TV sets.”

"Efforts should be made to explore developing capacities to manufacture set-top boxes locally to meet the local demand rather than importing them from abroad," Padayachie said.

Last year the cabinet approved the strategy to switch on the digital signal from this November. There would then be a "dual illumination" period until the analogue signal was switched off in November 2011. This would be four years ahead of international recommendations.

Sentech, the state-funded telecoms group responsible for rolling out the project, has said the cost of supplying SA's 7- million TV viewers now without set-top boxes could be R2,8bn-R4,2bn -- depending on the cost of the boxes. SA has 8,2-million TV watching households, 1,2-million of them on MultiChoice's DStv digital offering.

Three newly licensed pay-TV operators -- ODM, Telkom Media and MultiChoice, which was operating until now without a licence -- are awaiting a decision on the interoperability of the boxes. This enables multiple digital broadcasters to be received on any set-top box, regardless of who distributed it.

It is understood that some of the new operators were keen for the boxes to be opened up as this would let them use MultiChoice's existing network. MultiChoice, however, was not as keen as it believed this would make upgrading the boxes' software difficult. It was up to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) regulator to decide whether the boxes could be interoperable.

Icasa chairman Paris Mashile indicated that interoperability would make sense. Introducing "a common box with different encryptions is the most logical thing to do", he said. "It is key, from an Icasa point of view, that these boxes are inter-operable."

(Business Day (Johannesburg), 31 January 2008)

In Brief

- DStv will take delivery of four more HD Outside Broadcast (OB) vans in time for 2010. It already has the first HD OB van that was delivered in December 2006. MNet also has the first HD studio in which it recently made “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” which aired last week. The programme was shot in HD but down-converted for transmission.

- The Nigerian Government has set 2012 as the date for its digital switchover and has given the go-ahead to set up a working party on the topic.

- Kenya’s Digital TV Committee (under the regulator CCK) takes over from the Digital Migration Task Force with its first meeting on 7 February.

People

Last week the production company Optimedia revealed the names of the the writers on its new soap for Namibia Broadcasting Corporation, ‘The Ties that Bind’. The writers are Christian Appolus, Dudley Viall, Nailoke Mhanda, Dorinda Pieters, Louis Maruwasa, Oshosheni Hiveluah and Girley Jazama.

Jobs & Opportunities

Feature Film Production Grants : Call for Submissions

In its continuing effort to promote original filmmaking by individuals from around the world, The Global Film Initiative has again announced a Call for Applications for the Spring cycle of its feature-film Production Grants programme. This year, The Global Film Initiative will award Production Grants of up to $10,000 each, to select applicants during its Spring granting cycle.

For details see: http://www.globalfilm.org/

Events

Best Practices in Broadcast Leadership, Management & Journalism\

Africa 2008 Training Programme
Michaelangelo Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa

The Best Practices in Broadcast Station Leadership & Management Africa 2008 Training programme offers a personal and professional development opportunity and is aimed at equipping experienced and inexperienced practitioners for leadership and management roles in an increasingly complex and unpredictable media landscape. The blend of interactive face-to-face and case studies will ensure that aspiring and incumbent mangers build an advanced knowledge and skills that will enhance the performance of their duties. For details contact Panichi Gundo on +27 11 838 0332 or e-mail: info@jessinanome.co.za

29th Durban International Film Festival

Durban, South Africa
(23 July - 3 August 2008)

The 29th Durban International Film Festival (23rd July to 3 August 2008) is proud to announce the first edition of Talent Campus Durban held in cooperation with the Berlinale Talent Campus from 25 to 29 July 2008. Talent Campus Durban is an intensive 5-day programme of workshops and seminars delivered by film professionals and academics. Filmmakers will benefit from both theoretical and practical approaches that will enhance their cinematographic experience. The Talent Campus Durban theme Producing African Cinema for a New World will focus the activities towards the development of new projects and ideas.

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