Botswana to up TV and radio coverage to 97+% of population, Namibia may follow

The Government of Botswana has made a commitment that it will up the transmission coverage for both radio and television to 97+% of the population. The work to cost the initiative was carried out using mapping software that allowed the consultants employed to identify the current areas of coverage for both radio and TV. Using this baseline mapping as a starting point, the consultants were then able to identify the costs of the new transmitters to reach the increased population target. A similar study is being undertaken in Namibia, again with a view to extending transmission coverage.

In issue 23

Content

South Africa: Scramble for Talent as New Pay-TV Stations Prepare to Broadcast

Algeria: Government hands over audio-visual archive to Government broadcaster

Botswana: State broadcaster BTV still negotiating Mascom Premier League Broadcasting Deal

Broadcast

Angola to liberalise its TV sector shortly

Egypt leads an alliance to curb the showing of independent satellite channels like al-Jazeera

GTV to open for business in Ethiopia

Ghana: Metro TV Makes Impact

Distribution

Multichoice Unveils New EasyView Package for US$30 a year

Investment

South Africa: Kagiso 'Still in Line' for Clear Channel Stake

President Bush announces new US$100 million fund for Telecoms, Media and Technology

Regulation & policy

Technology & convergence

Events

People

Opportunities

Top story

Botswana to up TV and radio coverage to 97+% of population, Namibia may follow

As elsewhere in Africa, Botswana currently has 80% of its population who can receive radio transmissions from the state broadcaster and 64% who can receive television transmissions. These figures represent the top-end of transmission coverage for Africa as there are many countries where television is not widely available outside the main cities. Supply of electricity is a significant limiting factor on television ownership.

Using mapping software, ICT Consultants who were employed by the Government were able to look at the locations of current transmitters and the strength of transmission signals. ICT Consultant’s Tsietsi Motsoela said the most difficult part of the process was to uncover what antenna patterns had been used as this information had largely been misplaced after the initial set-up.

The Government of Botswana wanted to assess the costs of covering 95-100% of its population with both TV and radio coverage. The proposed 42 TV transmitters (38 new and 4 existing) will cover 97.16% of the population, effectively nearly complete coverage. The 42 TV Transmitters (38 new and 4 existing) will cover 98.98% of the population. The areas currently not covered tend to be small villages, of which there are a large number in the 500-1000 population range. The consultants assumed that electricity was available in villages over 1,000 under the Maitlamo rural electrification initiative.

Lack of electrical power was a key factor in siting the proposed transmitters. As Motsoela observed:”One of the challenges is the lack of power in rural areas. You can find a good physical location (for a transmitter) but there is no power near. So you have to make sure you site close to existing infrastructure.”

The total cost of implementing the extended coverage scheme is US$25.75 million, of which an additional US$5 million would need to be spent annually on maintenance and US$0.5 million on manpower costs. The equipment costs would be US$16.8 million. The Department of Broadcasting Services already has plans to install a new Medium Wave Transmitter at Mmathethe, and to relocate the Sebele MW Transmitter to Takatokwane. But thus far the extension plan has not been implemented. With these changes, radio coverage would reach 80.89% of the population. Existing TV transmission covers 64.36% of the population.

Alongside this coverage extension, two private radio stations are working together to extend their own transmission areas. These stations had discussions with the Government about co-locating transmission equipment but were unable to reach agreement, partly because of the costs of sharing high-power transmitters.

In Namibia, ICT Consultants won a similar tender from the Namibian Communications Commission. In this case, the Government has not set itself a percentage target of the population to be covered but wants to examine options for reaching different levels of population and also at how transmission coverage might also be extended for the private sector.

Over the last ten years, both transmission coverage for radio and radio ownership has been extended to usually around 75% of the population. However, TV remains the medium of urban areas despite again a significant increase in the level of TV ownership and access. Without something approaching full coverage, there is the danger that there will be two classes of African: those who have broadcast media choice and are relatively well informed and those who have little access to broadcast media and much less well informed.

See the before and after coverage maps generated for the study.

Botswana - Existing FM radio coverage

Botswana : Projected radio coverage

Botswana : Existing TV coverage

Botswana : Projected TV coverage

The maps were created using software from ATDI (http://www.atdi.com) and the studies mentioned in this story have been or are being carried by ICT Consultants (Pty) Ltd (Contact: Tsietsi Motsoela on tmotsoela@ict.co.bw )

Content

South Africa: Scramble for Talent as New Pay-TV Stations Prepare to Broadcast

The race to attract broadcasting talent has intensified with the imminent launch of new pay-TV channels, with some stations looking for foreigners to help fill the gaps in a small industry. The SABC's respected radio anchor, Jeremy Maggs, is to join the newly licensed e.Sat, which is e.tv's 24-hour news service scheduled to broadcast on DStv.

Maggs confirmed in early February that he would leave SAfm, where he is the lead anchor on its morning current affairs programme, AM Live, in March. "I have been at SAfm for 10 years. It is time to take a few more risks and move on to other things," Maggs said.

He would have hosted AM Live for only a year, after the controversial resignation of John Perlman, who left the programme under a cloud when he exposed the SABC's blacklisting of prominent commentators.

Maggs brought credibility and stability to the programme. His departure from the SABC is set to raise concerns again about its ability to retain experienced and independent journalists. It was accused by certain members of the African National Congress (ANC) of running President Thabo Mbeki's campaign for a third term as president of the party at its conference in December last year.

While Maggs called the SABC "a challenging place to work", he said there were no explosive issues behind his resignation. "I fervently believe in public broadcasting. There have been times when SAfM and the SABC have gotten it right (in ) covering important social issues that the mainstream media would not cover," he said.

E.Sat editor-in-chief Debra Patta confirmed that Maggs would be joining the newly licensed pay-TV broadcaster as a key anchor , adding that Talk Radio 702 presenter Redi Direko would join Maggs. Direko will not be leaving 702. " We will be announcing more key appointments soon," Patta said.

The scarcity of skills led Telkom Media to attend a UK conference last year with the intention of persuading South African expatriates to return home.

Industry commentators have said the increased competition in the TV market ahead of new pay-TV offerings being introduced have ramped up the cost of attracting top talent . "Now is a good time to be a journalist," Patta said.

Sources said that e.Sat was "wall to wall" with applications for people wanting to join it, the majority apparently from the SABC.

The SABC's national radio bulletins editor, Vusi Sithole, and radio bulletin producer and newsreader Ray White, are said to have handed in their resignations, while Telkom Media and e.Sat have apparently approached or made offers to most of the award-winning Special Assignment news team.

Sources at the SABC said its board had set aside R20m to retain key staff. SABC spokesman Kaiser Kganyago denied there was an "exodus" of SABC staff and that the SABC had felt the "pinch" from new pay-TV players. But he said there was a shortage of skills in the industry, and that the industry would need to work together to solve it.

(Business Day (Johannesburg), 8 February 2008)

Algeria: Government hands over audio-visual archive to Government broadcaster

The Algerian Government has handed over an audio-visual archive of 1,850 items to the Government broadcaster, ENTV. The archive covers the period from 1940 to 1962 and provides unique footage of Algeria during the period of French colonization and the struggle for national independence.

The materials were handed over at a ceremony held in the National television building by Emmanuel Hoog, Chief Executive Officer of the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA) to Hamraoui Habib-Chawki, the General Manager of ENTV.

The broadcast company has been given the rights to the materials for free and has the responsibility of looking after the archive and exploiting the materials in its care.

Morocco: Government earmarks over USD 7Mn in 2008 for film production

The Moroccan Government has earmarked about US$7.5Mn as assistance for Moroccan film production in 2008, the Moroccan communication ministry announced last Monday.

The Government has upped the amount of assistance to the film industry considerably from the US$1.2 million it contributed in 2007 as part of its efforts to become a centre for regional film production. Created in 1980, the support fund to Moroccan film was about US$ 250,000 before being increased in order to promote domestic filmmaking.

Morocco has been making about a dozen films each year since the end of the 1990s and intends to raise this figure to 40 productions a year by 2020, as part of its national film strategy.

Botswana: State broadcaster BTV still negotiating Mascom Premier League Broadcasting Deal

State broadcaster BTV was under fire for paying to show the African Cup of Nations but of not yet having secured a deal to air the local Mascom Premier League. This pressure is typical of many African state broadcasters who lack the financial muscle to stay in the game to buy the full range of football rights.

The Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS) is still negotiating with the soccer authorities for live broadcast of Mascom Premier League games on the state-owned Botswana Television (Btv). DBS spokesman Simon Seisa said although the negotiations have taken long, there is hope that the Premier League matches will be aired live on the state-owned TV.

He was reacting to criticism that Btv is showing the more expensive African Cup of Nations games yet it has failed to broadcast Premier League matches. But Seisa stated that they have wide audience that is difficult to satisfy. He said that even if they had been able to broadcast the Mascom Premier League games and failed to get the rights for AFCON, some people would still complain. He refuted allegations that they always start negotiating the rights to broadcast the games late. "We always start early but it takes longer to reach agreements," he said.

He stated that they took a long time to reach an agreement for the rights to broadcast the AFCON games and this helped in getting a reasonable price. He added that it was regrettable that some football supporters did not watch the first AFCON matches. At the time, only the DSTV subscribers and those that use free-to- air decoders watched the first games being played in Ghana.

(Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone), 4 February 2008)

In Brief

- The Minister of State for Agriculture and Water Resources Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri has accused journalists in Yobe State, including the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Damaturu and the state owned television station YTV of sabotaging the opinions of opposition parties and giving cheap publicity to the state government.

- Jean-Marc Kalongo is Congolese film-maker who describes himself as a “special effects movie maker”. He has put samples of his work up on two web sites, http://www.dailymotion.com/drcongo/1 and www.drcongospecialfx.com

Broadcast

Angola to liberalise its TV sector shortly

The Angolan Government is poised to open its television sector to private FTA channels later this year. Currently, there are three TV companies, the state television broadcaster TPA (with its 2 channels) and two Pay TV companies, Visabeira-owned cable operator TV Cabo and satellite operator, DStv.

Three potential licences are being considered. The first up for consideration will be the potential privatisation of TPA’s Channel 2 although the broadcaster has said that privatisation in its view this is not an option. The other two licences will be granted to channels backed by a combination of local and Portuguese investors.

Word has it that one of these TV licences will be given in September 2008 to Emídio Rangel, a man with considerable experience in Portuguese-language broadcasting. He was the founder and first director of the Portuguese radio station TSF. After leaving in 1992, he then helped set up Portuguese TV channel Society of Independent Communication (SIC). In 2001, he went to the public broadcaster RTP.

However, the first new channel off the blocks will be TV Zomba in July 2008, which has the backing of two local financial groups with good political connections. It is believed to be planning terrestrial transmission coverage in Luanda and satellite coverage for the Angolan provincial cities of Cabinda, Lunda Norte, Uige, Malange, Kwanza Sul, Benguela, Bié, Huambo and Huíla. It may reach agreement with radio stations to co-locate signal transmission to reduce costs.

According to the shortly to be published African Broadcast and Film Markets, the key factors in the demographics of the major TV audiences are wealth and education. There is a gap in the FTA market because at the moment the better off and best educated are more likely to watch the satellite channels of TV Globo, TV Record, RTP and SIC than the state-run channels from TPA. If the new FTA TV channels are better financed and programmed then they will be able buy key rights of the kind currently only available on the Pay-TV channels and carve out a significant middle class audience for themselves: Luanda has a population of around 2.6 million, of which 700,000 might be considered middle class.

Egypt leads an alliance to curb the showing of independent satellite channels like al-Jazeera

Arab countries (including those in North Africa) have agreed to allow punishment of satellite channels deemed to have offended Arab leaders or national or religious symbols. At a meeting in Cairo called by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, a charter was adopted allowing authorities to withdraw permits from offending channels. The only country to refuse to endorse the charter was Qatar, the home of leading satellite station al-Jazeera.

Correspondents say the satellite channels have thrived on controversy. The often privately financed stations give airtime to government critics and viewers, and discuss issues which state channels would never dare approach, says the BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo.

At the meeting of information ministers from the 22-nation Arab League in Cairo, the charter was agreed by a vote. The document calls on stations "not to offend the leaders or national and religious symbols" of Arab countries, news agency AFP reports.

They should not "damage social harmony, national unity, public order or traditional values," the charter says. Signatory countries may "withdraw, freeze or not renew the work permits of media which break the regulations".

The charter also calls on broadcasters to avoid erotic content, or content which promotes smoking or the consumption of alcohol, and to "protect Arab identity from the harmful effects of globalisation".

"Some satellite channels have strayed from the correct path," said Egyptian Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi.

He said it was time to confront those who propagated ignorant or reactionary ideas, and those who tried to score points by undermining governments and nations. Only Qatar registered reservations about the charter, but said this was down to legal rather than political concerns. It said it needed further time to consider the document - and so al-Jazeera does not appear to be facing imminent curbs, says our correspondent.

(Leadership (Abuja), 14 February 2008)