investment

Dual commercial and public funding in public service broadcasters does not work because inevitably the bottom line becomes the biggest consideration and takes precedence over providing relevant local content, broadcast expert Ruth Zanker said 13 January. Funding for the cash-strapped SABC has become a hotly debated topic following the publication of the draft Public Service Broadcasting Bill, which proposed moving away from licence fees towards alternative funding such as a 1% tax and broadcast licence fees, while still placing some reliance on advertising.

Sentech has yet to say why it withdrew its application for a pay-TV licence at the last minute, after releasing a "temporary" statement last week .

Following a multi-million pula deal with South Africa's private television station etv, Gaborone Broadcasting Corporation (GBC TV) is prepared to go national and give viewers quality programming and content.

51 percent shareholder of GBC TV, Mike Klinck revealed prospects of quality programming and broadcasting national, after Sabido (Pty) Ltd a company that owns etv injected millions of Pulas as part of its 49 percent acquisition of GBC TV.

"We have just opened our doors to the public. We are trying to get customers to have a feel of our services and get their responses on the product before we do a mega launch," said Philip Winyi, a director of JRNet Limited, the franchise-holder of Pearl Digital. The soft launch of the product comes barely four months after Gateway Television (GTV) unveiled its services to the market as the second pay television in Uganda.

Leading black-owned media company Kagiso Media may be looking at diversifying out of radio after it confirmed yesterday it was "entertaining" the idea of entering the pay-television space as part of its intended growth plans. "This is just one of the decisions we are considering, but there is nothing firm on the table as yet," said Kagiso financial director Sandra Pienaar .

The Liberia Media Center last Thursday officially launched a broadcast training facility and a community radio support project in partnership with the Radio Netherlands Training Center. The community radio project known as the Initiative for Mobile Training of Community Radio (INFORMOTRAC) is a four-year support program geared towards building the capacities of community radio stations across the country starting this September.

The deal for Telkom to provide fixed-line connectivity for the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament has finally received FIFA's public stamp of approval.

Yesterday, Telkom signed the deal to become a "National Supporter of the 2010 FIFA World Cup". The contract, worth R225 million, was signed at a ceremony in Nasrec, south of Johannesburg.

A Chinese based company has officially launched a subsidiary in Rwanda to provide digital Pay-TV and broadband Internet services. The locally registered Star Africa Media Co. Ltd is a subsidiary of the Star Communication Network Technology Co. Ltd based in the capital Beijing.

The Monitor (Kampala) wrote on January 20th that the Chinese's government has sent a 10-man delegation in the country to assess measures in which Uganda Broadcasting Corporations (UBC) technical facilities can be upgraded. A press release from the PRO Jane Kasumba said the technical team would also evaluate the possibility of installing new radio and television channels. The development follows an agreement signed between the two governments that will see the national broadcaster obtain a grant to establish the channel and up grade its broadcasting facilities.