Issue no 50 19 March 2009
Top Story
African media fragmentation piles the pressure on radio and TV stations as they scramble for audiences
Once upon a time everyone knew what television and radio were and they played a key role in people’s lives. Particularly for urban Africans they were the soundtrack to life, the sports match in the bar and the common conversations about television programmes. Nowadays in the more liberalised of African countries there are more television and radio stations than you can remember the names of and for the smaller group of the more well-off, there are pay TV channels, time-shifting and DVDs. And all that’s before you take into account SMS information services and the Internet which are eating away…
Content
Ethiopian wins Best African Movie award at FESPACO
Ethiopian Haile Gerima’s film Teza won the Best Film at Fespaco. The Film took Gerima 14 years to make and tells the story of a young medical research scientist from…
Content
Nigeria: Bank PHB to Sponsor CNN's Personality Programme
Bank PHB has emerged the exclusive sponsor of CNN International's brand new weekly half-hour interview programme 'African Voices', which debuted over the weekend. The commercial partnership positions Bank PHB against…
Content
26 episode Canadian-South African animation co-production gets the go-ahead
Cape Town’s animation industry has scored another coup with Peter Pepper’s Pet Spectacular receiving the greenlight this week. Cookie Jar Entertainment and Clockwork Zoo to make first Canadian-South African Animation…
Content
Nigeria: DSTV to Broadcast Glo Lagos Marathon
Exciting moments from the 2nd Glo Lagos International Half Marathon will be aired 15 times on DSTV's Super Sports starting March 4. International sports broadcast channel, Supersports, which gave a…
Content
Content In Brief:
- Moonlighting Cape Town just shot their 1000th commercial in South Africa! The commercial was for Paradox, Norway who came with director Gaute Hesthagen to shoot their Bravida spot for…
Content
Nigeria: 'Market Receptive to Pay TV Penetration'
The low level of Pay Television in Nigeria has the potentials to boost its penetration and quick spread in the country as long the barriers to accessing the converging media…
Content
Nigeria: Gombe Approves N100 Million for Radio Station
Gombe State government has approved N 100 million for the construction of a broadcasting house for the Federal Radio Cooperation of Nigeria (FRCN) F. M station in the state capital.…
Content
Côte d'Ivoire: TV5 Monde-Afrique’s Denise Epoté tells FESPACO “Quality’s what’s important to us”
Denise Epoté, the Director of TV5 Monde-Afrique told journalists during the FESPACO festival that the channel would not favour any one African country in terms of the films it showed.…
Content
Kenya: Standard Group looks set to enter the radio market
The Standard Group has started acquiring broadcast equipment ahead of its entry into the radio business. This follows its acquisition of broadcast rights from a local firm. The Group has…
Content
Broadcast In Brief:
- Trade unions at RTG 1 suspended their strike which had been taking place since Thursday last week to cover the death of the President’s wife, d'Edith Lucie Bongo Ondimba,…
Distribution
Sithengi to set re-launch this autumn
Sithengi CEO Judy Nwokedi announced that plans have been put in motion to see that the film and television market will be held at a date yet to be determined…
Distribution
Canal + seeks to re-enter the Maghreb market with a new offer
After several years in which it stayed clear of North Africa because of high levels of piracy, francophone Pay-TV channel Canal + is seeking to re-enter the Moroccan market with…
Distribution
Distribution In Brief:
- France Telecom's Orange has added a bouquet of seven English-language channels to its French pay-TV service 'Orange TV' (delivered via IPTV and satellite), as well as a further three…
Investment
Kenya: Standard Group end year profits rise to Sh429m
The Standard Group’s overall financial performance for the 12- month ended December 31, last year reflects sustained business growth and an enhanced profitability trend. Announcing the results in the company…
Investment
South Africa: SABC’s lost millions ‘not our fault’
The SABC expects pre-tax losses of almost R800-million this year and has gone, cap in hand, to the Treasury for help. Acting chief executive Gab Mampone said last week the…
Investment
Investment In Brief:
Uganda’s New Vision media group has been listed by the Auditor General as among the 32 statutory corporations that have up-to-date audited accounts.
Regulation & Policy
Sénégal: Regulator CNRA tells Afia FM to stop broadcasting “political programmes”
Le Conseil national de régulation de l'audiovisuel (CNRA) has told community radio station Afia FM which broadcasts to the Grand Yoff area in Dakar to stop broadcasting programmes of a…
Regulation & Policy
Nigeria: Federal Government Cautions Media On Electoral Reform Reports
The Federal Government has cautioned the media to ensure that it reports accurately and with a sense of responsibility. Describing reports by the media on white paper on the electoral…
Regulation & Policy
Regulation & Policy In Brief:
- TheSABC denied allegations of blacklisting at the broadcaster in 2005 and 2006 at an Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) hearing last week.
Technology & Convergence
MyNews24 jumps to top spot on Mark’s Twitter News Ranking Index
MyNews24 has jumped from the 5th spot on Mark’s Twitter News Ranking Index to 1st. In a month. The road to success seems to be very much in line with…
Technology & Convergence
Africa: Voice of America will adapt to the Digital Age
"Our strategy for reaching audiences is market- and research-driven," VOA Director Dan Austin said in a recent interview. "People in Nigeria get most of their news via shortwave radio, so…
More
Technology & Convergence In Brief:
- Shop assistants with a love for music will have to switch their enthusiasm to ring tones and airtime instead as South Africa’s MTN is taking over 17 Musica stores…
