Issue no 62 2 September 2009
Top Story
Kenya’s Media Nation Group tackles changing landscape with a multi-platform strategy
The tectonic plates are shifting in Africa’s media landscape. Mobiles and the Internet are beginning to eat at the edges of traditional media. Additional channels are transforming broadcast TV programming and Pay-TV is making the competition for new content hot up. Thus far the reaction from most African media houses has been piecemeal : some talk about local content, a bit of web development and some SMS services. Russell Southwood talked to Ian Fernandes, Managing Director of the Nation Media Group’s Digital and Broadcasting Division about its multi-platform strategy. Ian Fernandes’ career has come a full circle: he started in…
Content
BBC launches Africa Business Report
BBC World News has launched the Africa Business Report, a new show focused on the benefits and challenges of doing business on the continent. The programme will aim to capture…
Content
2010 FIFA World Cup promoted by City of Tshwane in TV documentary
The City of Tshwane is the first of South Africa's 2010 FIFA World Cup host cities to launch an international television advertising campaign welcoming tourists. Tshwane has worked with Southern…
Content
Botswana: BTV Set to Screen Local Soapie Next Year
Botswana Television (Btv) will finally have another local soapie if things go according to plan. The national television station has commissioned a local film production company, Camelthorn, to produce the…
Content
South Africa: SABC 'Spending 10 Percent On Local Content'
The SABC spends less than 40% of its budget to put content on screens, an independent producer has charged. The TV production industry, which relies on the SABC for most…
Content
Content In Brief
- An Angolan advertising agency has given Homer Simpson and his family an African makeover. raising eyebrows among fans of one of America's most cherished sitcoms.The advertising agency, Executive Center…
Content
Al Jazeera Sports HD re-opened on the 14th. August 2009
Al Jazeera Sports HD, the pan-Arabic TV sports channel re-opened again on the 14 August 2009 at 9PM (GMT). It is part of Al Jazeera Network,owned by the government of…
Content
Kenya : Kiss TV and Classic TV seize significant audience share
Kenya’s Radio Africa Group has expanded and introduced 2 new television stations into the market in early August and they are expected to bring a whole new look to the…
Content
Botswana : Opposition Party Reports State Media To SADC
An opposition political party, Botswana National Front (BNF) has dragged the Botswana Television (BTV), a public broadcaster to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for intervention over claims of unfair…
Content
Kenya: Kameme FM and K24 TV sold to TV Africa
Kenya's competitive media scene is set for yet another grand shift with the exit of Regional Reach -- the media and marketing company that owns K24 TV and vernacular radio…
Content
Broadcast In Brief
- The Angolan Ministry of Social Communication is expanding the signals of the state-owned "Radio Nacional de Angola" (RNA) and "Televisao Publica de Angola" (TPA) to the districts of southern…
Distribution
PAMRO: fighting film piracy in Africa - survey results
PAMRO (Pan-African Media Research Organisation) held its 11th Annual Meeting on 23-25 August 2009. One of the key topics was about film piracy. The presentation was geared to helping African…
Distribution
South Africa: Rivals Gear Up for Battle Over Digital TV
A crucial set of regulations which will govern the television industry has resulted in court action by an incumbent broadcaster and aspirant entrants to the industry. The action is likely…
Distribution
Distribution In Brief
- South Africa’s Ster-Kinekor Distribution is releasing Karate Kallie (Afrikaans with English subtitles) in cinemas on 18 September 2009. It's described as a fresh new Afrikaans feel-good romantic comedy about…
Investment
Zimbabwe: Shamu Claims Government Will Issue new TV and Radio Licences Soon
Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu has said the government is more than ready to start issuing licences for new television and radio stations. Shamu told Radio VOP over the…
Investment
Kenya: Nation Media Group profits down 24% on rising costs – local TV production costs partly to blame
Kenya's Nation Media Group posted a 23.9 percent drop in pretax profit for the first half of 2009 and expects the remainder of the year to be tough, chief executive…
Investment
Investment In Brief
- Media houses in Tanzania have also been hit hard by a drop in their advertising revenue by over 6.5 per cent. - A year ago, The New Vision sought…
Regulation & Policy
Gabon: Media coverage of presidential election likely to be heavily restricted
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the array of restrictions that the Gabonese authorities have imposed on journalists during the presidential election. Communications minister Laure Olga Gondjout last week nonetheless tried…
Regulation & Policy
Senegal / Radio and television group blacked out for payment default
Senegalese police have been used by the courts to enforce royalty payments in a dawn raid that shut down the broadcast group Walfadjri. Uniformed police made a 6am raid on…
Regulation & Policy
Regulation & Policy In Brief:
- Bruno Koko Chirambiza, a news presenter for a local, privately-owned radio station in Bukavu, the capital of the eastern province of Sud-Kivu has been murdered. He was the third…
Technology & Convergence
SABC debuts WiMax radio transmission feed to broadcast centre
The SABC and broadcast technology partner Siemens have achieved a world first by successfully conducting the first live radio transmission using a Wi-Max IP contributed feed. A pilot project was…
Technology & Convergence
SA Direct TV targets European Audience to boost Southern African businesses
Southern Africa Direct is a lifestyle and culture television channel. The company seeks to provide authentic and engaging information and entertainment for anyone wishing to travel to or do business…
More
Technology & Convergence In Brief:
- Press videoconferencing is the process and concept of organizing an international press conference using videoconferencing (a form of teleconference) over the Internet. This concept was developed in October 2007…
