Issue no 76 26 March 2010
Top Story
With the opening of three new production studios, will Nigeria generate a production ecology with real pulling power?
Outside of South Africa, there is no country on the continent that has a full-service production ecology. This elusive full-service ecology is a mixture of production and post-production facilities, skills and talent that draws film and TV makers like a honey-pot. It may sound ridiculous now but Nigeria has a chance to become a contender for this role with three new production and post-production complexes opening, the latest being Hi-TV’s Paradise Studios which opens this week. Russell Southwood sees which way the wind might blow. The three new production facilities that have opened (or will in the near future) are:…
Broadcast
Ghana: Lawyer calls for ban on “phone-ins” unless they buy proper delay equipment and abide by rules
Ace Ankomah, a legal practitioner, has staunchly called for an end to phone-in programmes on radio stations until the stations have been able to acquire delay broadcast equipment to regulate…
Broadcast
SABC unveils FIFA 2010 broadcast plan: all 64 games live and radio and TV simulcasts
The SABC Board, led by Dr Ben Ngubane, unveiled the organisation's 2010 FIFA World Cup broadcast plan and corporate plan in Parliament today, Friday, 19 March 2010.The corporation's 2010 FIFA…
Broadcast
Zimbabwe: Trial Run for Second Government TV Station
As the liberalisation of the airwaves draws closer in Zimbabwe, the state broadcaster has chosen to launch a second TV channel but one which it says will be much more…
Broadcast
Ethiopia: PM Zenawi compares Voice of America to Rwandan genocide station
In what can only be described as a piece of over-the-top rhetoric, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zanawi compared Voice of America’s broadcasts to his country as comparable to the genocide…
Broadcast
Broadcast In Brief
- The 2010 edition of Maboque Journalism Award is including Cameramen and Sound operators, with a prize estimated at US$ 20,000 each. The information was released Tuesday in Luanda by…
Content
CNN launches Marketplace Africa
CNN International, this week, launched its new programme CNN Marketplace Africa which looks at the dynamics of African business on and off the continent. Each week features major players affecting…
Content
Mauritius – MBC uses its digital channels to offer more languages
MBC’s digital network Télévision Numérique Terrestre (TNT) will be offering new channels that are in several of the languages spoken on the island. The decision was approved by the Council…
Content
South Africa: Children's writer makes breakthrough onto television
A South African childrens writer has made a television breakthrough with his Toby the Tugboat children’s books. Leo Donaldson, 44, a father of two, has signed a contract with Johannesburg…
Content
Cape Winelands Film Festival 2010: Ardman’s Sproxton visits animation academy
After ten days of screenings and events in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the Cape Winelands Film Festival came to an end on Saturday 27 March,…
Content
Content In Brief:
- A new version of the D.H.Lawrence classic Women In Love will be filmed in South Africa and the locations for the film are still under wraps, but star Rosamund…
Distribution
Keynote decision for Africa: UK Sky told to cut wholesale prices by regulator Ofcom
Regulator Ofcom has told Sky it must cut the price it charges rival cable, terrestrial and internet broadcasters to show its premium sports channels, particularly for the English Premier League.…
Distribution
Ten films of Love from ten Southern African countries
Love - Stories, a series of 10 short films for television from 10 countries in southern Africa, will explore the many facets of love. In a time of HIV and…
Distribution
Distribution In Brief:
- Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications unveiled its plans on Wednesday 24 March for its extensive cross- platform coverage plans for the soccer World Cup in South Africa which starts on…
Technology & Convergence
South Africa: Bid to Speed Up Digital Switchover
The Department of Communications, recently criticised for stalling the process that will see TV broadcasting in South Africa transfer from an analogue signal to digital, will hold a meeting next…
Technology & Convergence
Eutelsat to broadcast Zap, Angola’s new satellite TV bouquet
In March 2010, Eutelsat Communications announced that it has signed a major contract with UPSTAR Comunicações for satellite capacity for the broadcasting of ZAP pay-TV platform, expected to launch shortly…
Regulation & Policy
Zimbabwe: Prime Minister urges Media Commission to register new media houses
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on 19 March 2010 urged the newly constituted statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) to speedily register new media houses.In a meeting with members of the Commission,…
Regulation & Policy
DRC: Senator Modeste Mutinga Mutuishayi tries to introduce a media law
Since the end of the monopoly of Voice of Zaire, DRC has become one of the most lively media markets in the whole of Africa. There 107 TV stations, of…
Regulation & Policy
Regulation & Policy In Brief
- Gauteng economic development MEC Firoz Cachalia has cancelled a R3m-a-year contract that international business channel CNBC Africa had signed with the Gauteng Film Commission (GFC). Cachalia's spokesman, Mandla Radebe…
Investment
Launch of a Pan African Media Portal
A joint meeting of experts was held from 23 to 25 March 2010 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), at the initiative of Commissions African Union (AUC) and the European Union (UEC),…
Investment
Kenya: New Media School's Initial Campus Set for Nairobi in 2011
The Aga Khan Development Network has launched a new faculty at the Aga Khan University - the Graduate School of Media and Communications. To be allied to the new Faculty…
Investment
Investment In Brief
- The troubled Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) had accumulated losses of N$170,6 million and a showed a deficit of N$38 million for the financial year which ended in March 2008,…
Opportunities
International Panafrican Film Festival – Cannes: Call for Interns and Volunteers
College and high school students, Professionals, Retirees… you like film, beauty, music, photography…culture. You believe in an ethical world, rich with all its cultures. You dream of a France or…
Opportunities
Opportunities And Requests In Brief:
Sediba international financing programme for producersIn 2009, the NFVF launched the Sediba Advanced International Financing Programme aimed at experienced producers in television drama & feature film products.http://www.nfvf.co.za/document/producers-programme-0http://www.filmcontact.com/south-africa/sediba-international-financing-programme-producersSouth Africa: Applications Open…
More
Technology & Convergence In Brief
- The new advertising data from AGB Nielsen also showed there had been a definite shift in advertising spending from print, radio, cinema and outdoor to television, direct mail and…
