The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe – Leisure Correspondent
ELEVEN months after pledging to clear its debts, especially those owed to content creators; national broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is yet to do so.
Mmatema OR KARABO? . . .Idols SA Season 11 climaxes tonight with Mmatema Moremi and Karabo Mogane going head-to-head in what pundits have described as “anyone’s game”. Tonight’s finale, which features guest performances from MiCasa, Judith Sephuma, Cassper Novest, and the Idols SA Season 11 Top 10, will also see the results being announced live at the Carnival City. And rumour has it that even Somizi Mhlongo might be coming out from behind the judges’ desk! Tickets are already sold out but the grand finale will be broadcast live on M-Net, channel 101 on DStv, and Mzansi Magic, channel 161.
This is despite the fact that the debts are a mere US$84 000.The ZBC acting chief executive officer Patrick Mavhura admitted that ZBC is still to clear some debts to various artistes.
“I do not have the specific figure off head but we have been paying and I think if there are any arrears they won’t exceed $20 000.”And therefore with the promises made to local content producers not fulfilled, many frustrated artistes have resorted to withholding their content while some have found a new home at Zambezi Magic.
ZTV, which has operated as the only television broadcaster in the country for the past three decades, with their Joy TV and ZBC-TV2 stations having short stints on air before being terminated, has lost most of its audience and its programming has been a major factor behind this drop.
Though ZTV has taken some serious reformation steps in the past four months which have seen it use 21st century graphics as well as titivating News Hour, the birth of Zambezi Magic (Channel 160 on DStv) is a cause for concern for the national broadcaster.Launched on July 1 2015, the channel marks the beginning of a new era in terms of content on DStv. For the first time, DStv has a channel specifically for Southern African countries, outside South Africa.
Zambezi Magic has given filmmakers in Zimbabwe and the rest of Southern Africa an opportunity to have their projects shown on one of Africa’s biggest television platforms.
Just like their other regional channels such as Maisha Magic and Africa Magic – MultiChoice Africa via DStv wants Zambezi Magic to be the go to channel in Southern Africa.
Earlier this year, ZBC called for local film producers to submit their concepts. This was followed up by various meetings between the broadcaster and the content creators across the country’s provinces.
However, this development did not yield much as some producers were not pleased by the payment terms offered by the national broadcaster.
On the other hand, Zambezi Magic is offering a much better deal financially. Their reach is also spread across the whole of Southern Africa, thereby posing serious competition for ZTV.Moreover, artistes are not happy with ZTV as the Zimbabwe Arts and Culture Industry Association (ZACIA) is breathing fire over ZBC’s failure to honour its commitments.“In a Meeting held between ZACIA and ZBC on January 9 this year at the Harare International Conference Centre, the acting chief executive Patrick Mavhura made a public commitment to clear the then US$84 000 that the national broadcaster owed. That has not been the case. In a follow up meeting held at the beginning of October again the ZBC acting chief executive reaffirmed his commitment to clear the debt, even promising to do it by October 15 2015 but nothing has happened,” said ZACIA president Boniface Chimedza.He added: “Artistes are turned away when they go to claim their money. So how can they expect to get content or grow the station? Worse still how can they compete with other broadcasters on the continent when they do not want to pay?”
Already, a top talk show ‘Tonight with Zororo’, which was once submitted to ZTV is now being aired on Zambezi. Another exciting show on Zambezi Magic is ‘Zim Top 10’ – a weekly chart show of Zimbabwe’s best videos. This has become one of the top five shows on the station in terms of ratings. As the festive season fast approaches, many families want quality entertainment and one thing that gets people glued to their screens are movies. This area has also been a weak link for ZTV as they have become predictable over the years with the Terminator movies and The Bourne franchise dominating airplay.
Zambezi Magic is, however, offering brand new local and regional movies. For instance, a local movie “Maria’s Vision” will start showing on the channel this month and is on the list of the many local productions that ZTV will lose to Zambezi Magic.
In a recent statement, Zambezi Magic Channel Head Addiel Dzinoreva said, “We have content that our audiences are proud of and can also identify with. It gives us such a pleasure to be able to present this amazing line-up that will continue to reflect the stories and different lifestyles of Zimbabweans.
“We have great content from Zimbabwe. The more support we get from Zimbabweans, the more Zimbabwean stories we will be able to tell and share with the rest of the continent.”This December, Zambezi Magic will start broadcasting for 24 hours and Dzinoreva has revealed that they have more exciting local and regional programmes lined up and he will be revealing them in due course.
For now, Zambezi is still in its teething stages and one wonders what will become of ZTV once things stabilise at Zambezi.
Because of the reach of the channel, it wouldn’t be suprising if many advertising companies were to migrate to Zambezi Magic.But Mavhura is optimistic that the national broadcaster will remain relevant despite the advent of upcoming stations.
“Some channels are there to take advantage of the multichannel environment that will be created when we go digital. However, we have put in place measures to ensure we are able to match what they will be providing.
“We are forming over 20 crews that will go on nationwide tours to work on commissioned productions in areas such as sport, children’s shows, farming and business, among many others. We have been dealing with the independent content producers and we know what is on the ground.“For some productions we will work in partnership with the content creator and others we will give guidance to the producer and commission their work. We know what our society and various cultures need and the content we will produce will fit into the national content stream. So we have upped our game and can face up with competitors,” said Mavhura.
Considering the latest developments in the industry, the ball is in ZTV’s court to try and come up with strategies to counter what Zambezi is offering.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to bread and butter issues for most local producers. If the local broadcaster fails to satisfy their needs, they are most likely going to lose out on some exciting local content.
