The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe
CHAMPAGNE showers and lit skies from a beautiful fireworks display were some highlights of the day on Thursday evening as Zimbabwe’s third local television station, ZTN Prime, was launched.
The channel was officially unveiled at the Newlands Country Club in Harare.
The electric atmosphere at the glitzy event saw the who’s who in the country’s business, media and political spheres converge.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa was the guest of honour.
It was a night characterised by jubilation. Everyone was ecstatic ahead of the channel going live on DStv on May 24.
“We are excited to be launching the television station as it has been a long journey. It is a big night for us. We hope to go live next week (this Tuesday),” said ZTN general manager Ms Nomsa Nkala.
The unveiling comes a few weeks after another independent channel 3K TV was launched and the recent coming on board of the country’s first-ever youth-centred music channel, Jive TV.
Many had anticipated that ZTN Prime would go live first ahead of all the other channels that were licensed after it but it took time to perfect its product.
The launch of the channel is part of Zimpapers expansion drive into the digital space.
It comes against the backdrop of a series of successful top-notch productions which it has been carrying out online over the past six years.
Some of these include the world- class coverage of former President Robert Mugabe’s funeral, intriguing current affairs debates on “The Chase”, candid news reporting on “News Blitz” as well as music and dance on the “Gara Mumba” productions – a major highlight during the lockdown.
These and many other programmes have prepped viewers that now eagerly await the Tuesday debut on DStv. A preview of some of the films which will be airing on the channel at the launch showed that the ZTN team is not just all about news and current affairs.
Already, the channel has the rights to screen the local premier soccer league, which is another plus.
Many were already tuning in on the ZTN social media platforms to watch local soccer teams in action and with the latest development, the situation can only get sweeter.
Quality will and has always been prioritised. The ZTN Prime team has its work cut out as it starts this journey in this cutthroat industry.
However, with a vastly talented human resource base, nothing will be impossible.
“We believe our people have the capacity to produce quality content,” reckons Zimpapers Group chief executive officer Mr Pikirayi Deketeke.
