ZBC content deal with Econet Media collapses ending Olympics & English Premier League coverage on local TV

Nigel Gambanga Avatar
Econet Media, FTA Channels, English Football

The content deal that was recently concluded between the local broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and Econet Media has collapsed.

A week ago the two entities announced that they had reached an agreement which allowed ZBC to flight some of the content that Econet Media has been distributing through its new channel, Kwesé Free Sports.

Since the deal was announced ZBC had been providing coverage of the Olympics and had started showing one live football match from the English Premier League (EPL) every week.

According to sources close to the matter, the deal was terminated by ZBC though no official reason has been provided for this.

There hasn’t been any statement released by ZB or Econet regarding this development as yet and we are yet to receive an official comment.

Our assumption is that the collapse of the deal could have been influenced either by economic considerations where Econet and ZBC failed to agree on dynamics around the monetisation the content; or it could have just been another case of bad blood between Econet and a state entity.

Whatever the case, though, the biggest losers are the ZBC viewers who will now miss out on the Olympics as well as that one free EPL match which is a step in the wrong direction for the local broadcaster.

17 comments

  1. Muzukuru

    ZBC is just allergic to good content. The top management probably felt that this was against their sole stated goal of dishing out thinly veiled and not so veiled propaganda to the masses. A football match is 45+mins long and during that time there is no opportunity to fawn and praise He-who-shall-not-be-named with over the top cliches.

  2. From Mberengwa

    Sad news indeed….not all of us can afford DStv and this had come as a relief to some of us down in the rural Mberengwa here…..sad development

  3. Tintin

    Kuramba zvemahara shuwa shuwa …… State media ngaisadaro so

  4. mwanamwana

    well ZBC uses DSTV to broadcast the what we watch and dont ask me how they do that. All i know is while watching the channel gets changed or the volume gets adjusted and ZBC possibly upgraded to and Explora or the HD version based on the info bar changes over the years.

    So if said deal failed its probably coz DSTV gave ZBC pressure, form giving kwese free marketing and advertising platform coz we all know kwese’s end game is not for a slot on little al’ZBCs platform.

    And if anyone has failed to monetize its the ZBC marketing team coz i hear one of the deals with content providers is advertizing place is spit 50:50 they half and said content provider takes half. and clearly the half that was working was Econets as we saw Steward Bank, and Ecocash adds.
    @Muzukuru is probably correct to say ZBC is just allergic to good content.

    1. Inini

      Mwanamwana if your thought happens to be true then you should know that a state broadcaster cannot be held to ransom by a foreign owned private business entity (dstv), either ztv sjouild do everything possible to broadcast quality and relevant content to their stakeholders(Zimbabwean viewers) or else cut the dstv deal, after all nobody who is subscribed to dstv watches ztv on the dstv platform so the dstv deal adds little if any value in terms of ztyv’s reach, remember ztv on dstv platform is only available in zimbabwe

  5. Mwendamberi

    The best news I have heard today, ndanga ndashaya kuti network yedu yaroiwa here! Thumbs up!

  6. Mfana wenTonaz

    The Strive Masiyiwa allergic Zanu PF at play

  7. Mukanya

    The ZANU PF ZBC tantrums at play once more!!!!
    Boxed thinking.

  8. Stephen Mudere

    I think a certain entity has given certain individuals who call themselves the state some tough moments.

  9. Macd Chip

    I think KweseTV was demanding too much for ZBC to handle things like:

    – efficient programs running with no interruptions to show slogans
    – quality broadcasting like signal management
    – timely programs broadcast without delay to show important minister donation campaigns
    – effective management of resources

    This was just too much for ZBC!

    1. Svina_yenhepfenyuro!!!

      they show tht stuff all week repeatedly, they cant suck it up jus 4 90 minutes, tz nt lyk thy hv anythn beta 2 show in that time slot, basa nderekungotiratidza miradza ne munya wezvinhu zvakatambiwa kudhara n poor quality n lacklusture content, hanzi digitalisation kudigilitira svina iyoyo….nxaa, backward boxed thnkn @ its best!!!!

  10. taquedzwae

    huh huh the so called zbc should be changed to zanu pf tv .bcoz that tv channel is censored .it is based on the likes of zanu pf….strive had given them a good offer but . ..the controllers of the tv rejected …(zanu pf) so

  11. taquedzwae

    apa varikutiburitsira zvibasketball zvekudhara …..zvinobhowa …ummmm wese anoona zbc rasa hko tv yacho hazvibatsire

  12. Yes

    Can anything good come out of zanu pf?

  13. John

    So Ztv yu scrapped live EPL deal so that u bring is this delayed basketball ……do yo research well to find wat pipo want to watch

  14. Anonymous

    pedze zvanzi bhadharai license nxaaa

  15. Lovemore

    Muri Mhata dzevanhu vanhu veZanu TV

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