Govt Promises 12 TV Channels By August

At this point, the idea or rhetoric that there will be new TV channels coming to Zimbabwean airwaves has become a broken record. We’ve heard it before. We heard it in 2019. We heard it in 2018. In fact, as far back as 2015, we heard it…

Now we are hearing it again, with Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana promising that by August there will be 6 independent TV channels alongside new state channels.

By the end of the year, in fact by August this year, our aim is to have at least six independent television channels.

We are also availing six channels for the national broadcaster, ZBC, so all in all we will be having 12 television channels.

Nick Mangwana

Whilst this is a welcome development, we also echoed the same exact thoughts every other time this announcement has been made and we’ve been waiting for this development for 5 years now.

The licensing of these channels will no doubt be a huge deal as the channels will require content and thus create more opportunities in the entertainment industry. Outside of content creators, the coming of a digitalised local television network also represents a massive opportunity for advertisers who will not only have a wider variety of platforms to advertise on but also analytics on who they are advertising – marking a new age for advertisers using mass media in Zimbabwe.