Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
EXPERIENCED playwright and author, Raisedon Baya has laid down the gauntlet to nascent television channels to improve their programming if they are to retain a robust viewership.
“New local television channels need to be disruptive, go against the grain, do things ZBCtv never did before or even thought of.
“That is the only way to grab viewers’ attention and bring back advertisers to television,” Baya said.
According to the Intwasa Arts Festival KoBulawayo Director, putting clear daylight between the channels is hard. He thinks there is not much of an upgrade from what was already there.
“I think the challenge is to push different identities. We must know how different each channel is from the other in terms of content, style, voices and ideology.
“A lot of people that I have spoken to also think that there is not much of a difference,” he said.
The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (Baz) licensed new independent commercial television stations to consolidate the country’s flagship station, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. These included Jive Tv, 3Ktv, Jester Media, Rusununguko, Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN), and Channel Dzimbahwe among other channels.
For a long time, ZBCtv has been under scrutiny for poor programming and the licensing of new television stations was to provide the necessary competition for it. – @eMKlass_49
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