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Arts Reporter
It’s almost 100 years since television was invented and, in the years since this 1928 creation, the medium has developed in leaps and bounds.
“World TV Day on November 21 gave us all a chance to reflect on the massive impact of this development and what it means to people across the world,” said Charity Njanji, corporate affairs and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe.
World TV Day is an initiative of the United Nations, which said this year that even in the digital age, television remained the single largest source of information, education and entertainment in the world.
“The humble TV is still the most popular way to consume video content and it is a medium that unites people around the common desire to be informed, educated and entertained,” she said.
Television was invented in 1928 but it was only in 1938 that people started buying TV sets to see the pioneering broadcasts of the first television shows, which the few people, able to do so could enjoy together as a family in their homes.
TV revolutionised the world of entertainment, which until then had been all about live theatre or shows, as well as films in cinemas.
Television was the first opportunity to bring this whole world of entertainment into the home environment.
Later, satellite television transformed the way in which people watched television starting with access to international events and then the arrival of satellite TV broadcasts. The first TV programmes to be broadcast via satellite came on the airwaves in 1976 and the first satellite-TV service for viewers arrived in 1990.
“It took 50 years for people to go from watching a single TV station in black and white and in limited time periods, to being able to access hundreds of channels of 24/7 programming by way of satellite broadcasts,” said Njanji.
Because of public demand, the size of TV screens in homes became bigger and bigger, while in recent years small screens have also become in popular demand as people got used to mobile devices.
In 2003 the world was introduced to the first mobile TV in America through a service capable of streaming a limited number of live video and audio feeds. The service used the internet to do this, paving the way for the streaming services so ubiquitous today.
Although mobile streaming has taken off in recent years, with people increasingly watching content on their cellphones, this has still not been enough to tempt viewers to switch full time from their much-loved TV sets to their devices.
According to the DASH 2023 TV Universe Study, only six percent of US households watch TV exclusively on their mobile devices. The good old TV set remains the primary device for watching video entertainment at home, accounting for 84 percent of viewing in the US last year. Similar statistics are seen in most other countries, where TV sets are still favoured over mobile screens.
Digital streaming has given TV as a medium a new lease on life, as satellite-TV providers – the original trailblazers of modern TV – have embraced streaming to offer next-generation TV.
Njanji said that in Sub-Saharan Africa, pay-TV remained the most popular way of accessing video entertainment.
“Findings released by Digital TV Research earlier this year show that 12 million pay-TV subscribers will come online in Africa between 2023 and 2029, pointing to the ongoing potential of satellite-TV to connect African viewers to the latest in entertainment, whether through existing satellite channels or new streaming products,” she said.
“As convenient as it is for viewers to have a TV in their pockets, streaming on digital devices is unlikely to replace the joy of sharing entertainment together from a TV set in the heart of the family home any time soon.”
The leading satellite-TV provider in Africa, MultiChoice, has seen viewing trends and digital devices come and go over the years as TV has evolved. The broadcaster has been at the forefront of technological breakthroughs, innovating to ensure the best video entertainment is always only a remote click away.
MultiChoice introduced its first DStv decoder in 1995, pioneering in its field to offer digital satellite TV of European digital video broadcasting standards. This was followed by the first PVR and dual view decoder in the world (2005), Africa’s first high-definition PVR (2008), the award-winning Explora (2015) and the Explora Ultra (2021) with streaming capabilities.
Njanji said that, in addition to all these innovations, MultiChoice has created Box Office, Catch Up, Showmax and, most recently, DStv Stream, the all-inclusive home entertainment platform. MultiChoice has tried to consistently keep pace with changing technology to bring TV content to African viewers in the way they wish to view it.
“Since 1988 MultiChoice has focused on quality TV content to become the continent’s most popular storyteller, but it has also focused on technology to ensure Africa is not left behind in the advancement of the television industry,” she said.
The United Nations has also said that although screen sizes have changed and although people create, post, stream and consume content on different platforms today, the number of households with TV sets around the world continues to rise.
‘The interaction between emerging and traditional forms of broadcast creates a great opportunity to raise awareness about the important issues facing communities, countries and the planet,”said Njanji.
“Despite the shift in audiovisual content consumption to different platforms and the constantly evolving technology, TV remains important as a communication tool.
“TV is now a dynamic connector in the daily lives of billions, through news, cultural moments, events, sport, entertainment and everything else, bringing people together and driving conversation. Its resilience in adapting to a digital world speaks of its unique ability to inform, inspire and connect each of us to just about everyone else.”
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