admin
Harare Bureau
The contentious listeners’ licence fee charged to everyone with a receiver will be scrapped, says the Permanent Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Cde George Charamba.The Broadcasting Services Act (BAZ), which penalises the possession of a radio or television signal receiver without a valid licence, has over the years come under severe criticism as some argued that the possession or ownership of a television signal receiver does not necessarily mean it was intended for purposes of accessing ZBC’s broadcast material.
ZBC, in its capacity as the nation’s public broadcaster, has been the sole beneficiary of the listeners’ licence fees. However, Cde Charamba, who confirmed the development during deliberations with ZiFM staffers in Nyanga yesterday at the radio station’s strategic workshop, said the fee was not serving its intended purpose, hence the decision to scrap it.
“We are getting to a time when the listeners’ fee has to be scrapped. The Broadcasting Services Act requires that all stations make a provision for Government Airtime (GAT), uphold the 75 percent local content concept, promotion of national languages and dialects yet only the so-called public broadcaster then gets to benefit out of it.
“After all, the absurdity of the legal instrument is exposed by the fact that mere possession of a receiver attracts a licence fee and with all the communication gadgets around us it means almost everyone has to pay a licence fee even when one owns a phone. We have made a decision as a ministry and get it from me it will soon be a thing of the past,” he said.
Cde Charamba said the financial situation in the media industry was gloomy.
“If our goal in 2000 was to destroy all dissenting media houses, as some would want to perceive things, then we are now presented with the chance to destroy them without firing a single shot.
“We had a chance to visit media houses recently and the situation is gloomy. AMH is not a happy story. Go to ANZ, it is not a happy story neither.
“The only institution that is close to keeping its head above the water is Zimpapers. We are facing a real catastrophe in the industry.
“We have replayed the political story forgetting that we have a responsibility to create business ideas to survive in such an environment,” he added.
The ZiFM retreat, which started yesterday, ends tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) delegation will visit the country’s provinces to assess whether or not applicants who applied for radio licences meet the required conditions, BAZ chief executive Obert Maganyura said.
In a statement obtained from BAZ by our Harare Bureau, applications were as follows: Harare (6), Bulawayo (5), Lupane (2), Victoria Falls (2), while Gweru, Zvishavane, Bindura and Masvingo had one applicant each.
Maganyura said the licensing process would be different from the last time when ZiFM and StarFM were licensed.
“The licensing will have a new time licensing process. Last time it took six to eight months as it was licensing of national commercial radio stations but this time around it’s licensing of local commercial radio stations hence the process is expected to be faster,” he said.
Maganyura confirmed that the licensing process is still at the bottom level of short listing and they are almost ready to get in the public inquiry stage.
“In the public inquiry stage, the radio station applicant will be subjected to a series of questions from the board and the masses of that area,” he said.
Online Reporter