Online Reporter
Tafadzwa Zimoyo-Zimpapers Entertainment Editor
NETFLIX, TikTok and changing audience habits have disrupted traditional broadcasting, but the deeper crisis lies in funding, commissioning and the changing business of local storytelling.
Has Zimbabwe lost its appetite for radio drama, or did broadcasters stop investing in a format that once educated and entertained millions?
In an era of Netflix, TikTok and YouTube, has radio drama become outdated — or has the industry simply failed to adapt to the way audiences now consume stories?
Radio drama is storytelling without pictures, relying on voices, dialogue, music and sound effects to create characters and entire worlds in the listener’s imagination.
For generations, it was a powerful part of Zimbabwe’s entertainment culture, but also an important vehicle for education, social commentary and the preservation of language and values.
Zimpapers Television Network editor cum radio and television personality Ishmael Ndlovu believes the decline has much to do with the money that once supported productions.
“I think most of the dramas were sponsored and, over the years funding for these has dwindled. I remember a radio drama in the 90s, Mopani Junction, which was sponsored by the Media for Development Trust, Ministry of Health and the National Aids Council,” he said.
The example is important because it shows that radio drama was never simply about broadcasters producing programmes out of goodwill.
Sponsorship made it possible to pay writers, actors and production teams while allowing organisations to use drama as an effective way of communicating social and health messages.
When that money dried up, so did many productions.
Ndlovu, however, believes the format still has life.
“I know for a fact, that Farai Mungoshi, son of the late Charles Mungoshi, is bringing back radio drama on Radio Zimbabwe, through dramatising ‘Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura’, a book by his late father.”
That revival is significant.
It suggests that the problem is not necessarily that radio drama has become irrelevant, but that the ecosystem that sustained it has weakened.
Ndlovu believes social media and the internet may contribute to moral decay, particularly among impressionable young people.
“Some studies suggest that social media and the internet in general are contributing to moral decay in society, moreso among impressionable youths.”
His solution is not to fight technology, but to ensure local content has a stronger presence.
“What can be done to preserve morality and to avoid total cultural collapse would perhaps be to encourage the production of skits that promote local values and customs to sort of dilute foreign influence with its attendant moral challenges.”
This approach is already visible in some local programming.
Ndlovu points to ZTN’s Munhava Munei?, which discusses issues in Shona, and Village Court, which captures traditional court hearings in vernacular.
“As far as dramas are concerned, ZTN once ran a Ndebele language comedy drama, Madlela, which was well received by viewers who understood the language. It also had subtitles in English for those who did not understand the language.”
These programmes demonstrate that local languages and traditions can remain relevant even within a rapidly changing media environment.
Ndlovu said audiences themselves have changed.
“Entertainment patterns have also changed. Rarely do families sit down together to listen to radio and this could be discouraging the production of dramas. The same applies to television. Viewing patterns have changed, largely due to the influence of social media, Netflix etc.”
The family audience that once gathered around one radio or television set has fragmented.
One person can be watching Netflix, another scrolling TikTok and another listening to music on a phone — all in the same room.
That makes the economics of producing expensive serial drama increasingly difficult.
ZBC television producer and literature expert Terrence Mapurisana puts the funding issue bluntly: “By the way, the issue of content is hinged on funding. As long as there is no funding, content will be difficult to get. The more you have funding, the more you get content from independent producers.”
This may be the most important part of the debate.
It is easy to blame audiences for abandoning local drama, but audiences cannot consume productions that broadcasters are no longer commissioning.
Drama requires investment, even on radio. There are writers, actors, directors, producers, sound engineers, studios and post-production costs. Television drama carries an even heavier financial burden.
When budgets are squeezed, broadcasters understandably turn to cheaper programming.
But Mapurisana identifies another problem — the supply of stories.
“Also remember radio dramas were based on novels like, ‘Ziva Kwavakabva’, ‘Mapenzi’, ‘Pafunge’, ‘Tambaoga Mwanagu’, etc. Writers like Aaron Chiundura Moyo, Professor Kahari, Alexander Kanengoni, Dr Ignatius Mabasa used to write books that were adaptable to radio due to their serious teachings, hence those who grew up in that era were cultured.”
He added: “These days we hardly see authors of this category, coming up with such novels with themes of identity, family dynamics, which are reflective of Zimbabwe’s historical and contemporary issues.”
This raises the question of whether Zimbabwe has lost not only its radio drama culture, but also the strong literary pipeline that once fed it.
Yet authors should not carry all the blame.
Writers respond to markets and opportunities.
If radio stations are not commissioning drama, there is little incentive to write specifically for radio.
Today’s writer can instead produce a TikTok series, YouTube drama, podcast or online story and reach an audience directly.
Veteran playwright Aaron Chiundura Moyo believes the disappearance of radio drama cannot simply be blamed on new technology.
Moyo points out that television drama has not completely disappeared, with local productions still appearing on ZTV, 3K and other stations, as well as on regional broadcasters.
“But as for radio dramas I really don’t know why the radio stations management chose to do away with them. I see it as an administrative decision, nothing else.”
His argument challenges the convenient narrative that audiences simply moved on.
Did listeners actually reject radio drama?
Or did broadcasters decide that other programming was cheaper, easier or more commercially attractive?
Moyo also rejects the idea that Netflix and streaming platforms are solely responsible.
“I think the advent of Netflix among others has largely affected the big screen, movies from Hollywood more than it has done to television and radio dramas for obvious reasons.”
“I don’t remember viewers and listeners advising TV and radio stations to do away with dramas ever since. Those dramas played an important role in entertaining, educating and informing people of all ages.”
That social role is difficult to measure in ratings alone.
Moyo believes the older generation was shaped by the programmes it consumed.
“Back then Radio and Television programmes, but drama in particular, groomed a large section of the society. I for one, am a product of Old Radio and Television.”
He is now urging broadcasters, particularly the growing community-radio sector, to reconsider drama.
But the industry cannot simply return to yesterday.
Arts critic Clive Mono Mukundu believes technological change has transformed the entire entertainment chain.
“Radio dramas became obsolete once nearly everyone had a television at home. They were very relevant during a period when televisions were scarce. Dramas constantly rely on visuals.”
He adds: “The internet arrived just as television dramas were gaining popularity. As a result, they were forced to compete for audiences with modern media consumed on-the-go, on the phones, such as Netflix and general social media platforms like TikTok.”
Mono Mukundu believes the rise of short-form content has fundamentally altered audience behaviour.
“It is well documented that the current generation has short attention spans. This is well suited to TikTok’s very short skits. So, just as TV took business away from cinemas, social media took business away from television.”
There is certainly truth in this.
But there is also an important international lesson.
Britain’s BBC has kept radio drama alive alongside television, streaming and social media. The Archers, which began in 1951, remains one of the world’s longest-running radio dramas.
Its survival demonstrates that radio drama does not automatically become obsolete when new platforms arrive.
The lesson is not that Zimbabwe should recreate The Archers. It is that a format can survive if broadcasters continue to invest in it, refresh it and make it available through new forms of listening.
Radio drama could be broadcast traditionally while simultaneously being released as a podcast. Novels could be adapted into audio series. Community stations could commission shorter serials in Shona, Ndebele and other local languages. Television dramas could be produced with YouTube and other digital platforms in mind from the beginning.
