Fears that AMH will create a media monopoly in Zimbabwe

There are fears that the newspaper group, Alpha Media Holding will morph into a media monopoly if given a chance to venture into radio

AMH chairman Trevor Ncube yesterday worked hard to dispelled these fears.

Ncube was part of an AMH team that made a pitch for a licence for Capital FM, a proposed Harare metro radio station that has links with the newspaper publishing house. AMH last week also pitched its proposals for a single commercial radio licence slot available in Bulawayo under Skyz FM.

"We should get the licence because we think we deserve it. We think we can provide jobs and we think no one is doing what we are proposing in Harare," he said.

"Research has shown that media that focus on local issues are the most successful."

Capital FM and Yes FM made their public presentations to the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) on their applications to be awarded the Harare commercial radio licence.

Capital FM, owned by Carryslot which is linked to AMH, was the first to make its presentation where it said it was ready to operate a radio station in Harare if granted a licence.

Kangai Maukazuva, the Capital FM chief executive officer, led a panel that included Ncube, publisher Rita Chinyoka and editor-in-chief Vincent Kahiya, as well as Chris Masikati, Lovemore Nyabadza and Sifikile Thabete.

Yes FM, led by radio personality Innocent Tshuma, also made its case yesterday.

However, it faced a torrid time from BAZ who asked about their finances and budget they had presented in their application.

The company yesterday presented a substantially different financial plan to the one they made in their original application.