Entertainment / TV Guide
New digital terrestrial TV launched in Harare
27 Feb 2013 at 11:12hrs | Views
A new digital terrestrial television channel, Go-TV, which is the only pay television provider, has been launched in Harare at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
Go-TV, which is already in a number of African countries but was launched in Zimbabwe this Wednesday, is seen as the first step to make terrestrial pay television services available in the country.
Speaking at the official launch of pay television service provider, the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu said Go-TV Zimbabawe will roll out digital terrestrial television service starting with urban centres.
He added that Transmedia, which is a shareholder in Go-TV, would use proceeds from this joint venture to expand the network to the rest of the country as per its mandate.
"Africa has successfully launched this technology in other African countries. MultiChoice has been providing satellite broadcast services through franchise held by a local company called Skynet and this joint venture is a giant step in the right direction. This is an opportunity to reach out to more audiences," Minister Shamu said.
MultiChoice Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer, Lovemore Mangwende, whose company's shareholding structure is 60% in Go-TV partnership, said Go-TV will provide a broad range of content, cutting across news, current affairs, general entertainment, documentaries, music, sports and a host of other household channels.
"Some of the most exciting African and international channels that will be available to Go-TV subscribers include ZBC, Africa Magic, Select Sport, Discovery Channel, Aljazeera, Disney Junior and Channel O, to mention but a few," Mangwende said.
ZBC Group Chief Executive Officer, Happison Muchechetere said ZBC will benefit in a number of ways with the joint venture, adding that the partnership will ensure that subscribers enjoy future channel expansion.
"This partnership will help us as well in the digitalisation process, whose deadline is August 2013," Mr Muchechetere said.
The shareholding structure of Go-TV is 60% to MultiChoice, 30% to the government of Zimbabwe through Transmedia while Skynet has a 10%.
The terrestrial television channel is also available in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.
Go-TV, which is already in a number of African countries but was launched in Zimbabwe this Wednesday, is seen as the first step to make terrestrial pay television services available in the country.
Speaking at the official launch of pay television service provider, the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu said Go-TV Zimbabawe will roll out digital terrestrial television service starting with urban centres.
He added that Transmedia, which is a shareholder in Go-TV, would use proceeds from this joint venture to expand the network to the rest of the country as per its mandate.
"Africa has successfully launched this technology in other African countries. MultiChoice has been providing satellite broadcast services through franchise held by a local company called Skynet and this joint venture is a giant step in the right direction. This is an opportunity to reach out to more audiences," Minister Shamu said.
"Some of the most exciting African and international channels that will be available to Go-TV subscribers include ZBC, Africa Magic, Select Sport, Discovery Channel, Aljazeera, Disney Junior and Channel O, to mention but a few," Mangwende said.
ZBC Group Chief Executive Officer, Happison Muchechetere said ZBC will benefit in a number of ways with the joint venture, adding that the partnership will ensure that subscribers enjoy future channel expansion.
"This partnership will help us as well in the digitalisation process, whose deadline is August 2013," Mr Muchechetere said.
The shareholding structure of Go-TV is 60% to MultiChoice, 30% to the government of Zimbabwe through Transmedia while Skynet has a 10%.
The terrestrial television channel is also available in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.
Source - zbc
