News / National
Mugabe the 'big winner' in SABC channels cuts
03 Jul 2013 at 04:32hrs | Views
Following Monday's decision by the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation to disconnected its channels on the free to air decoder users, political analyst are saying this move will deprive Zimbabwean voters an alternative source of news ahead of elections due later this month.
The switching-off of the SABC channels ahead of elections means that the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), remains the only source of information.
ZBC has already hailed South African television signal carrier, Sentech, for finally encrypting its signals on free-to-air decoders.
The ZBC's record of partisan broadcasting in favour of President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party has left many in Zimbabwe with little confidence in the ZBC's credibility.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been pushing for media reforms, and in particular an overhaul of the state broadcaster as a prerequisite to holding free and fair elections.
Douglas Mwonzora, spokesman for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party, said on Tuesday the state broadcaster had over the years turned itself into a "conveyor belt" of Zanu-PF propaganda.
Doubt remains over the implementation of media reforms, as the ZBC and the state-owned media have served as a consistent propaganda outlet for Zanu-PF and are again expected to do so ahead of the July 31 election.
Trevor Maisiri, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the decision would limit media choices for a section of Zimbabweans.
"By default, Mr Mugabe is the biggest beneficiary in all this. It is most likely that those affected will have a choice to watch more of the ZBC, but whether they do that or not is unclear," said Mr Maisiri.
ZBC spokesman, Sivukile Simango, said as the nation's broadcaster they were happy that finally Sentech had complied with international laws as the beaming of pirated programmes in other countries was unlawful.
People from all walks of life took to the social networks, bemoaning the blackout. Some felt ZBC-TV has been a letdown, due to its poor programming.
"People have a wrong perception, they look down upon their own programmes like Tiriparwendo, but are quick to watch other similar programmes like SA's Muvhango," Simango said.
Zimbabweans still can access South African TV channels by subscribing to DSTV through MultiChoice, but a few can afford the charges. The cheapest subscription is $10 per month, while the premium subscription is $72 per month.
Before the switching off, Zimbabwe had the highest broadcast piracy rate in Africa, 92%, according to Research Board International, and has more than 3-million satellite dishes.
The SABC channels have become popular with thousands of Zimbabweans, who are frustrated by poor programming, a dearth of local broadcasting standards and a lack of variety from the ZBC.
The switching-off of the SABC channels ahead of elections means that the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), remains the only source of information.
ZBC has already hailed South African television signal carrier, Sentech, for finally encrypting its signals on free-to-air decoders.
The ZBC's record of partisan broadcasting in favour of President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party has left many in Zimbabwe with little confidence in the ZBC's credibility.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been pushing for media reforms, and in particular an overhaul of the state broadcaster as a prerequisite to holding free and fair elections.
Douglas Mwonzora, spokesman for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party, said on Tuesday the state broadcaster had over the years turned itself into a "conveyor belt" of Zanu-PF propaganda.
Doubt remains over the implementation of media reforms, as the ZBC and the state-owned media have served as a consistent propaganda outlet for Zanu-PF and are again expected to do so ahead of the July 31 election.
Trevor Maisiri, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the decision would limit media choices for a section of Zimbabweans.
"By default, Mr Mugabe is the biggest beneficiary in all this. It is most likely that those affected will have a choice to watch more of the ZBC, but whether they do that or not is unclear," said Mr Maisiri.
ZBC spokesman, Sivukile Simango, said as the nation's broadcaster they were happy that finally Sentech had complied with international laws as the beaming of pirated programmes in other countries was unlawful.
People from all walks of life took to the social networks, bemoaning the blackout. Some felt ZBC-TV has been a letdown, due to its poor programming.
"People have a wrong perception, they look down upon their own programmes like Tiriparwendo, but are quick to watch other similar programmes like SA's Muvhango," Simango said.
Zimbabweans still can access South African TV channels by subscribing to DSTV through MultiChoice, but a few can afford the charges. The cheapest subscription is $10 per month, while the premium subscription is $72 per month.
Before the switching off, Zimbabwe had the highest broadcast piracy rate in Africa, 92%, according to Research Board International, and has more than 3-million satellite dishes.
The SABC channels have become popular with thousands of Zimbabweans, who are frustrated by poor programming, a dearth of local broadcasting standards and a lack of variety from the ZBC.
Source - BDlive
