Today sees the start in Johannesburg of the 7th Annual Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum (DBSF) – an initiative from the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO). With 22 African countries members of the Commonwealth, the continent’s migration from analogue broadcasting to digital terrestrial television (DTT) is a matter of great interest to the CTO, an international development agency mandated to help developing countries bridge the digital divide.
Screen Africa was fortunate enough to be granted interview time with the CTO Chief Operating Officer (COO) Bashir Patel, who delegates of previous DBSF events will remember for his vast expert insight and affable personality.
I asked Bashir whether the CTO has seen tangible progress between DBSF events of Africa’s migration, fully conscious of the fact that South Africa is well overdue for its own DTT launch. Bashir reported that East Africa was doing particularly well, with Kenya and Tanzania forging ahead, followed by Uganda. Nigeria and Ghana are leading the way in West Africa, with Sierra Leone and Senegal trailing a bit behind. Southern African countries are either in the planning stage or, like South Africa, in the trial and preparatory stage...Read more
Two big occurrences in the South African industry this week – the announcement of a new CEO for the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and the publishing of the Amendment to the Digital Migration Policy of 2008 by Minister of Communications Dina Pule.
As Screen Africa readers may recall, soon after the last NFVF CEO Eddie Mbalo (who has suddenly popped up as the interim CEO of satellite subscription service TopTV) completed his 10-year tenure at the NFVF in March 2011, the NFVFs chief financial officer Karen Son was appointed CEO. This was thought to be a good move as Son's many years with the NFVF saw her au fait with the intricacies of the film and TV industry. Yet surprisingly, a few weeks later Son was un-appointed CEO and appointed acting CEO until a new one was found. This seemed, to this onlooker at any rate, an inexplicable and unfair decision.
Late yesterday afternoon came an NFVF press release announcing that Zamantungwa (Zama) Mkosi has been appointed CEO. As you can read in the Breaking News story below, Mkosi has an impressive CV with a five-year stint at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) as the senior legal advisor to the Media & Motion Pictures Division. She was also an executive producer on the award-winning TV series, Heartlines....Read more
QUESTION: Dear Auntie Scaffie
I am deeply, deeply upset and require serious counselling. I have just read in all the newspapers and on the Internet that no matric or qualifications or previous experience are necessary to land a top technology job at a broadcaster. Well, I qualify on all the above counts but you won’t believe what happened to me. I sent in my application to the first broadcaster I could find and they told me to get knotted. It’s not fair! I know absolutely nothing so therefore I’m perfect for the job! What can I do to rectify the situation? Please help me Auntie Scaffie!
Signed: Fully Qualified
AUNTIE SCAFFIE RESPONDS: Dear Fully Qualified
Now do not fret my little lamb chop. No doubt someone somewhere sometime will require a person with just your total lack of qualifications and experience. And remember, while conventional wisdom says that anyone has the chance of slowly making their way up the corporate ladder by working extremely hard, it’s much quicker to cultivate chums in important positions. So, might I suggest that you work on your charm skills and then trawl executive hang-outs at every opportunity. You’ll be amazed at the results. And be encouraged by the fact that it is apparently possible to land a top job at a broadcaster in just three days.
Signed: Auntie Scaffie...Read more
Those attending South African Minister of Communications Dina Pule’s first engagement with the media (held on 24 January in Pretoria) since her appointment three months ago might have expected to hear the announcement of the digital terrestrial television launch date. While the Minister had definite progress to report in the country’s protracted digital migration project, the launch date itself was absent from her speech. When pressed by a question from the floor Ms Pule said that it would likely be in the third quarter of the year.
DTT is certainly not the only thing on the Minister’s overflowing plate. Her portfolio includes the ICT sector, broadband, the post office, USAASA, cyber security and the Department of Communications (DoC) itself. It’s encouraging to hear that she is committed to shaping up what she refers to as ‘Team DoC’ in terms of technological know-how. A technically adept Team DoC will be equipped to make informed decisions regarding the growth of the industries in its purview....Read more
It’s always a welcome relief to attend a work event engrossing enough to take one’s mind off harrowing industry issues, like those currently affecting South Africa’s public service broadcasting sector. Last Friday’s PromaxBDA Africa Conference & Awards in Johannesburg, which is devoted to TV promos, channel branding and on-air communications, was like a blast of fresh country air.
The press release accompanying the presentation to parliament on 18 October of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (ICASA) 2010/11 Annual Report says the last financial year ‘was indeed a momentous year
AUNTIE SCAFFIE writes…To all those dear Screen Africans in the South African television universe - do not panic! Your local free-to-air commercial channel and your local pay-TV service.
In a case of bizarre timing, right in the middle of the IRB Rugby World Cup we can now read, in great detail, how great the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was.
The last few days have seen a flurry of reports in the South African media about public broadcaster SABC aiming to have 17 channels (including SABC1, 2 and 3) following the country’s migration to digital terrestrial television (DTT)
Recalculating global film map…. proceed several thousand kilometers north of Johannesburg to destination UK (where South African film Spud is to be released).
