ZBC TV

ZBC TV, also known as ZTV, is Zimbabwe's public free to air television network that is fully owned and operated by the state broadcaster.

History

In the country, television was introduced on 15 November 1960, making it the second country after Nigeria to launch such services in the Sub Saharan Africa and the first in Southern Africa. It was operated by a private company called Rhodesian Television (RTV) with its major shareholders being South African companies.

RTV was taken over by the government and became part of the then state broadcaster, Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) in 1976.

Television was mainly accessible in major cities of the country and mostly to the white population. At the time of launch on 15 November 1960, television became available in Salisbury (now Harare) and in June 1961 it became available in Bulawayo. Back then, the station was broadcasting in black and white until 1982, when it upgraded to full colour using PAL B system.

After the country's independence on 18 April 1980, RTV became ZBC TV and RBC became ZBC. This followed after the country changed its name from Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia to Independent Zimbabwe. The station is sometimes called ZTV, abbreviation for Zimbabwe Television, a name that was officially used in the 2000s.

In the late 90s, the country's main opposition party MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai was launched. This saw the majority of the opposition supporters, local independent media houses, non governmental organisations and international media monitors accusing the state broadcaster for only reporting biased news favouring the ruling ZANU PF.

Other TV stations

ZBC started broadcasting a second television channel, TV2, available only in Harare, in 1986.

ZBC signed an agreement on 13 May 1997 to utilise the frequencies of the second channel, to Flame Lily Broadcasting, a private company, to operate Joy TV, broadcasting from 17:00 to 22:30 daily. On 22 July 1997, the channel launched. The channel took over the entirety of TV2's schedule from 1 October 1997, by leasing the frequency. The channel timeshared with LDM in the afternoons and MABC overnight and in the mornings. The station was initially carried in a 100km radius from a single transmitter in Harare but later extended its signal to Bulawayo in May 1998 with help from a South African company.

ZBC shut down Joy TV for the first time on 4 September 1998 due to alleged payment of airtime fees. Following an intervention from Information Minister Chen Chimutengwende, its broadcasts resumed on 7 September 1998.

The channel was later closed down on 31 May 2002 when ZBC refused to renew its licence. In December 2018, ZBC announced the return of Joy TV.

In 2004, ZBC announced a new TV channel called National Television or NTV, a brainchild of the then information minister, Jonathan Moyo and was said that it will be broadcasting from Montrose Studios in Bulawayo. The launch of the station was delayed despite the fact that the transmitter was already installed. In 2005, Minister Moyo was fired and the project collapsed. In 2015 when he was reappointed as the information minister, Moyo promised to revive the NTV project but that never happened.

On 1 May 2010, ZBC reported the successful launch of another TV channel called Channel 2. The TV channel transmitted on 199.5 MHz within an 80 km (50 mile) radius of Harare. The station was later closed in 2015.

On 20 November 2020, The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) granted free to air commercial television licences to 6 (out of the 14 applicants) private players to broadcast nationally, breaking the 60 year long ZBC TV monopoly. These include the Bulawayo-based FairTalk Communications, trading as Ke Yona TV which owns Bulawayo's Skyz Metro FM and Victoria Falls' Breeze FM. The state owned ZimPapers Limited, trading as ZTN (ZimPapers Television Network), which owns several radio stations and print media in the country was also granted. Other players include Rusununguko Media (Pvt) Ltd trading as NRTV, Jester Media trading as 3K TV, Acacia Media Group trading as Kumba TV and Channel Dzimbahwe trading as Channel D.

Unsuccessful applicants include ZiFM Stereo's parent company AB Communications trading as Flex TV, Alpha Media Holdings' Heart & Soul Broadcasting Services (Pvt) Ltd trading as HStv, Blackbury Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd trading as Blackbury TV, Conduit Investments (Pvt) Ltd trading as Conduit TV Station, Just in Time TV (Pvt) Ltd trading as JIT TV, Medianet Productions (Pvt) Ltd trading as Sunrise TV and Meditation Investments (Pvt) Ltd trading Zim news Channel.

Programming

General entertainment and news

75% of the broadcast content is locally produced. International and regional content from the neighbouring South Africa, USA, UK, Australia, and Korea is also available.

The news covered are mainly local and partly regional and international. News Hour is the hour-long news bulletin that is broadcast daily from 8 PM. Nhau / Indaba is another news bulletin that is split between Shona (Nhau) and Ndebele (Indaba) with each receiving 30 minutes time slot. Good Morning Zimbabwe is the daily morning news bulletin then there is also Lunch Time News.

Other popular TV shows include the Ezomgido, a local and regional musical show, Coke on the Beat which is a pop musical show, Studio 263, the country's first soap opera and other various local shows including current affairs and gospel shows.

Iconic locally produced content include;

• Mukadota
• Ezomgido
• Stitsha
• Kukhulwa Kokuphela
• Tiriparwendo
• Studio 263
• Amakorokoza
• Sinjalo
• Timmy naBonzo
• Gringo

Sports

The station also broadcasts various live sports tournaments from around the country and some major tournaments around the world, including the FIFA World Cup, Olympics and the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Due to lack of finances which is believed to be caused by poor management and the corrupt board, the station is struggling to broadcast locally loved sport events like the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and many others.

Many local viewers are complaining about the station's poor broadcasting standard and are ditching it for foreign content distributors like Netflix and DStv.

Programmes

Imported Programmes

Current

Children's programming

• Dino Dan
• Raggs

Animated

• The Adventures of Chuck and Friends
• Ben 10: Omniverse
• Biker Mice from Mars
• Curious George
• Jake and the Never Land Pirates
• Legend of Enyo
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
• Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
• The Penguins of Madagascar
• Poppy Cat
• Rocket Monkeys
• Sid the Science Kid
• Sofia the First
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Transformers: Prime
• Totally Spies!
• Ultimate Spider-Man

Comedy

• All of Us
• The Big Bang Theory
• Friends
• Girlfriends
• Just Shoot Me!
• Reed Between the Lines
• Seinfeld
• That '70s Show

Drama

• Alias
• Alphas
• Angel
• Heroes
• Miracles
• Scandal
• Smallville
• Supernatural

Education

• MythBusters

Documentary

• Green Planet
• I Shouldn't Be Alive
• Mayday

Cooking

• The Mind of a Chef

Former

Children's programming

• The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
• Art Attack
• Bananas in Pyjamas
• Barney & Friends
• Brum
• Button Moon
• Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
• Catch Kandy
• The Enid Blyton Adventure Series
• The Fabulous Reggae Dogs
• The Famous Five
• The Famous Five
• Five Children and It
• Fun House
• Ghostwriter
• Go Go Giggles
• The Great Space Coaster
• Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left
• iCarly
• Incredible Story Studio
• Jam
• Jim Henson's Animal Show
• Johnson and Friends
• K.C. Undercover
• Kids Incorporated
• The Kids of Degrassi Street
• Lamb Chop's Play Along
• Lassie
• Magic Letters
• Masters of the Maze
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
• The Miraculous Mellops
• Mirror, Mirror
• Ocean Girl
• The Odyssey
• Pigasso's Place
• Pugwall
• Pugwall's Summer
• The Puzzle Place
• Rainbow
• Really Wild Animals
• Richard the Lionheart
• Rosie and Jim
• Round the Twist
• Sam & Cat
• Saturdee
• Sesame Street
• Shake It Up
• Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
• Streetwise
• That's So Raven
• Teletubbies
• The Tribe
• Tweenies
• T-Bag
• Victorious
• Wail of the Banshee
• Wizadora
• Wizards Of Waverly Place
• Worzel Gummidge
• Xuxa

Animated

• 3-2-1 Penguins!
• The Addams Family
• The Adventures of Blinky Bill
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Adventures of Pow Wow
• The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
• Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
• The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin
• The Adventures of Tintin
• Albert the 5th Musketeer
• All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series
• Around the World in 80 Days
• Around the World in 80 Dreams
• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Avenger Penguins
• Babar
• Baby Bollies
• The Baby Huey Show
• Batman: The Animated Series
• Beast Wars: Transformers
• Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines
• Billy the Cat
• The Black Corsair
• Blinky Bill's Extraordinary Excursion
• Bob in a Bottle
• Bob the Builder
• Bozo: The World's Most Famous Clown
• BraveStarr
• The Bubblies
• Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars!
• Bugs Bunny
• Bugs Bunny and Friends
• Capitol Critters
• Captain America
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers
• Captain Pugwash
• Captain Star
• Captain Zed and the Zee Zone
• The Care Bears
• Casper and Friends
• Casper the Friendly Ghost
• Cédric
• Challenge of the GoBots
• Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
• Choppy and the Princess
• Cococinel
• Code Lyoko
• Colonel Bleep
• Conan and the Young Warriors
• Conan the Adventurer
• C.O.P.S.
• Cro
• Count Duckula
• C.L.Y.D.E.
• Danger Mouse
• Darkwing Duck
• Defenders of the Earth
• Dennis the Menace
• Denver, the Last Dinosaur
• Detective Bogey
• Dexter's Laboratory
• Dinosaucers
• Dino-Riders
• Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
• DoDo, The Kid from Outer Space
• Dog City
• Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds
• Donald Duck
• Double Dragon
• Dragon Ball Z
• Dragon Flyz
• Dragon Hunters
• Dragon Tales
• The Dreamstone
• DuckTales
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Eckhart
• Ed, Edd n Eddy
• Eggzavier the Eggasaurus
• Enid Blyton's Enchanted Lands
• Extreme Ghostbusters
• Fables of the Green Forest
• Fairy Tale Police Department
• Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
• Felix the Cat
• Ferdy the Ant
• The Flintstones
• Flipper and Lopaka
• The Flying House
• Funky Fables
• Freaky Stories
• The Fruitties
• The Funny Company
• Galactik Football
• Galtar and the Golden Lance
• George of the Jungle
• The Giddy Game Show
• Godzilla
• The Greedysaurus Gang
• Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics
• Gustavus
• G.I. Joe Extreme
• G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
• G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
• Hammerman
• Hey Arnold!
• He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
• Highlander: The Animated Series
• The Houndcats
• Hoyt'n Andy's Sportsbender
• Hurricanes
• Iggy Arbuckle
• Inhumanoids
• Inspector Gadget
• Jackie Chan Adventures
• The Jackson 5ive
• Jana of the Jungle
• Jem
• Johnny Bravo
• The Jungle Book
• Kimba the White Lion
• Kim Possible
• King
• The King Kong Show
• Knights of the Zodiac
• Kong: The Animated Series
• Laurel & Hardy
• Legend of the Dragon
• The Legend of White Fang
• Leo the Lion
• The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa
• Little Hippo
• The Little Mermaid
• The Little Rascals
• The Littl' Bits
• Lucky Luke
• Looney Tunes
• Madeline
• The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo
• The Magical World of Gigi
• The Magician
• The Magic School Bus
• Magica and the Puzzle Plaza
• Maple Town
• The Marvel Super Heroes
• Master Raindrop
• Maya the Honey Bee
• Mega Man
• Men in Black: The Animated Series
• Mickey Mouse
• The Mighty Hercules
• Mister T
• Monster by Mistake
• Moomin
• Mr. Magoo
• Muppet Babies
• My Little Pony 'n Friends
• My Little Pony Tales
• My Pet Monster
• Nanook's Great Hunt
• The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• The New Adventures of Zorro
• New Kids on the Block
• Noddy's Toyland Adventures
• The Noozles
• Nudnik
• Oggy and the Cockroaches
• Once Upon a Time
• Once Upon a Time... Life
• Once Upon a Time... The Americas
• Ox Tales
• Paddington
• Painted Tales
• Papa Beaver's Storytime
• Phantom Investigators
• Pingu
• The Pink Panther Show
• Pinky and the Brain
• Police Academy
• Popeye
• Popeye and Son
• The Powerpuff Girls
• The Power Team
• Princesse Shéhérazade
• Project G.e.e.K.e.R.
• Professor Balthazar
• ProStars
• The Raccoons
• The Raggy Dolls
• The Real Ghostbusters
• ReBoot
• Redbeard
• Ring Raiders
• The Road Runner Show
• Robinson Sucroe
• RoboCop
• Robotech
• Roger Ramjet
• Rude Dog and the Dweebs
• Rugrats
• Rupert
• Saban's Adventures of Peter Pan
• Saban's Adventures of Pinocchio
• Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
• Samurai Pizza Cats
• Samurai X
• Sandokan
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
• Sea Dogs
• She-Ra: Princess of Power
• The Silver Brumby
• Simba: The King Lion
• The Simpsons
• Skyland
• Slim Pig
• The Smoggies
• The Smurfs
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Spartakus & the Sun Beneath the Sea
• Spider Riders
• Spider-Man
• Spiff and Hercules
• Spiral Zone
• Staines Down Drains
• Star Street: The Adventures of the Star Kids
• Stone Protectors
• Street Football
• Supa Strikas
• Super Chicken
• Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire
• Super Mario Bros.
• Superbook
• SuperTed
• Swamp Thing
• Tales from the Cryptkeeper
• TaleSpin
• Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle
• Taz-Mania
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Three Little Ghosts
• ThunderCats
• Thundersub
• Tic Tac Toons
• Tifu
• Toad Patrol
• Tom and Jerry
• Tom & Jerry Kids
• Tom Slick
• Tombik & B.B. Show
• The Transformers
• The Triplets
• Tupu
• The Ugly Duckling and Me!
• Ultimate Book of Spells
• The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo
• Victor & Hugo: Bunglers in Crime
• Video Power
• Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light
• Voltron: Defender of the Universe
• Wacky Races
• Watership Down
• What About Mimi?
• What's New, Mr. Magoo?
• Where's Wally?
• Widget
• Wild C.A.T.s
• William's Wish Wellingtons
• Wolves, Witches and Giants
• The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
• X-Men
• Zeke's Pad
• Zoe and Charlie

Talk Shows

• The Ellen DeGeneres Show
• Teen Scene

Drama

• 21 Jump Street
• 24
• The A-Team
• Acapulco H.E.A.T.
• The Adventures of the Black Stallion
• Andromeda
• Beverly Hills, 90210
• The Bionic Woman
• Boston Legal
• Coronet Blue
• Criminal Minds
• The Crow: Stairway to Heaven
• Dark Angel
• Danger Man
• Desperate Housewives
• Doctor Who
• Dr. Finlay's Casebook
• ER
• Fame
• Fame L.A.
• The Flash
• Flipper
• Friday the 13th: The Series
• Hardcastle and McCormick
• Hawkeye
• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
• The House of Elliot
• The Incredible Hulk
• Jacob's Cross
• Joan of Arcadia
• Journey to the West
• Katts and Dog
• Knight Rider
• Kung Fu
• The Legend of the Hidden City
• The Legend of William Tell
• Lie Down with Lions
• L.A. Heat
• MacGyver
• Magnum, P.I.
• Martial Law
• Miami Sands
• Miami Vice
• Moonlighting
• Mr. Novak
• Murder, She Wrote
• Mutant X
• Night Man
• North of 60
• Pacific Blue
• The Pallisers
• Queen of Swords
• Robocop: The Series
• Salem's Lot
• The Six Million Dollar Man
• Sonny Spoon
• Stargate SG-1
• Suburban Bliss
• Tales of the South Seas
• Tarzan
• This Life
• Thunder in Paradise
• T. J. Hooker
• V
• Viper
• Walker, Texas Ranger
• Xena: Warrior Princess

Comedy

• 3rd Rock from the Sun
• 'Allo 'Allo!
• ALF
• All of Us
• The Bob Morrison Show
• Boogies Diner
• The Cosby Show
• The Dukes of Hazzard
• Family Matters
• Fawlty Towers
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• The Golden Girls
• Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
• Keeping Up Appearances
• Kids Say the Darndest Things
• The Love Boat
• Minor Adjustments
• The Melting Pot
• My Wife and Kids
• One Foot in the Grave
• One on One
• Roseanne
• Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
• Sanford and Son

Documentary

• Mysteries, Magic and Miracles
• Rescue 911

Soap Opera

• All My Children
• A Country Practice
• Dallas
• Dynasty
• Falcon Crest
• Melrose Place
• Neighbours
• Passions
• Santa Barbara
• Sunset Beach

Anthology

• The Twilight Zone

Education

• Encyclopædia Britannica

Military

• Tour of Duty

Game Shows

• The Crystal Maze

Variety

• Hollywood A Go-Go
• Keeping Up With The Kardashians
• Little Women: Atlanta
• Little Women: LA
• The Mickey Mouse Club
• Nightcap

Telenovela

• Aurora
• Corazón valiente
• El fantasma de Elena
• La impostora
• Mi corazón insiste en Lola Volcán
• My 3 Sisters
• Pasión prohibida
• Santa Diabla

Wrestling

• WWF Superstars of Wrestling

Studios and location

ZBC TV broadcasts mainly from the studios in Pockets Hill, in a suburb of Highlands, in Harare. It has another studio located in Bulawayo, in a suburb of Montrose.

The broadcasting centre in Pockets Hill was commissioned in 1970, while the new building was commissioned by the former president, Robert Mugabe in 1994.

References

1. Zimbabwe Heroes' Day
2. Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
3. Makosi Musambasi
4. Rumbidzai Takawira
5. Qounfuzed
6. KVG (presenter)
7. Ahmed Bilal Shah
8. Square One Television
9. Harare
10. List of television stations in Africa
11. Rude Dog and the Dweebs
12. Widget (TV series)
13. Mudiwa Hood
14. Shaina (film)
15. Mai Chisamba
16. 2022 FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights
17. Selmor Mtukudzi
18. Nyaradzo Mashayamombe
19. Highlands, Harare
20. Bulawayo