By John Churu, Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana’s Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Thapelo Olopeng, says his Ministry will soon launch a second TV channel at the state-run Botswana Television that will be dedicated to upcoming entrepreneurs of the country. “The new national TV channel will Broadcast Youth and entertainment oriented programmes,” Olopeng told a gathering of mainly youths during the just ended Presidential day celebrations.
The youth channel has been a subject of discusion by the minister at many a fora during the course of the year. Minister Olopeng said the development would go a long way in creating much needed employment opportunities for youth in the country.
The envisaged second Botswana Television (BTV) channel, will primarily broadcast entertainment and youth oriented programmes. According to sources, this initiative is also part of government efforts o give local TV experts more exposure.
Botswana has Botswana Television or BTV for short and the privately run e-Botswana TV. The new channel will be the second to come from the government.
Meanwhile, Multichoice Botswana launched a new DStv channel called Zambezi Magic. During the launch, Multichoice invited South African based Connie and Shona Ferguson to attend the launch in their capacity as seasoned actors and producers.
According to a Multichoice presentation on the launch date, Zambesi Magic can be found on channel 160 and has been called the home of Southern African TV Entertainment. “The aim of the channel is to provide viewers with content that is closer to home. Zambezi Magic is available in the DStv Compact, Compact Plus and Premium packages.”
A statement from MultiChoice Zimbabwe publicist Liz Dziva, the channel has invested in producing local content tailored to suit the taste of African audience.
“We look forward to introducing new and exciting talent from Zimbabwe to the rest of Southern Africa. Going forward, there will be many more local shows from other Southern African countries added to the channel, including Zimbabwe, which is very exciting for local audiences, film and television programme makers,”
Information made available to biztechafrica explains that, “Zambezi Magic will entertain viewers with riveting plots on award-winning soapies Generations, Muvhango, Isidingo, Zone 14, and Jacob’s Cross while getting a healthy dose of critically-acclaimed edutainment TV series, Intersexions and Yizo Yizo that explore various societal issues and have sparked debates around issues like the HIV/Aids epidemic, love and relationships.”
Zambezi Magic was also launched in Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries.
