MBC-TV high viewership no big deal
This week, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) released results of a survey it commissioned the National Statistical Office (NSO) to conduct which showed that the tax-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Television and Radio One are the most watched and listened to outlets, respectively.
The survey was done between November 2014 and January 2015 on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the country.
In terms of MBC’s television viewership, the survey found that MBC has an 87 percent lead followed by Luntha TV at 32 percent with Times TV trailing on the third with 31 percent viewership.
In the radio category, again MBC Radio One has a listenership of 80.2 percent trailed by privately owned Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) at 80.1 percent and MBC Radio 2 (58.1) in third place.
Kudos to MBC Radio One for coming tops on listenership displacing ZBS which during the last survey by Macra in 2013 had the highest listenership.
My interest, however, is on television viewership. That MBC-TV has the largest viewership is no big deal. The reason is simple. It is free. All you need is to have a TV set and an aerial then you are connected to MBC-TV. This is unlike the other privately-owned TV stations which require that you be subscribed to Multichoice’s DStv, GOtv or Zuku to access them. Why viewership for MBC-TV is free and other private local TV stations not free is a subject for another day.
So you can be at Hoho in Mzimba where there is no electricity but as long as your TV set can be powered by solar energy, you can access MBC-TV. You can be at Kaphatenga in Salima or Rurwe in Nsanje but cannot part with what it costs to watch DStv or GOtv or Zuku but still watch MBC-TV as long as your screen is connected to electricity.
For the majority of the people in Malawi who cannot afford K4 700 for GOtv per month, or K7 000 for Zuku and anything from K20 000 and above to access Multichoice’s DStv, they have no choice but to watch the only TV set which is free.
The higher viewership for MBC-TV, therefore, has nothing to do with programme content and presentation. MBC funded by the taxpayer enjoys a captive audience in many parts of the country where people cannot subscribe to paid for bouquets.
As a matter of fact, MBC-TV can score higher on programme content by ensuring that it is not used as a propaganda tool for the party in power. There are a lot of programmes on MBC-TV which clearly show bias towards the ruling party. The only time you see or hear an opposition official on MBC-TV or radio—these days—is when he or she is smearing a fellow opposition member in the mud, or when someone is speaking ill of the opposition. I long to see, for example, the Malawi Congress Party president Lazarous Chakwera or People’s Party interim president Uladi Mussa or any opposition member for that matter speaking to Malawians on MBC-TV or radio on any issue they want to as and when they desire to do so without the MBC director general or director of programmes fearing that their jobs are on the line.
If ZBS or Luntha or Times or other television stations were free like MBC-TV, the national broadcaster would be trailing them badly because people want to view and listen to all voices across the political divide. MBC should not only open up to the opposition during campaign periods. As an institution that is funded by the taxpayer, MBC-TV is duty bound to produce programmes that educate the people on issues of national importance in such a way that the citizenry make informed decisions.
The song to free the public broadcaster from the chains of political banditry is a tired one. Fifty two years after independence the MBC director general should not be worried about the political affiliation of the people it features at the national broadcaster. By now we should long have gone past such things.
