Announcers and disc jockeys from the four radio channels of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) enjoy asking listeners about local television programmes and personalities in most of their quiz shows. To their surprise, the most common answers they get are “I haven’t tuned to ZTV for many years”, “I don’t know any local actor”,” or “I don’t always watch the news”.

When asked to name their favourite TV shows, they usually mention “Generations”, “Muvhango”, “Days of our lives” and ”Isidingo”. But all these are South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) soaps which now have a huge following in Zimbabwe.

Most urban households now have on their rooftops small satellite dishes which are brought in mainly from South Africa, Dubai and China. The decoders can receive free public broadcasting channels such as SABC 1,2 and 3, Botswana TV, France 24 and a multitude of Christian stations and radio channels.

Families who can afford to pay monthly subscriptions of about 50 US dollars can access digital satellite television (DSTV) which carries  fifty or more channels including BBC, CNN, Sky News, M-Net, Supersport, Discovery, Movie Magic and National Geographic, among others.

“I can’t stand ZTV any more. There is too much propaganda, hate language, repeat programming, poor picture quality and low broadcasting standards. Most of the presenters and newsreaders seem to have been picked on the streets and thrown behind the camera without any proper coaching” says Busi ,a school teacher. “That’s why I sacrificed to save my meager salary in order to buy a satellite dish and enjoy quality and variety”

A few years ago ZBC was forced to adhere to seventy-five percent local content as prescribed in the controversial broadcasting laws. That was the beginning of a massive exodus of viewers to other channels. Such a quota of local content is extremely ambitious considering that ZBC itself and many independent film producers don’t have the required funding and equipment to produce the desired local films. The high dosage of one-sided political rhetoric, especially during election times has also been very  difficult  for viewers to withstand.

At home, every time we leave our television set tuned to ZTV, it does not take long before the children change to a foreign channel. Even our domestic worker knows when and where the most popular shows, including very few local favourites are aired.

Our youngest daughter, Phathi, always pleads with us to pay our monthly subscriptions for DSTV so that she can always be up-to-date with her school friends when it comes to latest movies, musicals and celebrity shows. But we always disappoint her by subscribing only during the holidays so that she can concentrate on her school work.

A visit to most rural areas surrounding our borders with South Africa and Botswana, where most young Zimbabweans look for greener pastures indicates how deep satellite television has penetrated into Zimbabwe. On most rooftops, DSTV dishes are found side by side with solar panels.

My friend Lupo had me in stitches the other day when he suggested that a satellite dish and generator  or solar panel should be part of the bride’s price in future marriages.

Listen below to Micah Zinduru, a community media practioner from Masvingo town in Zimbabwe commenting on why Zimbabweans are opting for DSTV and free channels and hence abandoning ZBC-TV the public broadcaster: