THE country’s fast-growing and first independent national television station, 3Ktv, once again successfully beamed live yesterday’s Women’s University in Africa (WUA) graduation ceremony.
All in all, a total of 1 211 students graduated at the renowned university’s Manresa campus in Harare — of whom an impressive 988 were females.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, WUA vice chancellor Sunungurai Chingarande said the university planned to construct student accommodation in its next developmental phase.
“The university is negotiating with prospective investors to partner it in the construction of students’ accommodation on a build, operate and transfer basis.
“Having accommodation on campus will go a long way to reduce the security risks that our students, who are mostly female, face. “Through internally generated resources, the university continues to enhance the teaching and learning environment at all its campuses.
“The university also plans to refurbish existing structures to create a multi-purpose hall, library and a canteen,” Chingarande added.
This comes after 3Ktv celebrated its first two years of non-stop live broadcasting in February this year — with the popular station continuing to set the pace in the local broadcasting industry.
The channel is a free-to-air (FTA), digital terrestrial television (DTT) station, which means that contrary to social media babble anyone with the right equipment — such as a digital TV set or suitable set-top box — can receive its programming for free wherever the signal is available.
However, 3Ktv’s feed is also available through other platforms for which subscription fees may be payable, which explains the commercial station’s most valued partnership with MultiChoice —which has seen it also hosted on DStv’s channel 293.
Licensed in November 2020 after coming up tops in a competitive, open bidding process, the station went live amid palpable excitement in the country on February 28, 2022.
In the process, the most watched local channel on satellite made history and became the first private station to operate legally in Zimbabwe since television was first introduced in the then Southern Rhodesia in November 1960.
Zweli Sibanda, the managing director of Jester Media Services (JMS), the owners and operators of 3Ktv, told the Daily News last night that the station was continuing to perform well ahead of all forecasts and projections — including with regards to its viewership numbers and advertising volumes.
“This is all thanks to our viewers and business partners like the Women’s University in Africa, who continue to give us incredible support.
“Similarly, we owe all our staff across the JMS Group who are ensuring that 3Ktv remains at the top of the pile a debt of gratitude. “We do not take the amazing support that we are getting from all our key stakeholders for granted, and we pledge that we will continue to aspire to do even better going forward,” Sibanda said.
He added that 3Ktv had become a boon for business, as it offered commerce and industry the much-needed marketing choice on the silver screen that had been missing for decades. “Advertising on television, and on 3Ktv in particular, is very effective in terms of reaching large audiences frequently and quickly — given the ubiquitousness of TV sets in the country.
“Another one of 3Ktv’s advantages for our business partners is that we are also on MultiChoice’s DStv platform which has very high engagement rates.
“Our rich programming menu also offers the benefit of excellent audience targeting, which has long been a part of TV marketing — such as advertising at certain times of the day and on certain programmes to make sure that one hits the people who are likely to be watching 3Ktv at a particular time,” Sibanda said further.
The station is a JMS stablemate to the country’s most influential newspaper, the Daily News, the Daily News On Sunday, Zimbabwe’s prime publication for commerce and industry — The Financial Gazette — and e-newsletter Business Live.
