THE Managing Director of Jester Media Services’ (JMS) Broadcasting Division, Zweli Sibanda, says the sky is the limit for fast-growing independent national television station, 3Ktv.
This comes after the country’s most watched channel on satellite once again dominated and also won the prestigious ‘Popular Television Station’ award at the esteemed Zimbabwe Annual Film and Television Awards (ZAFTAs) that were held in Harare this past weekend.
It also comes as the station has just launched its 12th season, which includes even more riveting and fresh local and international programming. “Winning the ZAFTAs’ Popular Television Station award again was huge, as it cemented the fact that 3Ktv represents The Very Best of Zimbabwe, as our famous motto goes.
“Indeed, the future is bright for 3Ktv and the possibilities for the station are boundless if we keep innovating and working as hard as we are currently doing. “Kudos are due to the station’s conscientious team, and indeed to the whole JMS family for its unwavering support, which resulted in this incredible achievement,” the elated Sibanda said.
He also said 3Ktv 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 Zimbabweans and our business partners who continue to give us amazing support.
3Ktv has become a boon for business and other interested stakeholders, as it offers them optimal opportunities and muchneeded marketing choice on television. “Advertising on television, and on 3Ktv in particular, is very effective in terms of reaching large audiences frequently and quickly.”
Another one of the station’s advantages for our 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 added.
At this year’s ZAFTAs, the station’s productions dominated the awards, with notable wins for Inkaba, Love and Reality, Village 4 and Bundu. Among other awards, John Mabuyane received the Outstanding Directing gong for Inkaba, while Joylene Ismail of The Design Show took home the Outstanding Television Presenter title.
Last year’s edition of the awards were equally successful for 3Ktv, with wins for Outstanding Television Presenter (Mazwi), Outstanding Television Actor (Lucian David), Outstanding Television Series (Faking It), and Outstanding Indigenous Culture, Language, and Tradition (Hakata). Amanxeba swept four categories, including Outstanding Directing and Popular Television Series.
3Ktv 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 station’s key 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 the 28th of February 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.
Apart from operating 3Ktv, Jester Media Services also owns some of the country’s biggest and most influential media brands that include the Daily News, the Daily News On Sunday, its printing division Printco, Jester Events, online business newsletter Business Live, and The Financial Gazette — the country’s number one business publication.