FAST-GROWING independent national television station, 3Ktv, will add even more gripping programmes in its eighth season that starts on December 4.
Launched last year as the country’s first ever licensed private television station, the free-to-air 3Ktv — which can also be accessed on DStv’s Channel 293 — has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 20 months.
Speaking at the MultiChoice Local Content showcase that was held in Harare on Wednesday, 3Ktv’s managing director Zweli Sibanda confirmed that the station would unleash new captivating programming in its eighth season.
“You can all definitely expect even better entertainment and programming in our eighth season. “We will have a lot of new dramas that tell the story of Zimbabweans and the very best that this country has to offer, as our well-known motto goes,” he said.
Speaking at the same event, Multichoice’s head of customer operations, Siyabulela Jemsana, thanked 3Ktv and other local partners for taking the DStv brand in Zimbabwe to new heights on the strength of great home-grown content. “Through our strategic partnerships with the new local channels, DStv Zimbabwe continues to purposefully tell Zimbabwean stories through the Zimbabwean lens.
“We have a rich cultural heritage in this country, and within these partnerships, a shared desire to promote it,” he said. Melusi Sibisi, senior manager for content strategy at MultiChoice, said DStv remained committed to ensuring that it delivered content that resonated with its audiences and that enriched lives.
“We are confident that local viewers are going to love what we have in store for them this summer,” he said. This comes amid rising numbers of Zimbabwean subscribers on MultiChoice’s DStv platform — in part due to the strength of riveting local content.
Speaking ahead of the highly-anticipated local showcase event that featured 3Ktv, as well as ZTN and NRTV, Jemsana, told the Daily News then that the local content drive was reaping huge dividends for all the partners involved.
“The local content has been received very well. Positive reports are constantly coming up on 3Ktv and other free-to-air (FTAs) channels on DStv,” he said. Jemsana added that the coverage of the recent national elections by the FTAs had especially been widely acclaimed. “The elections were big for both DStv and our local partners. We did some really great and comprehensive work together on the elections.
“The overwhelming feedback that we received is that the elections were broadcast well and fairly. That was a really great response. “Besides the elections, there has also been good local programming in other areas relating to general entertainment and sports,” Jemsana said.
3Ktv head of programming, Lucia Kanyongo, described the Multichoice local content showcase as the perfect platform to give more members of the public “a sneak preview of the very best of Zimbabwe offered by the station.”
“The Multichoice Content Showcase is an opportunity for 3Ktv, the most watched local television channel on satellite, to showcase the best of Zimbabwean programmes that we produce and broadcast.
“We have many new and long-running top programmes that encompass entertainment, education and information. We have everything for everyone. “We will be showcasing all these programmes at the gathering. The showcase is an opportunity to further build the 3Ktv brand,” Kanyongo said.