Story by John Nhandara
THE Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) has launched its newly-refurbished and modernised radio transmission studio at Radio Zimbabwe’s Mbare studios in Harare.
The launch of the modernised studio facility is part of a transformation agenda in modernising the national broadcaster’s system to improve operational efficiency.
Launching the transmission studio this Monday, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa said government remains committed to promoting media diversity and plurality as information dissemination is key to national building.
“Radio remains a popular form of communication as it affords a two-way communication between the broadcaster and the listeners. The studios house both Radio Zimbabwe and National FM whose combined listenership has grown to over 8 000 000, taking into account the 16 officially recognised languages.
“The refurbishment of the studios goes a long way in the promotion of free flow of information attesting to the government’s commitment in promoting media diversity and plurality,” she said.
The corporation’s board chairperson, Dr Josiah Tayi and chief executive officer, Ms Adelaide Chikunguru concurred that the national broadcaster is on a transformative drive to fully go digital.
“ZBC Radio Zimbabwe station has been using archaic 1992 analogue production systems, where the signal goes through an old transmitter network with huge compromise on the quality of the product. The motivation is to go fully digital and use modern satellite systems. Automation, effective, archiving and storage systems are key in the modernisation of broadcasting operations,” said Dr Tayi.
“We selected Mbare to kick off the modernisation of our studios. Our target is to have modernised at least 3 studios by end of next year. We are confident that all studios will be refurbished and modernised by the end of 2023,” noted Chikunguru.
The ongoing digitalisation programme will result in the country’s broadcasting sector migrating from analogue systems.
