Kenyan broadcasters to tie up to get 3rd digital TV licence

All of Kenya's free-to-air television broadcasters will form a joint company that will be given a licence to broadcast digital signals across the country, Business Daily reported online. This is expected to end the stand-off between the Information Ministry and broadcasters such as Nation Media Group (NTV) and Royal Media Services (Citizen TV), who had protested that the second digital broadcasting licence was given to China's Pan African Network Group. The first digital licence had been granted to Signet, a subsidiary of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). The formation of a joint broadcasting company is set to deny Signet and Pan African Network Group clients among existing broadcasters, pegging their business prospects to new television firms, Business Daily commented. The acting Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) director-general, Francis Wangusi, said the Ministry of Information had instructed it to issue the third licence to a single company owned by all of the existing broadcasters. Wangusi said the firms will need to form the joint company and show proof of common shareholding. The Media Owners Association (MOA) says it has formed the joint company as required by the CCK, but that the regulator has not made substantive steps to award it the licence, Business Daily said. Wangusi said the CCK was still to see the details of the joint venture, especially its ownership structure and funding mechanism. There are more than twenty television firms currently broadcasting in various parts of Kenya.