THE RENAISSANCE OF TVS IN KENYA; FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL

The other day I had an interesting discussion with my dad over what the future holds when Kenya moves to a digital platform in terms of TV-broadcasting. Those of us who are young, for a reason find the electronic world a bit easy. I guess that is why for some of us like me, we manage to operate a new device head on before even going through the manual.

But digital TVs will very soon be creating waves and buzz throughout Kenya, offering more than 700 channels on high definition TVs that are set to make family entertainment and family television time more luxurious for the viewers.

What does this mean then to the local broadcasting industry? Well, on the benefit side, the shift to digital TV is expected to cause substantial growth in this industry; with existing broadcasters providing a far wider variety of fresh, local and entertaining programmes.

Currently, every to station in Kenya distributes its own analogue signal, at considerable costs. With the roll-out of digital TV, stations will pay far less for distributing their programmes.

It is hoped this will give producers of local movies, drama, sports, news and documentaries the opportunity and funds to develop content, and in the process, create more jobs for the emerging film and TV industry. This growth will be even propelled faster if the government’s intention of passing a 40 per cent local content law comes to pass.

The digital platform will also allow viewers to receive multiple programmes on the same channel, with broadcasters being able to air up to 10 programmes simultaneously on one frequency.

So the big question I bet on your mind right now is where are in terms so this big switch? Well, the deadline to replace analogue TV with with digital broadcasting was way back in 2012. This would have means that had we made the switch last year, then Kenya would be second to South Africa on the continent.

A 21-inch plasma TV currently retails for around ksh.30, 000. The new digital TVs will cost just a few thousands more, according to Samsung. However, TV owners don’t need to invest in a new TV to receive the new digital signals. They can instead invest in a set to- box (government recommended DUB-T2 converters); which converts analogue to digital. These are already in the market countrywide; selling roughly at around ksh.4500.

read this piece here-http://www.kenyakidz.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=808:the-renaissance-of-tvs-in-kenya-from-analogue-to-digital&catid=22:our-kenya&Itemid=140