Transnational Television in Sub-Saharan Africa By GRAHAM MYTTON, RUTH TEER-TOMASELLI & ANDRE-JEAN TUDESQ Introduction that will begin to shape much of the Television is less developed in Africa future of African TV in a different wav than in any other ~tmtinent. Fewer European influence continues' to people have a television set at home and guide the development of African TV, there are fewer TV stations transmitting This is not necessarily always something per head of population than on any that comes direct from Europe; it other continenti Television 111 sub- happens because of the linguistic legacy Saharan coun tries is characterised bv that the colonial powers bequeathed the the following features: . continent for good or ill. As noted • The dominance of state-owned and earlier, European languages dominate -controlled broadcasting. African television, and chieflv this • Broadcasting that is for the most means English and French, with the less part national, rather than local or widespread addition of Portuguese It regional. means that these three languages define three broadly different television • Dominance of imported content, landscapes, certainlv so far as ma in lv from Europe and the United transnational television activitx 15 States. concerned." US influence and input IS • Dominance of three European now also of growing importance. mainlx languages: French, English and III anglophone countries. Sim ilarlv. Portuguese. Brazilian involvement and influence 'is • Under-investment and poverty of beginning to be seen !!1 Iusophone facilities leading to low levels of local countries. production. • Lox levels of inter-African co- operation in television production, Transnational Television in exchange and marketing. an African Context Each of these factors has also slowed or 'In contrast to radio. \'.-:~.::-:-, '~:'ossecl hindered the development of national boundaries fr,::)!:': :~~~Ct:'11est transnational television. The market IS days, depending as it cce s T, C.:'eas of verv limited, the risks are high and the the electro-rnagnet:c s:c<~:',,:~' 'hat potential profit for commercial ventures carrv much furrhe:'. ~e:e'.:5: ~", :.:, :'7'12.;)\ is small. But at the start of the 21 SI years, was br02.C:c::;'5~ the cen t urv there are signs of change and of boundaries of a P2:'~::.:>: The the beginnings of continent-wide activity exception to this :-,:-: ,'_ '-:,'~''.lSlon channels that s r ; .~"':ional "ii","Sflllli",1 33 IHl'rfON. TEER-TOMASELLI & TUDESQ boundaries. For instance, populations of at a time when government monopoly the two capitals of the two Congas, on over the electronic media had been well either side of the Congo River, have for established. Links with the former several years been able to watch colonial powers were reflected to some television services from the other extent in the content and style of the country. People in northern areas of output. This was especially so in the Tanzania could watch Kenyan TV in the former French colonies. The close links 1960s, twenty-five years before TV that the majority of francophone states eventually came to Tanzania. Similarly, maintained with France led to a people in Botswana and Lesotho could dependency on programmes from watch South African TV long before they France and on news images sent via had their own national TV stations. satellite, although the state-run national Aside from these, most services are television stations exercised control over contained within the boundaries of the their programming. iv nation-state. Broadcasting frequency Advances in television technology, bands are pre-planned and internally together with a relative liberalization of coordinated through the International the media and the phenomenon of Telecommunications Union (ITU) to globalization, led to the growth of .avoid mutually harmful inference transnational television activity ID between neighbouring countries. The Africa, starting during the last decade of· current international frequency the twentieth century. The synergies assignment plans for television are between telecomm unications, included in the regional agreements information technology and electronics established by the ITU and adopted by all increased the possibilities for satellite signatory countries. Currently, the VHF television business in Africa. and UHF bands for television are set There were three main ways for between 174MHz and 470MHz to 854 transnational television to develop. at MHz, according to the Geneva Plan of this stage in Africa's media development. 1989 for Africa and neighbouring One was to reach general populations countries. These regulations require that through existing terrestrial stations. For all medi um and high power frequencies this to happen, links needed to be made are coordinated with neighbouring with these stations. The second way to countries so as not to cause intentional go was similar to the route taken by trans-border interference. Any new several entrepreneurs in Europe and frequency or relation of a frequency or Asia - the direct to home satellite increase in transmitter power of a television service, as demonstrated most medium or high power transmitter successfully by BSkyB in the UK and situated within approximately 400km Star TV in South Asia. The third way from am border of South Africa's was to use cable or MMDS - Multipoint neighbours (Namibia, Botswana, Multichannel Distribution Service - to Zimbabwe. Swaziland, Lesotho or bring satellite television services to Mozambique], to take just one important households who paid a subscription for example, would require . extensive them to be provided without the need for bilateral negotiations. Although this a satellite dish. v planning and coordination takes place, However, for any of these three in ruanv instances traris-border spillage developments to occur, changes in the is unavoidable."! political and cultural sphere were TV in Africa, with a few exceptions, necessary. The more liberal atmosphere was introduced after each of the new necessary for transnational television to states had achieved independence, and grow was slow to develop in many parts lnternutionat Journal of Communication -'\'0.] Januarv lO()S TR,t\S.\! T/O.\AI. 1'U.(;I'/,\'/O" /.\ .!FRIC! 34 of Ahica. To sorue pxtent it is still to 4, Terrestriallv transmitted pay-TV emerge 111 some co,:ntries. But in most services which broadcast mainlx of th e 48 sub Saharan sta te s. foreign programmes, deregulation of soruc kind has lifted J. Cable or MMDS television services, restricuons on broadcasting activities, which transmit television channels tor rncrlv <l government monopolx ID received via satellite, ('\'£'f\ African co u n t rv . This has enabled , . not 0111\' tl~,~ cruergcnce of several There is something of a gulf in sub- hundred priva tr- radio st ation s but also Saharan Africa between rh« n u m be-r of dllo\,'t,(1 the retrarismission of television stations that are available on mtern ~lt iorial short wave services on local satellite and the number of channels F\'l Irequcnr-ie-s This is how onc can that are actuallv seen bv African hear Frances international radio audiences, In the former case, it was se-nice. RFI (Radio France International) calculated that, in .Julv 2002, arourid as well ,IS rh« 13f3C World Service on 250 channels were transmitted U\ so n rc local FM frequencies in the capitals and 22 satellites over Africa, of which major cities or many co u ntr ies. The approximatelx 100 were in English. 86 same libera lizat io n that has allowed this French, 30 Arabic, 7 Portuguese, several deve loprne-nt has also opened the m major Indian languages and the marker to t he wider distribution of others in different non-African tongues, satellite TV services, both private and Orilv three were in sub-Saharan African state funded. It has also permitted the languages - 1 in Amharic ane! 2 in establishment of Cl growing number of Afrikaans. We concentrate in this studv private commercial stations. on those channels that arc cffecti\'Cl\ Todav , transnational television received by viewers, either directlx or activities in Africa can be grouped into indirectly by the above five methods. five categories: Another major characteristic of transnational television in Africa is that, 1. Terrestrial cross-border television - until now, rather little of its content is commg from a neighbouring specifically designed for or created in the co u nt rv. continent. another reflection of Africa's 2. Television received direct to the poverty. Aside from some South African home from satellite', This can be production that can be seen from some' further categorized or sub-divided. services available from that country', There IS direct reception by there is at present not very much else motorized satellite dish or, because on offer that can be described as of the high cost of these, by means of indigenous, Many of the present a less sophisticated fixed dish, which transnational television services received may often be home-made and in Africa are actually produced for relatively inexpensive. These are domestic channels in Europe or North especially to be found in America - for example for TFl or Canal francophone countries such as Mali, + in France or for the BBC in the UK or Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, but NBC in the USA. Others are produced are also seen increasingly in Nigeria, for international audiences in all parts Kenva, Zambia and Angola, of the world, such as much of the 3. Television provided by national output of CFI, CNN and BBC World. terrestrial television stations, both Although they are beyond the main public and private, which relay focus of this study, terrestrial television foreign television programmes stations represent the most common received via satellite at certain times, form of viewing of transnational .-l1T tnterdisciplinury Journal OICOll1l1ll1l1ic1lt101I Studie» 35 ;HYTTO/\', TEER-TOMASELLI & TUDESQ television programmes. Some of the operation between countries that have newer private channels broadcast the French language in common. In mostly, or even entirely, imported effect, francophone African countries programmes, as can be seen in Kenya have joined with France, Canada, with Nation TV.