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Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa said that the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) is considering 15 applications for televisions licences that it has received, with six licences for private players up for grabs.
Minister Mutsvangwa confirmed this during a question and answer session in the Senate on Thursday.
She was responding to MDC Alliance senator fo Midlands, Morgen Komichi, who had asked why Government was taking long to have alternative broadcasting stations other than the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC). Mutsvangwa said:
The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe is now fully constituted and started by identifying the number and type of frequencies available.
We have 12 licences up for grabs, but at the moment, we will be licensing six players. Applications have since been received and are now being considered
Mutsvangwa added that besides commercial television licences, they will also be licensing community radio stations.
Earlier this year Minister Mutsvangwa said the ZBC’s HD project came at an opportune time for the television industry when Government gazetted regulations that will trigger the licensing of other players in the television sector.
Minister Mutsvangwa said Zimbabweans were diverse and educated, hence the decision to have independent television licences so that citizens could deploy their ingenuity in productions and not only entertain their own people, but also earn foreign currency as is happening in Nigeria and Kenya.
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