1KZN (previously known as Bay TV) is the latest South African community TV station that's on the air after 1KZN started broadcasting in Richards Bay after having received a seven year community TV broadcasting license from the regulator, the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
Talks are underway between Urban Brew Studios, 1KZN and On Digital Media (ODM) for 1KZN to join TopTV as a brand new TV channel but this is awaiting further regulatory approval by Icasa which will take further time.
While SowetoTV (DStv 150) is doing very well and last month extended its broadcasting footprint in Gauteng (the station now has an annual turnover of R30 million) and is available on MultiChoice's DStv platform, Cape Town's CTV community TV station is trundling along and is not available on either DStv or TopTV.
1KZN that might join TopTV is now broadcasting free-to-air for 6 hours per day (repeated in 4 broadcast blocks over the course of a 24 hour day) since this past Friday in the Uthungulu and iLembe districts in the KwaZulu-Natal province. 1KZN is primarily run by 46 students with Edwin Mncwango as 1KZN station manager and Gideon Eksteen as executive producer.
Urban Brew Studios with its shareholder Kagiso Media that's heavily involved in supporting SowetoTV is also a backer behind 1KZN. (Urban Brew also produce and run the gospel TV channel, ONE Gospel on DStv 331, for MultiChoice.) It's clear that Urban Brew Studios is seeing community television in South Africa as a new niche market, and could possibly be looking at establishing a network of community television stations across South Africa that would make ''bulk buying'' of commercial TV airtime on community television stations an attractive new option to potential advertisers who would be able to speak to specific communities and demographics but still give advertisers national reach.
1KZN has a female talk show and a youth talk show, a gospel music show, the Ezabantwana kids show and Sibahle, a show that deals with woman's issues and covers topics such as health and beauty. 1KZN will have news - mainly local news and information relevant to the community - at 19:00 and 22:00, similar to what SowetoTV does.
''Being the only community television station in KwaZulu-Natal is a real privilege,'' says Edwin Mncwango as 1KZN station manager. ''1KZN will deliver the relevant TV programming the community deserves,'' he says. An internship programme will be started as well where people from the community as well as students from institutions like the University of Zululand will have the opportunity to get on-the-job training at 1KZN. ''The transfer of skills, resources and expertise will benefit community television in the broader South African landscape,'' says Themba Fakazi, 1KZN chairperson.
