BROADCAST & FILM AFRICA 2008: African TV owners demand better quality broadcast equipment

African broadcasters have put forth a raft of demands to international equipment suppliers, warning investors were being forced to pay too much for equipment that become obsolete every 24 months, leading to losses for investors.

Kiarie Nderitu, the Technical Manager, Nation Television (NTV) in Kenya, said the high cost of equipment and the potential of losing out on more revenue once the broadcast industry moves to digital broadcasting, made it necessary for players to demand more.

"We do not want equipment that is obsolete every two years. We need equipment that can be upgraded. The equipment must be modular and scalable because if you buy equipment then after two years and it cannot be upgraded, it leads to loss of investments," he said.

African broadcasters across the continent are bracing for the big shift to digital broadcasting in what has been termed the biggest industry revolution since the advent of colour television. The digital TV will allow for an influx of television stations.

Industry analysts say with the increasing movements towards the use of fibre optic cable as an enabler for the broadcast, the demand for satellite communication would fall. The revenue from advertisers will also decline as more players join the fray.

"The initial investment is very expensive for TV broadcasting. It takes a lot to invest. The amount of money that can be secured for investment in equipment will also go down, that is why they must be scalable," Nderitu told broadcasters and filmmakers at a conference in Nairobi to discuss the co-existence of the various media.

He said the return on investment will be affected once the industry shifts to digital broadcasting, forcing the players to look for more innovative means to cut costs.

"We need to use fibre instead of V-SAT—(Very Small Aperture Terminal)—which uses satellite because the satellite is already occupied. It is difficult to get space especially for traffic within Africa," he told the experts attending the conference.

He said equipment suppliers must make them adoptable to the African conditions, especially taking into account, the low level of fibre optic capability still available.

Although the industry expects to derive major advantages from the shift to digital broadcasting, there are fears that the equipment still available to African broadcasters at the moment are still not fully adapted to the African broadcasting climate.