Kenyatta University has launched a television station, which will be available in all free to air set-top boxes, making it the second public university after Moi to have its own channel. KUTV will offer coverage of national and global stories.
Vice Chancellor Prof Olive Mugenda, speaking at the launch on Saturday, said KUTV, will air 70% local content. The station, based at the university, will air programmes on health, innovation, business, careers, culinary arts, comedy as well as legal matters.
Moi University launched its TV station in 2014, with the twin purposes of teaching journalism students and earning the university some income. With the shift to digital broadcasting, it has been easy to set up a TV station as the coast of installing transmission equipment has been cut out. But they face strong competition from established private operators who use top talent as opposed to universities that rely on their students.
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Kenyatta University has partnered with Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s state-run international broadcaster. DW representative in Kenya Njoki Muhoho said the collaboration will help improve the quality of content aired by KUTV.
“We want to assist them as much, we want KU to be the go to station for broadcast learning. We have provided satellite dishes and technical expertise for the TV station,” said Ms Muhoho.
Ms Mugenda lauded the development as a dream come true. “We thought about it five or six years ago but didn’t think it would be this great,” she said. “We dared to venture to this area to educate, inform and entertain. We will not be a TV station that only criticises but also offer solutions.”
The station was officially launched a few minutes to 9PM on Saturday by KU Chancellor Dr Benson Wairegi. He said the station will also earn the university extra income.
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