Mmmmmmmh, finally the stand-off is over.
The three big broadcasters that had withdrawn their signals will resume broadcasting on Thursday, after 18 days of blackout. Business Today has been told that the three media houses – Nation media (NTV, Qtv), Royal Media Services (Citizen) and Standard Group (KTN) have carved in to pressure from the government to give their TV content to other signal distributors.
The three are expected to broadcast through SIGNET, a subsidiary of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), which won the signal distribution tender alongside Pan African Network Group (PANG).
The plan is to restructure SIGNET and sell a stake to the local media houses. “NTV, QTV resume broadcast in Nairobi on Thursday, 6:50pm. Available on ADN network to those with universal set top boxes,” said NTV on its website.
The deal comes just a day after His Highness the Aga Khan, the principal shareholder of Nation Media Group, met with President Kenyatta yesterday.
SIGNET had demanded that each of the TV station pays a hosting fee of Sh1 million per month, which would have been a very expensive arrangement. A source at Royal Media says the company’s founder and managing director is working on a statement that will be released anytime.
The TV station had no option but go for SIGNET as they had criticised PANG, with roots in China, saying they would not trust a foreign-owned company with their local content. As they resume TV stations will be counting their losses running into hundreds of millions. On average, they have been losing about Sh40 million per day, which comes to Sh720 million for 18 days.
