Media owners are scheduled to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta today over the ongoing standoff between broadcasters and the Communication Authority of Kenya.
The meeting comes on the sixth day of a TV switch-off by the three leading broadcasters in protest of CAK’s highhandedness in awarding signal distribution licences to Chinese firm PANG (Pan-Africa Network Group) and SIGNET, a subsidiary of the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
The President, who was scheduled to commission KenGen’s 140 MW Olkaria I Unit 4 & 5 Geothermal Power Plant in Naivasha today morning, first approached the media owners on Tuesday through telephone conversations. Today’s meeting raises hope for a resumption of broadcast by NTV, KTN, Citizen and QTV, which went off air on Saturday afternoon moments after CAK switched off their analogue signals.
CAK and the three media owners, operating under African Digital Network (ADN), have been playing hardball, leading to a drawnout standoff that has nearly collapsed news broadcast in the country. Efforts for the two parties to sit on the negotiating table have been fruitless, as each of them erects tough conditions.
CAK has told media owners it can only negotiate if they resume broadcasting, while ADN insists on talking while the strike is on. “ADN is adamant,” said someone close to the ADN group. “They have told CAK that they are willing to stay off air until their set top boxes are shipped in, even if it takes three months.”
So if the president doesn’t midwife a deal today, then the stalemate will persist. Meanwhile, ADN members have assured their staff of their jobs, calming frayed nerves among employees who have been worried about their employment in the face of huge losses being incurred by the TV stations while off air and the uncertainty around it if it’s not resolved fast enough. “Our employees should not be worried,” said an ADN member. “Their jobs are secure. No one will be fired.”
The official said ADN-member stations decided to switch off digital broadcast to avoid their signals being picked by StarTimes and GoTV with whom they have been battling in court over copyright infringement on their free-to-air channels.
In the process, other pay TV providers such as DStv and Zuku, who have independent contracts with broadcasters, became victims of the fight.
