Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN) launches with a couple of shows for you to watch
Earlier this year, Techzim wrote that Zimpapers, the largest government-owned print media house in Zimbabwe was preparing to launch their own television network called ZTN. Well, ZTN recently launched after weeks of trailers showcasing some of the shows that they were going to offer once they had launched.
ZTN plans to air all their shows on their website. However, right now, the shows that are already showing are available on YouTube and Facebook. On Facebook, the shows seem to be doing well in terms of views so maybe they’ll continue to publish them there also. At the moment, anyone with an internet access can access the shows as there is no subscription that is needed.
Some of the shows that they have started airing are Pachiteshi, Our Conversations, and You Think So? According to ZTN, Pachiteshi is a comedy show which explores various aspects of life from the eyes of the people who are seemingly on a journey. It is set at various meeting points and topics discussed vary from health, education and everything else in between, which affects people on a day-to-day basis.
On the other hand, the first episode of Our Conversations covered a topic to do with politics, land reallocation, and leadership, so it seems like this show might continue along the lines of discussing issues that people are discussing while involving prominent people. Our Conversations episode showed an interview of President Geingob on the topic of “Younger Presidents are no better”.
The last show that ZTN has already aired is called You Think So? It featured Tongayi Chirisa, a famous Zimbabwean actor, testing people’s “IQ”. Tongai was asking different people questions to do with general knowledge about Zimbabwe. Some questions you’d think you know the answers to but end up getting surprised with the answer.
The three shows that ZTN has already aired are quite good both in quality of video and also the content. Given how they just launched and are working on bringing more shows, ZTN could end up being a television network that lives up to its motto – giving people what they want in TV content.
However, ZTN will likely not be competing against DStv or Kwese TV as it is just not offering enough especially when it comes to entertainment like football etc but maybe that’s the point. Maybe they just want to offer good quality original content and whether you watch DStv or Kwese TV later, it might not matter to them as long as you watch their shows also.–techzim
