|
Post by Daktari wa makazi on Feb 26, 2015 20:26:31 GMT 3
What was so demanding of the government to speed up the digital migration when the media houses were not ready to implement those changes? Would it have made any difference to give the television station extra time to finalise their business deals in preparation for the digital migration? Sadik nothing has happened "suddenly" as far as digital migration is concerned. The 2015 deadline was agreed to globally almost a decade ago. Here are some of the milestones over the years: "Milestones Kenya is way ahead of many African countries in the digital migration marathon and has achieved the following milestones: 1) In March 2007 the Government established a taskforce to advice on a roadmap for Digital Migration. 2) In March 2008 the taskforce recommendations were adopted by the Government and the setting up of the Digital Television Committee to oversee the implementation of Digital Migration 3) 2009 KBC receives Government Authorization as the first Broadcast Signal Distributor. 4) th December 2009 H.E. President Mwai Kibaki launches the pilot phase on DVB-T signal. 5) In December 2010 the government adopted the Digital transmission technology DVB-T2 for further infrastructure rollout. 6) In August 2011 forums with Broadcasters, vendors and other partners were held. 7) In October 2011 a second signal distributor, Pan Africa Network Group (Kenya) Co. Ltd, is licensed. 8) February 2012 the DVB-T2 signal went on air in Nairobi and its environs. 9) In June 2012 Treasury approves the waiver of import duty on set top boxes by for the Financial Year 2012/2013. 10) Also in June 2012 the second digital platform went on air in Nairobi in. 11) On 8th June 2012 a large scale Consumer Awareness Campaign is launched. 31st August 2012 the DVB-T signal transmission Ceased." digitalkenya.go.ke/welcome-to-digital-kenyaAll those are milestones that are now three years old. Where's the "suddenly" in the equation there? The fact is the 3 musketeers have seen this freight train coming but assumed they could ignore it. Readiness has little to do with it. b6k Your assertions are simplistic. Milestones are nothing but plans which, if executed well, will let us reach the goal. The two issues here are; 1. ADN not willing to give their content to PANG to distribute – they want to do that by themselves. That seems to be the big contenction. 2. ADN favours free-to-air TV but the gov’t want to adopt Pay TV. The latter will of course generate lofty payout to the gov't kahunas who brought the only decoders from China able to be used for Pay TV with the existing TV boxes and control the switch off button to suit their political ambitions. However many milestones the gov't draws, what is involved here is commercial operations which must make business sense to the operators in delivering digital realisation. That takes me back to the initial point - the Gov't has no business dictating to the TV stations with a view to influence their operations. We need an independent media.
|
|
|
Post by Daktari wa makazi on Feb 26, 2015 20:49:44 GMT 3
Why is the nationality of PANG an issue today whilst it was not when the tenders were being issued? Did PANG get the licences legally or not? I believe this was ruled in favour of the then CCK that the tender process was legal. But even when the story is being made an issue by the Senate it would appear that the trio are no the real owners of ADN! Kamale Directors of PANG ought to be known, especially when that Company, if they get their way, will be distributing all digital contents of TV Media in Kenya. There is a little issue of national interest to think about, here. Apparently, ADN Directors are all Kenyans. However, the irony in letting PNAG off the hook, but questioning ADN of the same is not lost on us! As to the point about ADN ownership, you should know companies as long as they are registered can bid for tenders, whether they are inchoate or not. Most companies go through transition from infancy to maturity.
|
|
|
Post by kamalet on Feb 27, 2015 8:17:29 GMT 3
Why is the nationality of PANG an issue today whilst it was not when the tenders were being issued? Did PANG get the licences legally or not? I believe this was ruled in favour of the then CCK that the tender process was legal. But even when the story is being made an issue by the Senate it would appear that the trio are no the real owners of ADN! Kamalet, these things are not a problem when all cards are on the table, the processes transparent and all is in the best of faiths. However, when disputes emerge, and on closer readings shady dealings are suspected, and, given the reputation of Kenyan bureaucrats, one would be a fool to trust his all to them, then every detail matters There are mirrors and smokesckreens galore --see Terminal one KAA for instance, secret clauses and all, and the Chinese having become experts in bribing their way around Africa ... One can never be too careful! NB: if that star story is true! Wolololo! Jakaswanga And therein lies the folly of believing everything the media tells you without questioning their objectivity! Take the JKIA story - according to one hack at the Nation, the story of theft at JKIA was all untrue and there was evidence to show it. There is even the ridiculous suggestion that it is all about getting a Kalenjin at the helm rather than corruption! As to the ownership of ADN, there is more in the Standard today debunking the Star story! Believe what you will!!
|
|
|
Post by kamalet on Feb 27, 2015 8:29:49 GMT 3
Why is the nationality of PANG an issue today whilst it was not when the tenders were being issued? Did PANG get the licences legally or not? I believe this was ruled in favour of the then CCK that the tender process was legal. But even when the story is being made an issue by the Senate it would appear that the trio are no the real owners of ADN! Kamale Directors of PANG ought to be known, especially when that Company, if they get their way, will be distributing all digital contents of TV Media in Kenya. There is a little issue of national interest to think about, here. Apparently, ADN Directors are all Kenyans. However, the irony in letting PNAG off the hook, but questioning ADN of the same is not lost on us! As to the point about ADN ownership, you should know companies as long as they are registered can bid for tenders, whether they are inchoate or not. Most companies go through transition from infancy to maturity. So it turns out that the directors of PANG are Chi Ming and Joseph Kipleft, what changes their entitlement to a licence to distribute content? When RMS and NMG (KTN did not even bid)put in their bids for the second digital broadcast licence the qualification of ownership was not raised as an issue in all the appeals the two houses put in to the Procurement Board and the High Court. In any case NMG cannot claim Kenyan ownership!! PANG was required within two years to cede at least 30% of its shareholding by CAK within two years. None of the media houses it would appear have taken the initiative to buy the shareholding. The Signet Licence was not auctioned and to meet the wishes of the private media houses, it was decided that KBC as the national broadcaster with entitlement to the licence had to create an independent company to transmit to avoid the situation of it being a producer and distributor of content - again this was done in concurrence with the private media houses. As to the lies about censorship of content to please the government - the trio's broadcasts have been carried by both PANG and Signet (including DSTV) for more than two years and this was even through a critical electoral period and they have not had cause to complain about content interference. But they are now raising an issue of censorship as a future fear - give me a break!
|
|
|
Post by kamalet on Feb 27, 2015 8:42:27 GMT 3
b6k Your assertions are simplistic. Milestones are nothing but plans which, if executed well, will let us reach the goal. The two issues here are; 1. ADN not willing to give their content to PANG to distribute – they want to do that by themselves. That seems to be the big contenction. 2. ADN favours free-to-air TV but the gov’t want to adopt Pay TV. The latter will of course generate lofty payout to the gov't kahunas who brought the only decoders from China able to be used for Pay TV with the existing TV boxes and control the switch off button to suit their political ambitions. However many milestones the gov't draws, what is involved here is commercial operations which must make business sense to the operators in delivering digital realisation. That takes me back to the initial point - the Gov't has no business dictating to the TV stations with a view to influence their operations. We need an independent media. Sadik You are wrong in your assertions!! ADN is not willing to give their content to PANG AND Signet..and you can throw in DSTV whom they also switched off! They want to distribute their own 'cheap set top boxes' so that Kenyans can watch their channels. That sounds very noble until you scratch the surface. What will happen to the 1.1 million kenyans with set top boxes and decoders already? Will they have to buy a second box just to watch the three channels? You are right that ADN favours FTA TV...and did you also know that PANG and Signet offer FTA channels? They all want to do the same. Then comes terrestrial tv providers such as Startimes and GOTv. They provide both FTA and Subcription channels and failure to pay for the subscription channels does not result in loss of the FTA channels! I think you need to have a look at digitalkenya.go.ke/ as I think you are commenting on something without the requisite facts! I tend to laugh when this claim of independent media is made about TV and wonder whether the ability to keep depressing me with political balderdash and endless South American soaps and Nigerian horror stories add up to that free or independent media you are talking about. Digital migration is about commerce and not media freedom!
|
|
|
Post by Luol Deng on Feb 27, 2015 12:05:02 GMT 3
Jakaswanga, Kamale, Sadik et al We have to get to the bottom of this issue, it is all about money and nothing about freedom of the press. Being an IT professional and being a subscriber of a mailing list that has over the years had players on both sides of the divide (government, regulators, media practitioners, owners & other professionals) the position is as has been outlined in www.digitaltvafrica.com/The process started in 2006 and all the players in the media were steering the process. The general consensus then was that broadcasting is going to be divided into 2, the signal distributor and the content providers. This has been the standard practice around the world. The initial signal distribution rights were given to Signet, largely owned by KBC. The local media houses were given the opportunity to buy into Signet, an opportunity they flatly rejected. Tantrums started and they decided to form a consortium that fell apart and they ended up bidding as 2 separate consortia. They were both beaten fair & square. The Nation Media & Citizen group had an insufficient bid bond & the rest of the group had a substandard technical proposal. These are facts that they don't want to share with the public. I'll skip the other digital migration efforts and move straight to last year when we had a series of court cases. The effect of it all was that the big 3 were given a self provisioning license that was later withdrawn by the CA then subsequently reinstated. The latest ruling retained the original migration dates which meant that the 3 media houses had to go off air. They had been on the digital platform for years, but decided to send propaganda messages to both the analog & digital channels thus in effect turning themselves off. When it comes to sensitisation, there was a budget towards educating the masses on the digital migration. The big 3 refused to air these ads which had the effect of sabotaging the whole process. The big 3 have kept on shifting goalposts. They have stated that they invested sh 40 B in broadcasting equipment and have not recouped their investment. This is analog equipment and of the 3, it is only Citizen TV that exclusively runs on its own infrastructure. Nation & KTN mostly run on (surprise, surprise) KBC's infrastructure and other 3rd party equipment leasing companies. But all the same, we have been at it for close to 10 years and the strategists should have seen this coming. We've had entire industries with more employees that didn't receive so much as a 1 week warning (Posta & Mobile pagers immediately come to mind). With a 10 years notice, they should not claim that they haven't had enough time. Also on moving goalposts, they knew that there was going to be 1 signal distributor, they fought that and were given the option of a second distributor. They lost the bid, they were given a soft landing of having a self provisioning license that they didn't deserve. The self provisioning license gives them the option of transmitting their stuff on their equipment, but they can't transmit anything else. By the way FTA channels operate, they can't prevent their content from being shown through other decoders. So, the big 3 shifted positions that would stop their stuff from being viewed through other decoders that hasn't been granted as yet. Before they were granted their final request, they discovered that their decoders will only be allowed to show their channels and nothing else, that meant 4 channels with zero variety while other competing FTA decoders that currently show 70+ FTA channels that would be suicidal. So ADN are now demanding for a BSD license like PANG & Signet through the backdoor yet the laws state clearly that such a license can only be obtained through a competitive bid, one that they may lose yet again. The media houses have now gone into a propaganda overdrive, engaging their journalists to give one side of the story on social media. The newspaper publications & the FM stations that belong to the 3 have also been roped into that effort. The most ludicrous attack on those opposed to the big 3 narrative has come from Larry Madowo here larrymadowo.co.ke/digital-migration-misinformation-and-the-analogue-3/The article predictably begins with an insult and doesn't go beyond the cheap shots. Larry Madowo is clearly out of his depth here, but they have to be seen to be doing something. The bottom line is that the market has been enlarged and the advertisement shs. will most likely not keep pace with the proliferation of new media players. The content will therefore be the differentiator. In the past they were able to hoard frequencies to prevent new players from getting into the market. So right now they largely rely on prime time news & imported content which is available in the FTA channels anyway. This means that in the near term they will have less money due to new entrants. Jakaswanga, On the option of having both Analogue & digital, the frequencies are a limited resource and some of the beneficial services and some of the allocated frequencies cannot be used before the migration is concluded, so, in essence they are holding up progress. Not to forget that there are other sectors that will be directly affected by the wastage of time, aviation is one of them.
|
|
|
Post by jakaswanga on Feb 27, 2015 12:28:10 GMT 3
Kamalet, these things are not a problem when all cards are on the table, the processes transparent and all is in the best of faiths. However, when disputes emerge, and on closer readings shady dealings are suspected, and, given the reputation of Kenyan bureaucrats, one would be a fool to trust his all to them, then every detail matters There are mirrors and smokesckreens galore --see Terminal one KAA for instance, secret clauses and all, and the Chinese having become experts in bribing their way around Africa ... One can never be too careful! NB: if that star story is true! Wolololo! Jakaswanga And therein lies the folly of believing everything the media tells you without questioning their objectivity! Take the JKIA story - according to one hack at the Nation, the story of theft at JKIA was all untrue and there was evidence to show it. There is even the ridiculous suggestion that it is all about getting a Kalenjin at the helm rather than corruption! As to the ownership of ADN, there is more in the Standard today debunking the Star story! Believe what you will!! on terminal n1 at JKIA, I think the DN gave a good hint to be read between the lines for the seasoned. The PS arrived in person like a man on mission. And asked to change the agenda. Ms Mbugua and co are not being roasted for corruption, no, it means the wing of the power cartel protecting them, has lost relative power and influence. So new emerged power brokers are using this, once they discovered the loophole clause, to promote their own hirelings to the gravvy railtrack at KAA. As for ADN, I am wondering why they did leave it to this last. Minute! Anyway is it not so, that modern TVs automatically receive smart signals? So that top boxes is actual antic technology?
|
|
|
Post by jakaswanga on Feb 27, 2015 14:56:47 GMT 3
Luoldeng',
Thanx for a very informative piece. You know it was bothering me to understand why all this has come to a last minute grand standing, after B6k n Otish told me the migration was internationally decided in like 2006! That I think was sufficient time for any body serious!
But I can't believe the big three refused to preferentially buy into SIGNET when they were offered the deal to join KBC there-- whose infrastructures you tell me KTN and Nation still use!
That was very stupid of the big three! They failed to see the bigger picture, of foreign sharks circling the ripe market.
Now the conflict plays in the realm of politics, and that makes it dangerous, ie emotional. It needs a political financial resolution, and I doubt we have any Solomon around.
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Feb 28, 2015 0:04:52 GMT 3
For the last few weeks, I have been listening to people on blogs like this one, sites like Facebook and Twitter, reading newspapers and conversing with people offline. I think I have now made up my mind. In my opinion, on this matter of digital migration, Onyango Oloo's considered opinion is.... Stay tuned while I download my thoughts from my brain to a laptop/desktop smartphone/tablet screen near you. Onyango Oloo, Nairobi,
Kenya Tuesday, February 25, 2015 Oloo, b6k Have you fellos caught on the story which claims the chinese digital relayer --babi pangang or Pang, is not that Chinese after all? what on earth? The Safaricom template: --a secret holding company called Mobitela was formed to secretively be awarded shares as the old Kenya Telecom was sold to the British parent company of Safaricom (should be Vodafone or something like that). When the Brits had turned kenya telecom around and safaricom was running a riot profit, and shares were floated, the owners of Mobitela soared until they nearly grazed the Nigerian Dangote. 8-4-4 = zero journalists (quoting Kamalet) claim nobody knows who Mobitela profiteurs are! That is funny! Mobitela is actually formed from their african names! --Njakip style! And so it is with Pang. It may not even be 60% Chinese! Jakaswanga, this allegation that PANG isn't Chinese doesn't surprise me at all. We've seen this model followed time & again be it Mobitelea which lasted the test of time (I seem to recall hearing about those 5% Safaricom shares being up for auction some years ago) or others like Anglo-Leasing which were outed & failed on their mission...at least initially.
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Feb 28, 2015 0:14:32 GMT 3
Why is the nationality of PANG an issue today whilst it was not when the tenders were being issued? Did PANG get the licences legally or not? I believe this was ruled in favour of the then CCK that the tender process was legal. But even when the story is being made an issue by the Senate it would appear that the trio are no the real owners of ADN! Kamalet, these things are not a problem when all cards are on the table, the processes transparent and all is in the best of faiths. However, when disputes emerge, and on closer readings shady dealings are suspected, and, given the reputation of Kenyan bureaucrats, one would be a fool to trust his all to them, then every detail matters There are mirrors and smokesckreens galore --see Terminal one KAA for instance, secret clauses and all, and the Chinese having become experts in bribing their way around Africa ... One can never be too careful! NB: if that star story is true! Wolololo! It seems the author of the article is doing a bit of sleight of hand because right after he says this: "ADN's date of registration is shown as midnight, New Year's Day, 1900. A source at the Registrar of companies said this means that the company is actually still under registration and the process is not complete." ...he goes on to give the reader a history lesson on when electricity, radio, and TV broadcasting commenced in Kenya well after the registration of ADN in 1900. To me the source seems to make it abundantly clear that ADN isn't yet fully registered due to some bureaucratic process at the Registrar of Companies, not that ADN backdated their year of registration to horse & buggy days...
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Feb 28, 2015 0:21:14 GMT 3
Sadik nothing has happened "suddenly" as far as digital migration is concerned. The 2015 deadline was agreed to globally almost a decade ago. Here are some of the milestones over the years: "Milestones Kenya is way ahead of many African countries in the digital migration marathon and has achieved the following milestones: 1) In March 2007 the Government established a taskforce to advice on a roadmap for Digital Migration. 2) In March 2008 the taskforce recommendations were adopted by the Government and the setting up of the Digital Television Committee to oversee the implementation of Digital Migration 3) 2009 KBC receives Government Authorization as the first Broadcast Signal Distributor. 4) th December 2009 H.E. President Mwai Kibaki launches the pilot phase on DVB-T signal. 5) In December 2010 the government adopted the Digital transmission technology DVB-T2 for further infrastructure rollout. 6) In August 2011 forums with Broadcasters, vendors and other partners were held. 7) In October 2011 a second signal distributor, Pan Africa Network Group (Kenya) Co. Ltd, is licensed. 8) February 2012 the DVB-T2 signal went on air in Nairobi and its environs. 9) In June 2012 Treasury approves the waiver of import duty on set top boxes by for the Financial Year 2012/2013. 10) Also in June 2012 the second digital platform went on air in Nairobi in. 11) On 8th June 2012 a large scale Consumer Awareness Campaign is launched. 31st August 2012 the DVB-T signal transmission Ceased." digitalkenya.go.ke/welcome-to-digital-kenyaAll those are milestones that are now three years old. Where's the "suddenly" in the equation there? The fact is the 3 musketeers have seen this freight train coming but assumed they could ignore it. Readiness has little to do with it. b6k Your assertions are simplistic. Milestones are nothing but plans which, if executed well, will let us reach the goal. The two issues here are; 1. ADN not willing to give their content to PANG to distribute – they want to do that by themselves. That seems to be the big contenction. 2. ADN favours free-to-air TV but the gov’t want to adopt Pay TV. The latter will of course generate lofty payout to the gov't kahunas who brought the only decoders from China able to be used for Pay TV with the existing TV boxes and control the switch off button to suit their political ambitions. However many milestones the gov't draws, what is involved here is commercial operations which must make business sense to the operators in delivering digital realisation. That takes me back to the initial point - the Gov't has no business dictating to the TV stations with a view to influence their operations. We need an independent media. Sadik, have you ever heard of KISS. It's the KISS principle is the design model for keeping processes simple and stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. Long story short, the digital migration process has not only been long enough but global in its scope that no media outlet anywhere in the world should be begging for more time almost a decade on into the task. From being ahead of the curve in the migration process ADN has literally thrown Kenya into the dark ages (circa 1900) because of greed. Washindwe!
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Feb 28, 2015 0:23:52 GMT 3
Jakaswanga, Kamale, Sadik et al We have to get to the bottom of this issue, it is all about money and nothing about freedom of the press. Being an IT professional and being a subscriber of a mailing list that has over the years had players on both sides of the divide (government, regulators, media practitioners, owners & other professionals) the position is as has been outlined in www.digitaltvafrica.com/The process started in 2006 and all the players in the media were steering the process. The general consensus then was that broadcasting is going to be divided into 2, the signal distributor and the content providers. This has been the standard practice around the world. The initial signal distribution rights were given to Signet, largely owned by KBC. The local media houses were given the opportunity to buy into Signet, an opportunity they flatly rejected. Tantrums started and they decided to form a consortium that fell apart and they ended up bidding as 2 separate consortia. They were both beaten fair & square. The Nation Media & Citizen group had an insufficient bid bond & the rest of the group had a substandard technical proposal. These are facts that they don't want to share with the public. I'll skip the other digital migration efforts and move straight to last year when we had a series of court cases. The effect of it all was that the big 3 were given a self provisioning license that was later withdrawn by the CA then subsequently reinstated. The latest ruling retained the original migration dates which meant that the 3 media houses had to go off air. They had been on the digital platform for years, but decided to send propaganda messages to both the analog & digital channels thus in effect turning themselves off. When it comes to sensitisation, there was a budget towards educating the masses on the digital migration. The big 3 refused to air these ads which had the effect of sabotaging the whole process. The big 3 have kept on shifting goalposts. They have stated that they invested sh 40 B in broadcasting equipment and have not recouped their investment. This is analog equipment and of the 3, it is only Citizen TV that exclusively runs on its own infrastructure. Nation & KTN mostly run on (surprise, surprise) KBC's infrastructure and other 3rd party equipment leasing companies. But all the same, we have been at it for close to 10 years and the strategists should have seen this coming. We've had entire industries with more employees that didn't receive so much as a 1 week warning (Posta & Mobile pagers immediately come to mind). With a 10 years notice, they should not claim that they haven't had enough time. Also on moving goalposts, they knew that there was going to be 1 signal distributor, they fought that and were given the option of a second distributor. They lost the bid, they were given a soft landing of having a self provisioning license that they didn't deserve. The self provisioning license gives them the option of transmitting their stuff on their equipment, but they can't transmit anything else. By the way FTA channels operate, they can't prevent their content from being shown through other decoders. So, the big 3 shifted positions that would stop their stuff from being viewed through other decoders that hasn't been granted as yet. Before they were granted their final request, they discovered that their decoders will only be allowed to show their channels and nothing else, that meant 4 channels with zero variety while other competing FTA decoders that currently show 70+ FTA channels that would be suicidal. So ADN are now demanding for a BSD license like PANG & Signet through the backdoor yet the laws state clearly that such a license can only be obtained through a competitive bid, one that they may lose yet again. The media houses have now gone into a propaganda overdrive, engaging their journalists to give one side of the story on social media. The newspaper publications & the FM stations that belong to the 3 have also been roped into that effort. The most ludicrous attack on those opposed to the big 3 narrative has come from Larry Madowo here larrymadowo.co.ke/digital-migration-misinformation-and-the-analogue-3/The article predictably begins with an insult and doesn't go beyond the cheap shots. Larry Madowo is clearly out of his depth here, but they have to be seen to be doing something. The bottom line is that the market has been enlarged and the advertisement shs. will most likely not keep pace with the proliferation of new media players. The content will therefore be the differentiator. In the past they were able to hoard frequencies to prevent new players from getting into the market. So right now they largely rely on prime time news & imported content which is available in the FTA channels anyway. This means that in the near term they will have less money due to new entrants. Jakaswanga, On the option of having both Analogue & digital, the frequencies are a limited resource and some of the beneficial services and some of the allocated frequencies cannot be used before the migration is concluded, so, in essence they are holding up progress. Not to forget that there are other sectors that will be directly affected by the wastage of time, aviation is one of them. Luol Deng I think you've nailed it! Your contribution deserves several re-reads for all to understand the duplicity being peddled as "free media" by the triumvirate...
|
|
|
Post by OtishOtish on Feb 28, 2015 3:41:33 GMT 3
The media houses have now gone into a propaganda overdrive, engaging their journalists to give one side of the story on social media. Very enlightening piece. They have definitely gone into overdrive and seem to have decided that they might as well play fast and loose with the truth ... Other than the crude lies and misinformation, some of what is being peddled is downright bizarre. E.g., never mind things like the SGR and other much-praised Chinese projects, there is now the belated discovery that Kung Fu has a human-rights problem. If accurately reported by The Startled: "Nation Media Group chairman Wilfred Kiboro has asked the Communications Authority of Kenya to extend the digital migration date to May 30. ... We do not trust either the Chinese PANG, whose human rights record is not clear, or Signet that is owned by the government," he said See more at: www.the-star.co.ke/news/nation-media-group-chairman-asks-ca-push-digital-migration-may-30#sthash.0BwRRvzZ.dpuf(I note that the Safaricom CCTV contract, which involves surveillance and is more directly connected to human rights, will mostly be handled by Huawei; but not a squeak, from anybody, on human rights.) It's all quite crude, but I doubt that Mr.& Mrs. Wanjiku staring at a blank screen care about that. What they have been told is that the Serikali has turned off the tube, and they will probably not remember when Gang Of Three itself decided to that turning off the tube was the best way to win. The Gang Of Three is simply determined to have its own way on a fishing trip into Wanjiku's purse. And they will keep changing their story in order to get what they want. What is really peculiar about all the new "concerns" is that it is not even clear how extending the digital-migration deadline would resolve those concerns. (I exclude the ones about importing enough set-top boxes, because I know Kung Fu will can supply those real quick.) The only "benefit" of an extension would be that they would be able to squeeze harder and more effectively when the deadline is "just a few days away". Sadik raises some legitimate concerns. After all, GoK has a long history of using the media, which, of course, has mostly been willing to be used ... But GoK also has an equally long history as a den of corruption; so one should not dismiss lightly stories about PANG and the two ADNs. One thing Kenyans can be sure of is that no matter which way it goes, there are people who have positioned themselves to eat turkey for dinner (after having finished the chicken for lunch). That is probably what this fight is all about.
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Feb 28, 2015 14:34:04 GMT 3
Sadik raises some legitimate concerns. After all, GoK has a long history of using the media, which, of course, has mostly been willing to be used ... But GoK also has an equally long history as a den of corruption; so one should not dismiss lightly stories about PANG and the two ADNs. One thing Kenyans can be sure of is that no matter which way it goes, there are people who have positioned themselves to eat turkey for dinner (after having finished the chicken for lunch). That is probably what this fight is all about. Much as I agree on the corruption angle I disagree on the media one. Sadik's guilty of looking at government as a monolithic, unchanging entity year on year while in reality an analysis such as Professor Ndii's latest missive is much closer to the truth. He categorizes the 4 administrations that make up the collective Government of Kenya since independence with different grades when it comes to 1) corruption, 2) liberal space to opposing views & 3) competence. Here's how he rated the GK over the last 50 plus years: "Jomo Kenyatta’s regime was corrupt, illiberal and competent. Moi’s was corrupt, illiberal and mediocre. Kibaki’s was corrupt, liberal and competent. So, Moi scores zero out of three. Jomo scores one out of three. Kibaki scores two out of three. Now it adds up! Jubilee’s stock has fallen not just because it is seen as corrupt, but because it comes across as also illiberal and incompetent. Like Moi’s regime, it scores zero out of three. This should not surprise. Uhuru and Ruto are Moi’s protégés. Not only do they seem to have internalised the politics of mediocrity practised in Moi’s Kanu but they also missed out on the education and socialisation in liberal politics that the Narc coalition politicians went through in their 15 years in opposition." www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Jubilee-like-Moi-regime-scores-a-zero-/-/440808/2638032/-/sncejn/-/index.htmlI may not fully agree with the good professor's conclusions but I do believe he is right in that nothing, especially something as complex as running government, can ever be black & white; two legs good, four legs baaad. He believes that Uhuruto are more a reflection of the Moi regime which failed on all counts, than the Jomo one which was corrupt & illiberal but at least competent or the Kibaki regime which scored highest by at least being both competent & liberal. All administrations, in his view, have failed on the corruption index while Moi's regime, which inspires Uhuruto's failed on all counts. One may argue that even Jubilee being technically the second coalition government is held back by baggage that ensures it will remain KANU-esque than NARC-like, but that's an argument for another day. Long story short is that even government like families take on the quirks & personalities of the players that make up the sum of its parts. I would go further to argue that even a "broken" government like the Moi regime may have had most things wrongs but a couple things right like even a broken clock can be accurate at least twice a day. Given what Luol Deng shared earlier, & even acknowledging the possibility of chicken & turkey eating, it seems to me that government still has the high ground in this digital migration debacle when compared to ADN...
|
|
|
Post by mwalimumkuu on Mar 1, 2015 5:01:45 GMT 3
Luoldeng,
Good job. Mr. Wangusi the CAK director was on presspass a few weeks ago with Linus Kaikai and Ohito and laid out the chronology exactly as you've done here.
The truth is, the three media houses screwed up partly due to individual greed and partly due to a lack of understanding of what the real implications of digital migration were. The government was very accommodating from the get go and even bend backwards to take care of their needs, but none of them seemed seized of the direction things were taking.
Senator Amos Wako politely told them as much during the Senate hearing of their petition. At the stage we currently are, I don't see much wriggle room for them but to comply and may be request for a review with a view to allowing them a little more stakes as it were from the beginning.
~~ Mwalimumkuu @nyumbakubwa ~~
|
|
|
Post by jakaswanga on Mar 3, 2015 1:00:56 GMT 3
where is the voice of Bitange Ndemo on this topic? he was the digital man in the previous administration, and he is a prolific topical commentator, but not on this issue!
whats up with him, b6k? --who cut his tongue here, or ordered it shut forever on this topic?
|
|
|
Post by podp on Mar 3, 2015 6:35:15 GMT 3
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Mar 3, 2015 7:24:39 GMT 3
where is the voice of Bitange Ndemo on this topic? he was the digital man in the previous administration, and he is a prolific topical commentator, but not on this issue! whats up with him, b6k? --who cut his tongue here, or ordered it shut forever on this topic? Jakaswanga, Bitange Ndemo is a law abiding citizen and he's just following a gag order from a COFEK petition that was imposed on him by Justice Lenaola of the Mutungaroo courts back in December 2012, the original migration target date. This is what he had to say back then when he was still PS: "Last week, Ndemo took to the social media to criticise Cofek for filing the petition that seeks to push the migration deadline from end of this month to coincide with the global cut-over date of 2015. Through his twitter account, the PS said “I find it most unfortunate that Cofek has gone to court to stop the planned digital switchover on December 31. The cost of not migrating will be far too greater. “Further, every new channel creates 30 new jobs. Does Cofek really understand this? Whose agenda are they advancing?” Ndemo further said that the digital migration will result in increased number of channels, which will help the country achieve a pluralistic and diversified broadcast environment, in addition to creating jobs." www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-99924/judge-stops-ndemo-tweeting-court-caseSo you can see he's been a proponent for digital migration from the get go. Will there be losers in the migration? Absolutely. But even if several million people would've been cut off, there's no way the blackout would've been as complete as what ADN has wrought on the people of Kenya. One thing I criticise the government for is they appear not to have explored subsidizing the set top units by zero rating them, or better yet, dishing them out free of charge to those who could show that they owned a TV but cannot afford the cost of the set top box. Of the 3 million or so documented owners of TV's in the land I'd guess that only a third, or about a million would prove genuinely deserving. The rest would already have their DSTV or ZUKU options going live anyway. So for about 2.5 billion shillings, the government could've forked out the cost of set top boxes for those in need & there would be no "crisis" This reluctance to think outside the box hints at a Mobitelea like scenario with some in government hoping to reap billions in the sale of set top boxes. Greed from many players is what's holding KE back...
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Mar 3, 2015 17:10:38 GMT 3
It looks like the media houses have decided to end the blackout if this story is anything to go by.... Nation, KTN And Citizen To Come Back On Air, Digital Platform Only -Martin Gicheru March 3, 2015 Nation, KTN And Citizen To Come Back On Air, Digital Platform Only Martin Gicheru March 3, 2015 News "Nation TV, Citizen TV, KTN and QTV will be back on air from Thursday at precisely 6.50 pm. This new bit looks like it comes from a directive by the president after the media houses owners went to state house to lobby for the president to request to get them back to the analogue platforms. The Aga Khan, Nation Media Group majority shareholder has been in the country to pursue that agenda. Word has it that former president Moi was also there to lobby for KTN, and as expected the ownership of Royal Media would have pursued similar agenda. Well, looks like the three have not had their way afterall and there is no more going back to the analogue platform, at least for the already switched locations. The three have been off-air for 3 weeks now. This is after a ruling by Supreme court instructed them to switch off their analogue signals themselves. Something they did not honour and Communications Authority went ahead to seek a court order to do it themselves. In rebellion, the three went ahead to switch off transmission on the digital platform, and instead aired a misleading message that CA had switched them off on all platforms. This was refuted by the Communications Authority. We will update you should we learn more on this." www.techweez.com/2015/03/03/nation-ktn-and-citizen-on-air-digital-platform/
|
|
|
Post by kamalet on Mar 4, 2015 8:44:49 GMT 3
They say that they will be broadcasting through their self provisioning licence and this will only be available through universal set top boxes. I understand this to mean that they will not be available on any pay TV channels - Startimes and GoTV including presumably DSTV. The return to broadcasting is a win for proponents of digital TV but must also have been a realisation by the trio that commercial consideration overrides the interests of their long claimed fight for media freedom. The alleged interventions by the Aga Khan and Moi seems to have forced these guys into digital broadcast notwithstanding the position taken by the executives at the media houses. There was sensible criticism of the executives by Macharia Gaithowhere he held the view that the fight should have been led by journalists and not executives.....! But I still think these guys running the media houses are not too clever. First they roll out the signals in Nairobi only as that is their reach, but restrict the signal to only the Universal boxes. Excluding the pay TV guys means that they are actually excluding a significant audience for their advertisements where advertisers target a specific consumer group. So when Barclays or KQ advertise, they are targeting the consumer on Pay TV like DSTV unlike say an advert from Equity or Faulu asking people to invest 500 shillings for a great future.Hey it is not my money why should I fuss?
|
|
|
Post by jakaswanga on Mar 4, 2015 21:25:16 GMT 3
b6k,
Does this gagging order of old from His Highness Judge Lenaola still hold, even after Messrs Ndemo is no longer PS?
On the other hand, i really cannot figure out why the CEO's of the Big Three --or the technology strategists, did not move quickly, once the international agreement was made binding. They rather than the government should have been setting the pace. Now, they left it late, and as the saying goes, they are fishing after the net.
There is a story in the dailies about Agha Khan and Arap Moi personally entreating President Kenyatta. He was adamant in his No. I do not know why these two seniors think the president has the powers to order the CA around. Nevertheless, Uhuru reputedly ordered all government advertising to exclusively go digital.
I guess that ends the argument and ADN will cut a deal with Signet of KBC. For a start. As they lick and repair their wounds.
|
|
|
Post by b6k on Mar 5, 2015 5:54:20 GMT 3
Do court gag orders have expiry dates? I would hazard a guess that Ndemo will have to hold his tongue until the digital migration process is a fait accomplis. Alternatively, he could take the steps as citizen Bitange to argue in court that his rights to air his opinion have been trampled on now that he's not an officer of the state. I won't hold my breath for that as filing a case at the Mutangaroo courts comes at a cost as it's not free. He has to have an incentive to pursue that angle. The triumvirate and the government dropped the ball on this one. The decision to go digital globally is almost a decade old. There were always numerous ways to go about it including allowing for analogue broadcasts to continue concurrently with digital ones as Madagascar has and continues to do. They're are at about 80% migration right now because they not only allowed both broadcasts simultaneously but openly showed the dividends of going digital buy having wider variety on the digital platform than on the analogue. The analogue dinosaurs would see their neighbors enjoying better entertainment and be compelled to keep up with the Joneses and go digital. Indeed in this article we learn that even the 2015 global deadline isn't cast in stone for the dark continent as we are expected not to be able to meet deadlines in the first place. www.africareview.com/Special-Reports/For-Africa-digital-remains-in-the-future-/-/979182/1731620/-/v5tyk2z/-/index.htmlSo why the rush to go digital?
|
|
|
Post by OtishOtish on Mar 6, 2015 0:46:25 GMT 3
This is truly a miracle. Last I heard, the Gang of Three needed about 3 months (to the end of May) before they could possibly have the right equipment to broadcast even a single binary digit. And here we are today. They were deeply concerned about having to use Chinese distributors, with questionable human-rights records and a fondness for willy-nilly censorship. But now they have found a long-lost self-provisioning license. And so on ....
|
|
|
Post by jakaswanga on Mar 17, 2015 14:49:58 GMT 3
Kamalet, this seems to be more than an 8-4-4=0 journalists work. The treasury has ordered KBC to hand over all shares of SIGNET! Which I think means this KBC as a distributor of digital signals was merely a front for others.
But it would be welcome to hear your take on this development. I would rather KBC invited the big three to join in a consortium, than handover to the treasury which has no expertise on broadcasting.
Interesting times.
|
|
|
Post by kamalet on Mar 18, 2015 9:43:16 GMT 3
Kamalet, this seems to be more than an 8-4-4=0 journalists work. The treasury has ordered KBC to hand over all shares of SIGNET! Which I think means this KBC as a distributor of digital signals was merely a front for others. But it would be welcome to hear your take on this development. I would rather KBC invited the big three to join in a consortium, than handover to the treasury which has no expertise on broadcasting. Interesting times. Sir To my understanding, KBC is a State Corporation which means that it is owned by the PS Treasury through the PS Treasury Incorporation Act. So if Signet is fully owned by KBC, does it not follow that the grandfather has his interests fully covered by child? I do not understand the issue about transferring the shares unless the intention is to separate the two and create a new avenue of rewarding cronies with posts on the board of Signet!
|
|