Thanks Wangari, My comments inline. On 21 January 2015 at 09:55, WANGARI KABIRU <wangarikabiru@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Happy Ladies Day!
The main description of the actions by the players is - Laggards, which is very sad since it would have been expected that the big players would have been the industry trend setter on this global move. I take that their technocrats should understand it much better than the rest of us and even have been part of the global drivers leave alone even locally in Kenya. They seem to be playing catch-up when the industry has already moved on.
I would expect them to act more as awareness,enlightening us the public on this migration and possibly how best it should be carried out. In the meantime their Boardrooms should have been busy with their specific stations game plan or a joint industry one.
Sadly it seems this is another case of the dominant player now playing catch up and using reputation tactics to try and stall a development that is already on course.
Aside from that, in making business sense I would expect that there is earning sharing formulaes between the TV stations and the "decorder owners" which may range from; air my TV Station content for free and reach as many people as possible then advertisers will pay as I have dominant reach or as a TV Station and content owner, then pay me so as to air my content through your decorder. So where is such business formulae not working thus resulting in the need to air the Adverts on breach of rights et al?
I tend to disagree. Aerial providers don't need to pay any license or get into any agreement to beam free content. I as a consumer should be able to buy a Free-To-Air digital setbox on my way from Dubai and fix it in my TV and I'm ready to go. If I am an investor, I should be able to buy 1000 pieces of the boxes from China and retail them in the local market with no worries whatsoever. I only need to get type approval form CA.
Moreover, to view all the TV Stations and even more there are other routes without the need for the said decorders - via the internet (even newspapers!). Which means that the more the internet reach grows, the more creative the Boardrooms require to be as this shakes up the traditional model of their business.
Great point on Internet TV, but it may take a while before this becomes a reality in Kenya. And freeing up of the airwaves may speed this because we are waiting to see what innovations will com through TV whitespaces.
In the meantime, I and many more continue to enjoy the TV stations that do not require use of decorders, as we await for the supplier who will give them for free (why invest in a gadget) thus they may reach out to advertisers and blow their trumpet on their mass reach!
Your days are numbered :). The 4 stations will close analog TV very soon.
I believe this is an opportunity for exciting times for their Boardroom teams, consumers are good at uptake - only if they can get into "new business model mode" and faster faster.
I would wish my Top-Box to be internet enabled. Zuku anyone? ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya "There are some men who lift the age they inhabit, till all men walk on higher ground in that lifetime." - Maxwell Anderson