Malawi unveils digital TV service


Details

Rebecca Hawkes

| 15 April 2016




Malawi Digital Television will be launched on 23 April, ahead of the switch-off of analogue transmission in flood-hit Mzuzu on 1 July.


Part of the country’s phased migration to digital terrestrial TV (DTT), viewers in and around the capital of Malawi’s northern region will have to upgrade to digital receivers if they wish to see free-to-air (FTA) content, according to the Ministry of Information, Tourism and Civic Education.

The Malawi digital television set-top box (STB), named Kiliye Kiliye, will also be unveiled to coincide with the launch of the DTT service later this month.

“The decoder is not the same as a satellite pay-TV or any other free-to-air decoder because it enables Malawians to watch more free local television channels with better quality and once the decoder is bought, there is no subscription payment to be made,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The channels provided by Malawi Digital Television will include: Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Luso, God News Broadcasting Services (GBS), Timveni, Luntha, Channel for All Africa (CAN), Calvary (CFC), Times, Hope, Zodiak, Joy, Matindi, Ufulu, Beta, Ufulu, Angaliba, African Bible College (ABC) and Laura Televisions.

Malawi began its migration from analogue to digital television broadcasting in 2015.