Digital migration has been the talk of the country since the four television
stations Citizen, NTV, QTV and KTN remain off air, after their analogue
transmitters were switched off.
But even with the digital row, what does digital migration mean to an
entrepreneur?
In an Interview with Capital FM Business, The Communications Authority of
Kenya (CA) Director General Francis Wangusi outlines four opportunities
entrepreneurs can tap into.
1. Content Creation
Entrepreneurs in the creative industry can now create their content and sell
to distributors; distributors are hungry for content as they seek to remain
relevant.
CA has issued 44 new Television licenses in the last half of 2014 and all
these stations will require content.
If you have great content ideas this is your time to shine.
2. Set Top Boxes Distributors
CA has so far licensed about 60 Set Top Boxes dealers and there are more
opportunities as the country rushes to beat the June 2015 global deadline for
switching to digital television.
There is demand for people in up country who need these set-top boxes by June.
You can be an agent or a distribution partner with other companies to
distribute the set top boxes in your county or region.
3. Television Channel
It will now be easy for people to own television channels as the spectrum is
wide. The CA is issuing a TV license for Sh200,000 and Sh100,000 for radio.
Anyone can now own a television station and take advantage of advertisements.
There are two channel distributors in the country. Signet, a subsidiary of the
public broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), and Pan Africa
Network Group.
You will need to have creative content that will drive a large audience and a
good marketing strategy.
4. Advertising Switch
We are going to see diversification of the advertising industry. Companies
that don’t have the big ad budgets will find agencies and stations willing to
accommodate them as TV stations move towards niche markets. We have seen the
government keen on advertising online. This trend will continue as video on
demand becomes widely acceptable.
Entrepreneurs need to be creative to find out what other channels and ways of
how advertisers will reach their target market.