Nthakomwa: Free-to-air is not sustainable

One of the country’s privately-owned television stations, Mibawa Television is celebrating 10 years of existence.

And as part of the celebrations, Mibawa Television launched its new application, a mobile App called ‘Kanema M’manja’, a platform that allows users to watch Mibawa’s programmes on their mobile phones.

Speaking during the event at Golden Peacock Hotel in Blantyre on Friday, Mibawa Limited founder John Nthakomwa said the App will help the company to monetise its content.

He said: “It has been a tough journey. The problem is that the free-to-air model of television in Malawi is not sustainable, but we took risks to try and survive until the time we are able to monetize.”

Nthakomwa commended the Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority (Macra) for working on the Internet services in Malawi, saying this will help change the industry.

“We started this in 2020 and failed because data was too expensive, Internet was very unstable, but this time, the Internet is now more stable. It is more available and we have a big fan base around the world,” he said.

Nthakomwa then asked viewers to support the Kanema M’manja App, saying it is affordable as with K2 000, one can watch the content monthly.

Macra director general Daud Suleman applauded Mibawa Television for being brave by championing the move of running a private television station.

“As a regulator, we have started a process to ensure that content creators in Malawi are able to monetise their content,” he said.