Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

The traditional television broadcasting industry is in a crisis in numerous countries, arising from the introduction of online television. Such online media platforms have increased to the extent that they raise an economic threat to the existing traditional broadcasters. A number of traditional media platforms have established an online presence so as to capture more audiences in every spectrum of a media outlet. Thus, market forces create pressure on conventional television broadcasters to adjust their conventional content and formats. Additionally, the digital spectrum available to Tanzania’s TV audiences, due to the normed decoders used countrywide, facilitates access to a variety of East African stations. This paper investigates the roles of Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) as a public service broadcaster, which should offer a variety of news on several available media platforms. It explores the format, structure, and intended functions of TBC news compared to other online media, as described by a sample of Tanzanian viewers. The focus of the analysis is the evening news report at TBC, compared to the formats of a selection of online and digital TV available to Tanzanian audiences. By relating these observations to TBC’s slowly emerging use of online media platforms to communicate to its audiences in digital era, the paper concludes that TBC needs to revisit the format of its news broadcasting beyond the use of traditional television format and, instead, should interactively engage its audiences on online platforms which have proved to be quicker and more effective in disseminating news.