After 41 years as the home of entertainment, Botswana’s largest privately owned free to air commercial tv station, YTV has finally made it to the DSTV platform.
YTV celebrated the milestone over an intimate session last week, where various partners and stakeholders shared in on the new channel 291’s journey as well as hopes for the future.
Amongst a number of issues, YTV management made clear their vision to one day sit at 100% local content as opposed to the 40% which they currently are on.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Director of YMH Holdings Dumi Lopang stressed the station’s commitment to improving Botswana’s local film industry.
“We have already started roping in local media houses for productions such as the Sekatis and The Craft with Berry Heart.” According to him, YTV is the right platform for unearthing local talent and growing Botswana’s television industry.
Questioned on how simple their submission process is, he stated that YTV has an open-door policy which allows local creatives to submit proposals and content ideas for their consideration, stating that due to current budget constraints, the station may be picky in terms of selecting content.
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He also touched on YTV’s journey, dating back to the early 80s when the station was still known as GBC and later eBotswana.
“This collaboration between us and Multichoice Botswana has been a long time coming. We’ve been looking for a spot on DSTV but we were sent back to do our homework and get our house in order, which we finally did.”
Multichoice Botswana Managing Director, Stephanie Pillay raised a glass in celebration of the new union between the two parties.
She reiterated Multichoice Botswana’s commitment to empowering local filmmakers, citing My Botswana Plate and Bots Top 5 as examples of this commitment.