//Gowaseb on the NBC and the way forward

SOME regard the acting Director General of the NBC, Matthew //Gowaseb, as a breath of fresh air at the national broadcaster; others view his appointment as yet another calculated political move by Swapo to cap freedom of speech.

Nevertheless, what is obvious is the many visible changes on NBC television, such as revamping the look and feel of the TV news and ‘Good Morning Namibia’, production of new local programmes such as ‘Whatagwan’, ‘The Week That Was’, ‘House & Home’, ‘Beats Per Minute’ and most recently ‘Absolute Rugby’. //Gowaseb has increased local music and the frequency of news bulletins on the radio, and facilitated the inclusion of NBC National Radio on the DStv Audio Bouquet. There is also talk of introducing a second NBC TV channel to focus on entertainment. Further, a deadline has been set for NBC radio and television to go digital by 2013. While the NBC’s image is improving in the eyes of viewers, the acting Director General’s term in office is fast running out – he will stay until January, after which it is not clear who will take over the job.The Namibian spoke to //Gowaseb about his plans at the NBC.The Namibian: There have been many visual changes at the NBC, such as the look and feel of TV news and the packaging of radio programmes since you took office. Were they all initiated by you?MG: The look and feel of TV and radio were initiated by me because there was an urgent need to review and come up with concepts that were on par with changing dynamics of modern television and radio. NBC TV was completely out of touch with modern television and we were still caught in the trends of 10 years ago. We also reviewed the grid of radio to come up with the right packaging for our radio programmes. The Namibian: NBC recently upgraded its final control centre. In layman’s language, what has changed?MG: Upon my coming on board, I realised there were plans to digitise the studios and the final control centre but they were never implemented. I found the need to re-prioritise the plans and fast track them after thorough review. We signed a contract for N$26 million with Spescom South Africa, a company which services many southern African broadcasters. The contract involves purchasing new studio cameras, upgrading studios and the final control centre in order to render them digital for the global digitisation deadline as specified by the International Telecom Union (IUN) that all countries must go digital by 2015. Currently NBC is operating on an analogue system which is why picture quality is not in par with CNN, Botswana TV, SABC or other broadcasters. We are replacing all equipment in the final control centre. The mixing studio, magazine- and news studio also needed complete rewiring of existing system which is now 95 per cent complete. Viewers won’t see the difference on screen now but once everything is complete, the picture and sound quality will be clearer as well as better graphics.The Namibian: Where did NBC get the money to revamp its studios and employ more people? Were you allocated another budget?MG: All the changes … have been done within the framework of the present budget. Top management sat down to turn things around. We re-prioritised the budget we were provided in the 2009-2010 year. When I took office, overtime was a whopping N$1,4 million, now its only around N$300 000 a month – a saving of N$900 000. A few people used to travel to other countries on training which cost … in the range of N$1 million while we could train 50 people in-house and fly the trainers in for less. We have been able to save because of efficient and effective utilisation of resources and the skill base. People are not walking around shopping to only start working at 17h00 and then come claim overtime anymore. You have to prove you have earned the overtime. When I came here, people could book NBC vehicles on weekends and there was no monitoring. Now there is a blanket rule that all vehicles must be parked at the corporation unless travelling out of town. It is the creative thinking by top management to show results overnight. It’s not about money, it’s about innovation, passion and wanting to see results.The Namibian: What are the developments with the acting general managers. Are they staying, are they going or are they going to be appointed permanently?MG: The HR division is busy with a skills audit. It’s a mixed group of around 40 people affected by the change. We are re-interviewing supervisors, officers and managers at all levels. If they prove they can do the job, they will remain in their positions or they will go back to their old positions. But people are enjoying what they are doing. It’s calm. The Namibian: A number of former employees went back to NBC. Was it because of trust in the new management or higher salaries?MG: There has been an interesting trend since my arrival. We have been inundated with requests from former employees who want to come back. I suppose it’s because the culture has changed. They see and sense on the screen the positive developments. Now people are even demanding corporate wear because they want to be associated with the corporation. But we are not headhunting. If you feel you have potential, you should apply, but there is no concerted effort to look for former employees. The Namibian: How is the new campaign of renewing TV licences coming along? MG: It’s coming along very well. It is in line with company expectations. I guess it’s because people are saying: ‘What we see on screen is what we want to see.’ The deadline has come and gone and there is a penalty for those that are late. We have TV inspectors and what viewers don’t realise is that they can get arrested. I am appealing to viewers to pay their licences before we take drastic measures. TV licences are what bring quality programmes. We want to pay the first dividend to Government by 2011. We want to reduce our dependency on the State. We have received all the tools, resources, now it’s time to start delivering and standing on our own legs.The Namibian: Is there an increase in advertising? If so, what has changed to attract advertisers?MG: Definitely, there has been a significant increase in advertising. Advertisers are knocking on our doors on given programmes, especially during prime-time slots. Our emphasis now is on quality and customer service. We are a programme-driven institution.The Namibian: Why did NBC news change back to 20h00? MG: When the time slot was changed previously, many people were unhappy. Those who work late or have to attend functions found it inconvenient. The prime schedule on TV is 18h00 – 22h00. We do not want to disrupt our viewers’ viewing at that time. According to media metrics released by Vision Africa, our news at eight is among the top runners in terms of popularity. The Namibian: There were plans to introduce a second NBC channel. What are the developments? Is it not going to be very expensive?MG: For many years there has been talk about a second NBC channel. I took it upon myself and fast-tracked it together with top management. This coming December we are going to test-drive it. The reason we need a second channel is because this one is overcrowded. There is demand by different stakeholders for more movies, sports, music and other entertainment, but we also have an obligation to screen public service information and reasonable news content which sometimes result in conflicting demands. The second channel … will be commercially driven and full of entertainment to compete with other private TV stations. We have done a study and with the current staff complement we can meet the demands and cost will not be significant. With a revamped final control centre and digital transmitters, we will be able to transmit a second channel at little cost.The Namibian: Talking of commissioning, is the NBC going to commission work again for local dramas after ‘The Ties That Bind’ (3TB) was halted. If so, how much money has been put aside for commissioning again?MG: Commissioning is a very expensive business. Considering very scarce financial resources we have, we are very cautious. We have introduced a 70/30 concept principle where NBC will engage in outside productions by providing equipment while the particular production company will provide the content such as directing, scripting and acting. We are looking at short films because the market is still developing and there is no use to come up with major productions now. Sharing resources is better than just spending N$20 million on one production. The process of commissioning is ongoing and we are not going to invite tenders because we don’t want to encourage a production rush. We look at all things as they come, one step at a time. But it doesn’t mean that if a producer comes with a good idea and it costs N$50 million, we won’t assess it. About 3TB, it was done before my time and I have no say in that. The Namibian: Former president Nujoma’s autobiographical movie ‘Namibia: Struggle for Liberation’ was the first local production which was already completed by 2005. Why was it only shown on NBC now? Is it part of Swapo’s election campaign strategy? MG: No, of course not. I have always been a proponent that Namibians should be the first priority to see the film. I have been fighting for the past two months for the film to be shown on NBC. The timing is coincidental, but this is an educational movie that was paid with taxpayers’ money and they ought to see it. It’s not a Swapo strategy.The Namibian: What about NBC content that seems to have a heavy bias towards broadcasting Swapo activities?MG: Each NBC journalist belongs to the party of their choice, nobody dictates for them. Every morning, they discuss stories for the day. If Swapo has 50 rallies and the opposition has only two rallies, why should we punish the party that’s good at what they do? The other time, CoD was supposed to have a rally in Usakos and nobody turned up. The same happened to a DTA rally that never took place at Katima Mulilo. Are we to be blamed? We don’t manufacture news, we reflect what’s on the ground.The Namibian: Why did the NBC recently axe free election airtime?MG: It was ill-conceived. NBC has no statutory obligation to give free airtime. Two political parties decided to take us to court to force us to give equal free airtime. Now, every political party has to pay for the airtime. Basically, they just shot themselves in the foot – looking a gift horse in the mouth. NBC ought to be commended for having done so in the past because all over the world campaign messages are done on a commercial basis. The Namibian: Some people are campaigning for you to be appointed full-time in the position of director general for NBC. Would you accept the position if it was offered on a permanent basis?MG: My focus is to effect changes that will be meaningful in the long run but I have other ambitions as well. NBC was never part of my career path, it’s something I stumbled upon. It’s difficult to say if I will stay on. Many are encouraging me, but my term expires at the end of January 2010.The Namibian: What other plans do you have for the NBC?MG: The key is to change the mindsets of NBC staff on how to effectively and efficiently utilise the resources we have. We were extremely lucky to have Ohlthaver and List as a partner to assist us with our financial management system, help us in areas of marketing and to streamline budgeting so that it can directly reflect where we are going. Our focus is strategic reorientation of NBC financial resources so that we have a proper balance to attract advertisers. Once we have that, everything else will fall in place.