TV channels Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has one of the oldest television traditions in Africa - and today its field mixes the national broadcaster with strong faith channels.

How television came to Zimbabwe

Television began in the country in November 1960, when Rhodesia Television started broadcasting from Salisbury - one of the first television services on the African continent. It was the second service in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, and Bulawayo followed seven months later, though reception long remained confined to the cities and larger towns. The service became the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation after independence in 1980, and the following decades brought church broadcasters and independent voices onto the air. Colour arrived in 1984, a second channel served Harare from 1986, and the first private station, Joy TV, leased airtime from the ZBC between 1997 and 2002. Local production found an early footing: by the 1980s home-grown drama such as The Mukadota Family ranked among the most-watched programmes in the country, and Sunday gospel music has been a fixture of the schedule for just as long.

The end of the monopoly

For sixty years the ZBC was the country's only local television service. That changed in November 2020, when the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe licensed six private companies - among them KeYona TV, ZTN Prime, NRTV, 3Ktv, Kumba TV and Channel D - while satellite households have long turned to DStv. The ZBC has answered with new services of its own, including the youth channel Jive TV launched in 2022, and a 2025 law ties a radio levy for the corporation to vehicle registration. With the state signal reaching barely a third of the population, radio remains the main source of news for most Zimbabweans.

Faith broadcasting

Yadah TV is the channel of PHD Ministries, serving the large Christian audience of the country with worship, teaching and gospel programming. It carries the ministry of Prophet Walter Magaya - the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries, based in Harare - from the church hall to the screen.

From national commemorations to the gatherings of its churches, Zimbabwe's screen carries a tradition older than most of the continent's.