TV Zanzibar

Television Zanzibar, also called TVZ, is a television station in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It was the first colour television station south of Sahara. It is a state owned broadcasting station which produces and transmits development-oriented programs.

TVZ was inaugurated in 1973 by the first president of Zanzibar, Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume, using PAL system, and broadcasts in Swahili and English. It carries local and international programmes. The station is located at Karume House building. The building was renovated in 1972 when it was turned into a TV studio and was meant to be temporary. Because of financial constraints the government could not put up another TV studio structure to date.

The mission of Television Zanzibar is information, education and entertainment to the public taking into consideration their interests. Since its inception the motto for Television Zanzibar has remained "ELIMU KWA TELEVISHENI" ("Education through Television"), the idea which stemmed from Sheikh Abeid Aman Karume.

TVZ covers totally both islands of Unguja and Pemba and its signal reaches Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Bagamoyo and the coastal belt of Tanzania mainland up to Mombasa in Kenya. Despite being the first colour TV station in Africa, the station failed to broadcast via the satellite frequency which makes it impossible to be reached from far world unlike other TV stations in Tanzania. The space for the implementation of TV activities has long been insufficient and it has now become worse as production spaces, news room, program