THE television of the trial of Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee charged with the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, is a coupe de grace for the global media audiences that were hitherto restricted to snippets of the camera-shy amputee athlete.
A dedicated 24-hour television channel on the DStv platform opened last Monday providing round-the-clock coverage of the blockbuster trial.
Broadcasting from the High Court in Pretoria, the channel has so far shown damning pieces of evidence as South Africa and the global fans of the athlete try to piece up the killing of his girlfriend in his home on Valentine’s Day last year.
MultiChoice has broken the thin judiciary ice to tap into the world’s fascination with Pistorius’ remarkable story, which has taken a dramatic turn after he was celebrated as a sporting hero in 2012 as the first double amputee to compete on the track at the Olympics.
Pistorius killed Steenkamp, 29, by shooting the model through a toilet cubicle door in the pre-dawn hours of 14 February.
During his bail application hearing last year, Pistorius said he had mistaken Steenkamp for a dangerous intruder and fired four shots in self-defence, but prosecutors allege the couple argued and Pistorius killed her intentionally.
The world-famous runner faces life imprisonment with a minimum of 25 years before parole if convicted on the main charge of premeditated murder.
South Africa does not have the death penalty.

•JOURNALISTS taking photographs of Pistorius during trial.

Pistorius also faces additional charges of possession of illegal ammunition and is likely to be indicted on the first day of his trial on two more charges for allegedly recklessly shooting guns in public.
Previously, television coverage was restricted with cameras only allowed to record in court only before proceedings began and after they ended.
Courtrooms during the week-long hearing and subsequent appearances were packed out by reporters, photographers and television camera operators.
I am calling it a coupe de grace using the old judiciary adage that justice to not just be done but also be seen to be done.
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Back home, the scheduling of programmes has a bearing on what type of audience a television station can attract. Little wonder they have slots that attract different charges for airtime including prime time before and during the news.
A case in point is the On Air programme which without explanantion by the ZNBC management moved from the traditional slot on Saturdays at 20:30hrs.
Television audiences also want to plan their week of viewing so it is imperative for ZNBC management team to listen to the cry of many viewers who have used this platform and their own social media page to demand a return to the old slot instead of the current 18:00hrs on Thursdays.
For good measure, here is a comprehensive response from ZNBC on last Sunday edition.
Xavier, the TV review is always refreshing and acts as a barometer of how we are fairing in our quest to deliver TV services to the Zambian audience.
This is in response to issues that were raised in last weeks TV Review column.
1. ZNBC has slowly started highlighting activities that will culminate into major celebrations leading to October 24 when Zambia got her independence from Britain.
This year the nation will be “Commemorating God’s favour of 50 years of independence for continued peace, unity, democracy, patriotism and prosperity.”
As ZNBC, we sit on the Publicity committee that is chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services.
We have lined up quite a number of activities that includes the rich content on moveable and immovable heritage.
One of the other notable highlights is the Zambia/China relations that have existed the last 50 years.
Once the tone is set and the official national Jingle and logo are released ZNBC will heighten the programming on the celebrations on all our channels.
2. I am glad to learn that your approach in your reviews is to look at the positives of what the television station is coming up with and that of late there have been more positives than negatives in the way programmes are being churned out.
We are humbled by this approach and our producers feel rejuvenated that whatever they are putting in is bearing fruit and is being appreciated.
3. On the issue of identification on TV, this is work in progress and a brand manual has been developed for the Corporation.
The manual acts as a blue print to guide us on all branding aspects including on-air branding.
This will give a holistic approach to all branding matters of ZNBC.
4. You are right, under the migration, the ZNBC channels will have an EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) facility that will help to navigate to your channel of choice, so that through the remote control you are able to check what programme is showing and what to look forward to, these are some of the benefits that the migration will bring along.
From your mail bag
1. Thank you for the commendation on Andrew Mpandamwike who is one of our geniuses for sure. Andrew trained as a technician and has some training in Journalism. He is able to operate the camera and at the same time report or write stories. This is called multi-tasking.
Andrew and many others are doing a fine job.
2. It is unfortunate that there was no apology from our morning live crew for the mishaps that happened on that Monday which you called a blue Monday. We will definitely do better next time and your advise on this was timely.
3. For the On Air programme, we have lately been receiving requests for change of broadcast time for this programme produced by the Corporate Affairs of ZNBC. It is not our intention to rob anyone of a programme they like, we will seriously re-look at the schedule for the next quarter and see if transmission time could to changed to suit those who are still in offices while the programme is being transmitted. We take note.
Thank you for the contributions, these will certainly help us in the day to day management of our programming. We certainly value the contributions.
Masuzyo Ndhlovu
Corporate Affairs