Following the analogue switch off being implemented in phases in Malawi, the government launched the Malawi Digital Television at Mzuzu on April 23.
The government through the Ministry of Information, Tourism and Civic Education is encouraging all television viewers to acquire the Malawi Digital Television DVB-T2 decoder also known as Kiliye Kiliye. In order to promote sales of the digital receivers, prices of the set-top boxes have been slashed from K15,000 to K13,500 (around EUR21).
Analogue switch-off will be completed on June 30, 2016, after which date only digital broadcasts will be available to viewers in the country. Malawi is the fifth country on the African continent to complete digital switch-over, the others being Mauritius, Tanzania, Namibia and Mozambique.
There is a total of 18 channels available including Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Luso, God News Broadcasting Services (GBS), Timveni, Luntha, Channel for All Africa (CAN), Calvary (CFC), Times, Hope, Zodiak, Joy, Matindi, Ufulu, Beta, Ufulu, Angaliba, African Bible College (ABC) and Laura Televisions.
