Citizen journalism using video news is rapidly growing in the City of Tshwane on the back of free WiFi TV, a video-on-demand service distributed over the Tshwane Free WiFi network.
The WiFi TV service offers five channels and hosts content created by young film-makers living in the various areas of the City of Tshwane providing the local communities with a voice and informing them about what is happening within their communities.
Driven by the need to tell their stories, WiFi TV in the City of Tshwane reached 306 000 unique views in January 2015, pushing total views to 640 000 since the service was launched on 3 November 2014. On the “My City” channel alone, 320 000 views have been logged so far.
“It seems hard to believe that not too long ago, the general public in the City of Tshwane had no real access to free WiFi. Today they are setting records with high-quality videos that are streamed via WiFi TV to be viewed by everyone,” says Alan Knott-Craig Jr, founder and CEO of Project Isizwe.
WiFi TV is a hyper localised video-on-demand solution enabled for unlimited access to users of the Tshwane Free WiFi service. It enables the City of Tshwane to get further insight into the lives of its citizens and communicate directly with them via video without being restricted by the data costs traditionally involved in video delivery.
Access to the bouquet is zero-rated on the free WiFi network developed by Project Isizwe and via the initiative’s Tobetsa online portal.
The WiFi TV service was initially launched with four channels: Att’ville, CBD, Mams and Sosh. Later, a fifth channel, “My City” was included featuring news and information from the City. In the future, additional channels will be added to WiFi TV offering additional relevant content to people.