Radio broadcasts began on July 1, 1951. Until 1994, there was no single television network operating on mainland Tanzania. The only station of the United Republic was Television Zanzibar (TVZ), which was established in the early 1970s. In addition, the importation of TV sets was banned by law in 1974.

In the past five years or so, the number of Tanzanians with televisions has risen at an amazing rate so that now, most ‘middle class’ urban Tanzanians own a TV. When I visited Mazengo Secondary School in Dodoma recently, I was told that nine out of the ten teachers have a TV.

In Dar-es-Salaam there are now seven terrestrial channels. The longest established, claiming to have 76% share of the viewers is ITV, owned by Reginald Mengi and the IPP media group (www.ippmedia.com) which broadcasts to the whole of Tanzania a mix of news (in Swahili and English), Swahili dramas, imported soaps and dramas from America, the UK, and South Africa, music videos (mostly Tanzanian these days) and an impressive selection of European football matches.