SECTOR 3 3.11 The state/public broadcaster offers as much diverse and creative local content as economically achievable. Analysis: An effort is being made at NBC TV to develop local content further, but the station still has to re-broadcast foreign news feeds as it does not produce enough own material. There are broadcasts of CCTV news from 08h00 to 09h00 as well as from 23h30 to 00h30, CNN from 13h00 to 14h00 and Deutsche Welle from 17h00 to 17h30 during the week. The NBC-made programmes include the weekday hourlong show Good Morning Namibia, the weekday news bulletins (07h00 indigenous language and 19h00 in English), the current affairs programmes Voices of Namibia and Talk of the Nation, the cooking show Salt & Pepper and the music show Afro Connection. While NBC TV used to broadcast 24 hours a day, its output has decreased to 18 and a half hours, from 06h00 to 00h30, with the final hour, or half hour, usually filled by the Chinese news feed, CCTV. While the standard of the local soap opera, The Ties That Bind, is not considered to be very high, initiating this show was a noble intention and an indication of the NBC trying to build up the local industry. ‘Soapies’ are very popular in Namibia, which, like One Africa, mostly procures cheap South American, dubbed versions. However, local films, such as those presented at a recent Windhoek film festival, are hardly ever shown on NBC TV. The Sanlam-NBC Music Awards are a good attempt by the NBC to develop and nurture the local music industry. NBC radio stations play a high proportion of local music and feature a lot of local content, “but there is room for improvement”. 54 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER NAMIBIA 2009