Artificial Intelligence and Over-The-Top Streaming Adoption in the Zimbabwean Broadcasting Sector: Stakeholder Perceptions of Effects on Audience Engagement, Revenue Generation and Operational Efficiency

This study examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption and Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming integration, treated as two distinct technologies, are associated with perceived audience engagement, revenue generation, and operational efficiency in Zimbabwe's broadcasting sector. An integrated framework drawing on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the Technology Acceptance Model, the Resource-Based View and Digital Transformation Strategy informed the questionnaire design and the interpretation of results. A convergent mixed-methods design was applied to an online questionnaire completed by 38 stakeholders (an approximate response rate of 38%) from the regulatory authority, public, private and campus broadcasters, content producers and distribution entities. Closed-ended items were analysed using descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, Spearman's rank-order correlation and Kruskal–Wallis tests, while responses to three open-ended questions were analysed thematically. AI adoption is at an early stage: 71.1% of respondents reported that their organisations had started using AI in some areas, but only 7.9% reported full integration, with adoption highest among content producers and distributors (H(2) = 10.44, p = .005). Respondents most often agreed that AI had made operations more efficient (61%) and least often that it had increased revenue (18%; 53% disagreed). AI use intensity was moderately associated with perceived operational efficiency (rₛ = .46, p = .004), and AI adoption stage was weakly to moderately associated with perceived audience reach (rₛ = .34, p = .035), whereas associations with revenue were weak and non-significant. OTT integration was not significantly associated with any organisational outcome, although large majorities agreed that streaming had widened audience access (79%) and changed how broadcasters make money (79%). Qualitative responses attributed reach and access gains mainly to streaming, production efficiencies mainly to AI, and identified misinformation, regulatory design and data protection as the principal policy risks. Because the findings rest on cross-sectional perceptions from a small purposive sample, they indicate associations rather than causal effects. The study offers an exploratory, technology-disaggregated account of AI and OTT adoption across the Zimbabwean broadcasting value chain and draws implications for implementing the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026–2030.

Artificial Intelligence, OTT Streaming, Broadcasting, Audience Engagement, Revenue Generation, Operational Efficiency, Zimbabwe, Digital Transformation

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