Five new potential pay-TV players for South Africa by THINUS FERREIRA
viewers to the Violetta website almost tripling from 7 May 2012, and fans of the Violetta Facebook page trebling.
Five new potential pay-TV players for South Africa by THINUS FERREIRA
IS Kagiso TV, Siyaya Free to Air, Mindset Media Enterprises, Close-T Broadcasting Network and Mobile TV the new Telkom Media, Shenzhen Media, On Digital Media, Walking on Water( WOWtv) and eSat?
All five are looking to start brand-new pay-TV services in South Africa and will do presentations before South Africa’ s broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa( Icasa) for possible subscription television licences.
South Africa has a dismal track-record when it comes to the licensing, actual start, and flourishing of pay-TV operators.
MultiChoice has built the successful DStv satellite pay-TV service. Telkom Media which was licenced with the rest and had the highest hopes of starting a service crumbled and failed and turned into Shenzhen Media, after which On Digital Media managed to launch TopTV which floundered as well and is currently in business rescue since December 2012. eSat, Walking on Water( WOWtv) and Telkom Media- despite investments of millions- never got off the ground leaving DStv and TopTV as the only two choices besides M-Net as an analogue pay-TV broadcaster which isn’ t offering individual new subscriptions to just M-Net until digital terrestrial broadcasting( eventually) launches commercially in South Africa.
Now Icasa is trying for round two of licensing more subscription television operators and Kagiso TV, Siyaya Free to Air, Mindset Media Enterprises, Close-T Broadcasting Network and Mobile TV are all willing and wanting to start pay TV in South Africa.
Public hearings take place in Sandton at Icasa’ s head office where all five wannabe subscription TV service operators will do presentations and state their cases after Icasa received applications for individual commercial subscription broadcasting service licences.
MobileTV Founder- Mothobi Mutloatse
Kagiso Broadcasting CEO- Omar Essack
Siyaya TV CEO- Thandi Ramathesele
Mindset Network CEO- Roith Rajpal
CloseTV Director- Mia Groenewald
writersguildsa. org | 89