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What's in store for SA's new pay TV channels
21 Sep 2007
The granting last week of four additional pay TV licences to Telkom Media, On Digital Media, Walking on Water and E-Sat by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) officially signals the end of MultiChoice's 12-year ‘absolute reign' and marks the beginning of a ‘television renaissance' in SA. Bizcommunity.com goes behind the scene to find out how the new players are shaping up their preparations ahead of the ‘Rumble in the Jungle'.
Telkom Media
One of them, Telkom Media – a subsidiary of Telkom SA Limited which owns 66% of the shares – is already making its intentions clear. “We plan to offer a pay TV satellite (normal home satellite dish) and a pay TV IPTV service,” spokesperson Chris van Zyl said.
“IPTV is TV delivered in your home using the Internet Protocol over a broadband network technology called DSL. Pay TV subscribers will need a set-top box and a home gateway (high-end modem) to receive the service,” Van Zyl added.
Telkom Media's potential subscribers might opt for the ‘entry-level family bouquet', which consists of between seven and 10 channels and is targeted at LSM 5 – 8. This will comprise predominantly own, local-packaged channels, with 24-hour news channel, sports, movies, kids channel and music (dependent on market demand).
Certainly, competition will be fierce, so all players will be keen to lower their prices to accommodate those who were previously disadvantaged by MultiChoice's ‘elite club'. Van Zyl said Telkom Media is looking at a monthly figure of approximately R100 (excluding VAT) for the entry-level bouquet (7 – 10 channels) and R320 for all 40 channels available on the satellite service.
Telkom Media starts broadcasting in June 2008.
Walking on Water Television
Walking on Water Television (WOWtv) CEO Nontokozo Mangquku said, “Our subscribers will pay R49 per month, which is an affordable price for consumers. Although there are now five players in the pay TV space, there is a fundamental difference between WOWtv and the others.”
Mangquku explained, “All new players are basically bringing a variety of the same offering that we see every day and that has contributed to our communities' current lower levels of morality.
“WOWtv is a strictly Christian-based channel, meaning all our dramas, movies, comedies, talkshows, music and youth and kids programmes will eliminate all acts that cannot be associated with Christ.”
Despite being what Mangquku called a Christian channel committed to ‘clean up TV by filtering all content through the eyes of Christ', WOWtv is not solely a 24-hour church broadcaster, because it will still carry business news, current affairs and other forms of good entertainment.
WOWtv is owned by WindsObey (40%), Cornerstone Technology Holdings (40%), LIFA Investments (5%) and Vhomakadzi, a grouping of black women (5%). WOWtv is to go on air next year.
E-Sat
Asked to spell out E-Sat's plans and strategies ahead of the ‘big fight', e.tv's COO, Bronwyn Keene-Young, says: “This is confidential information at the moment and we will announce this in due course – probably in two months' time.
“However, we believe that we have an advantage because e.tv is a well-established brand and its growth is driven by the black middle income market. It has already developed programming franchises which we look forward to capitalising on a multi-channel market.”
E-Sat, which is launching in the first year of 2008, is 100% owned by SABIDO Investments whose main operating investment is e.tv, SA's first private free-to-air commercial TV.
Keene-Young even declined to say how the average monthly subscription fee the channel will be charging its potentials customers, nor the form of entertainment and programmes it is planning to launch, except to say that the channel will be using a state-of-the-art technology in all its broadcasting operations.
On Digital Media
Furthermore, another important player, On Digital Media (ODM), is also flexing its muscles to get ready to operate in what is considered as one of the most lucrative markets in SA.
ODM's director Vino Govender said, “ODM's offering will put the power of choice back into the consumers' hands as viewers will be offered real choice and affordability – paying only for what they want to watch. This has never been the case in SA in the past.
“We will have to be creative because of the sports rights' situation, but we have plenty of ideas how to put together the right international and local sports content to satisfy our customers.”
ODM's indicative prices range between R149 and R349 per month, Govender says, adding that this will depend on what viewers select. “Remember, viewers will only pay for what they want to watch – there will no wastage of channels, nor paying for channels they don't want to watch.
Govender says that ODM will launch in the second half of 2008. “We will use state-of-the-art technology, thanks to our technology partner SESATRA, which is the leading satellite TV service provider in Europe.”
Multichoice
Meanwhile, Fathima Ebrahim, spokesperson for MultiChoice, whose monopoly has come to a ‘brutal end', welcomes the new development in the industry and says it will help grow the market, offer customers more choice and open the floodgates of competition.
“Competition will not only attract investment into the broadcasting industry and the SA economy, but also stimulate and grow the pay TV market,” she says.
However, Ebrahim says MultiChoice will not engage in a price war, saying the company's pricing is comparable to other international pay TV operators, because currently there are no similar pay TV offerings in SA.
With its new pay TV licence safely in the bag, MultiChoice is looking forward at exploring new TV offerings such as high definition, mobile TV, video on demand and IPTV.
“Must reflect realities of life”
Media analyst and author Denis Kayenge Kinkufi says, “While we are celebrating this ‘television renaissance', it is also good to mention that the contents of these channels' programmes must reflect the realities of life in SA and help educate, inform and transform society.
“You can have 1000 TV programmes but what matters the most is the content. Too much entertainment can also be counterproductive. Besides, lower subscription fee means that many people will be drawn closer to media, especially TV, mak[ing] their own choices and understand[ing] better the dynamics and challenges of society they live in.”
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About Issa Sikiti da Silva
Issa Sikiti da Silva is a winner of the 2010 SADC Media Awards (print category). He freelances for various media outlets, local and foreign, and has travelled extensively across Africa. His work has been published both in French and English. He used to contribute to Bizcommunity.com as a senior news writer.
