The four pay-TV stations that were recently awarded licences by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) are remaining tight-lipped about the content they aim to provide when they begin operating next year.
The licences were awarded to MultiChoice, a single-channel Christian broadcaster called Walking on Water, On Digital Media (ODM), Telkom Media and e.sat, a sister channel to e.tv.
ODM, Telkom and e.sat aim to give serious competition to MultiChoice’s DStv service. Consumers are sure to benefit by getting added choice, but the new companies might find it difficult to survive if they fail to provide a competitive service.
It is not known what will be on offer to the public yet, because Icasa will hold licence-condition hearings only in October to determine local content quotas and whether the pay-TV channels will be forced to carry SABC content.
In May this year the SABC argued that if Icasa compelled successful applicants to carry the public broadcaster’s content, they should do so at a fee and called on the regulatory body to put in practice ‘must-carry” and ‘must-pay” provisions.
Of the four SABC channels carried by MultiChoice on its DStv service, three are carried free of charge, while the public broadcaster pays DStv to carry its SABC Africa channel.
Bronwyn Keene-Young, e.sat’s chief operating officer, was reported as saying the station would consider carrying SABC content provided it received ‘a sound commercial proposal”.
Speculation has been raging about the content of the new stations. There have been rumours that an Israeli gay channel is planned for ODM and an independent producer is said to have proposed a local porn channel for Telkom Media.
While secrecy reigns, Telkom Media has begun whetting potential customers’ appetites. Its package will boast the use of Internet Protocol Television, which allows viewers to watch DVDs online for a fee and catch up on about 30 hours of TV programming, allowing viewers more discretion in what they choose to see.
‘We will be able to target a variety of markets with our offerings [satellite, IPTV and online] and use the content we create or purchase over these platforms in a different way,” said Telkom Media’s Chris van Zyl. ‘On satellite you simply watch the broadcasted soccer game; on IPTV you can watch the soccer game and you can rewind, watch from a different camera angle, focus on a picture in the picture and other features. You are in control. With online, you can watch the highlights package, plus behind-the-scenes interviews and the blog about the game.”
Jimi Matthews will head the station’s 24-hour news channel. ‘Matthews is a news junkie,” said Van Zyl. ‘He’s been in the trenches for more than 20 years — from production to management — and has built a formidable network of news contacts from all over the world. He has an instinct for what makes news, a flair for the visually exciting and isn’t scared to adapt to the latest technologies.”
Van Zyl said its pan-African news service will be relevant locally, having a strong focus on community news because of its unlimited broadcast time.
On the satellite offering, the entry-level ‘family” bouquet will consist of 12 channels, four of which will be from free-to-air operators. The entry-level bouquet is aimed at the public and will comprise predominantly own, locally packaged channels.
About 40 channels are envisaged. Additional tiers will include international thematic channels on lifestyle and knowledge as well as locally packaged premium sport and movie channels.
E.sat has stated rather vaguely that it will target the black middle class and the African market and has signed a deal giving it a 49% stake in a Botswana broadcaster; it will also introduce a 24-hour news channel.
ODM, which plans about 40 to 50 channels, will offer subscribers the option of specifically tailored packages, eliminating wasted channels. Prices, depending on the customer’s choice of programmes, will range from R149 up to R349 a month.
The station hopes to attract viewers in the lower LSM markets, which traditionally have proved difficult to penetrate.
Additional reporting by Lloyd Gedye