New broadcasting standard for DStv
At the end of June, DStv operator MultiChoice plans to change the transmission of its high-definition services to a new standard called DVB-S2. This will mean the potential for new services and channels in future, but for some it could mean interrupted service if they don’t call out a technician
Pule set to crack open TV rights
Could pay-TV operator MultiChoice, which owns DStv, be forced to allow rival broadcasters access to premium sports and entertainment content that it has bought rights to? If communications minister Dina Pule gets her way, this could happen.Pule told parliament on Tuesday
Vodacom hunts for future growth
Vodacom expects demand for data to offset a decline in voice revenues in the next few years, but with the margins on data slimmer and the price of data being driven down by a competitive market, the operator is also hoping so-called “over-the-top” services – content, social networking and financial services are three examples
Pay TV: the price of pick and choose
US senator John McCain has introduced a bill that proposes forcing cable television operators to allow Americans to subscribe to only the channels they choose rather than having to pay for bouquets of channels, many of which they never watch. The prospect of paying only for the channels
Battle lines drawn over digital TV
Kagiso Media, which has previously expressed interest in launching both free-to-air and pay-television services, says digital terrestrial broadcasting may be on the “brink of irrelevance” and the longer the process is delayed, the less likely new players are to be successful. CEO Omar Essack made the comments
Naspers leaps on Tencent numbers
Media and technology group Naspers’s share price touched fresh record highs on Wednesday after China’s largest Internet company, Tencent, in which it holds a 34% stake, beat analysts’ expectations in the first quarter. According to Bloomberg, net income of just over 4 billion
Prime time, all the time
It’s not much to look at — sleek, black and about the size of two decks of cards – but this little box may represent the greatest threat the television industry has faced. A large part of this threat is explained by the logo embossed discreetly on the top of the box – a stylised apple missing a single bite
TopTV flop gobbles up state funds
Perhaps best known for its foray into pornography, TopTV’s anti-climax in the world of broadcasting has resulted in a little-known fact: South Africa has suffered a loss of almost R1,2bn because of this venture, which critics say it should not have flirted with in the first place. Three arms
Big action on TopTV’s small screen
TopTV has had not an auspicious start to life. Although it was the only one of five new pay-TV operators licensed five years ago by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa to take on MultiChoice and DStv to actually launch, it was always going to be uphill. The troubled telecaster “celebrated” the end
Now Wananchi Group bids for TopTV
Just a day after it was revealed that a consortium led by MSG Afrika, backed with funding from MultiChoice, was making a bid to buy troubled pay-television operator TopTV, it has emerged that a second company, Wananchi Group, has submitted an expression of interest of its own
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