BREAKING. TopTV tops 200 000 subscribers, 800 000 viewers after its first 8 months as a commercial pay TV service.

TopTV just revealed that surprise I told you RIGHT HERE before Christmas is coming: which is that TopTV has signed up 200 000 pay TV subscribers during its first 8 months in operation as a commercial pay TV service in South Africa.

I've asked TopTV numerous times the past two weeks about when the pay TV platform will be releasing the subscriber numbers that it promised by the end of last year and was told as late as this past Thursday that TopTV ''can't confirm subscriber numbers''. I've learned that TopTV was waiting for a board decision on whether these numbers were going to be released, and TopTV just sent out a general press release about it, crowing about it subscriber base and 800 000 viewers.

''By Christmas 2010 TopTV's subscriber numbers had reached 200 000, with a record 50 000 activations in December alone,'' says Vino Govender, TopTV CEO, saying he's ''pleased'' with TopTV's 800 000 viewers. ''We always believed there was a need for an innovative and affordable pay TV service in South Africa [and] our subscribers confirm this every day.''

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