The virtuous circle of pay TV and why many pay TV operators in Africa fail: the quality TV channels you have on there together is very important.

Content and quality TV content is the main driver of pay TV. Pay TV operators in Africa have to make sure that they collect the very best TV channels they can possibly find and add on their pay TV platform, since a value pack of worthy TV content is the only thing that will persuade a TV viewer to pay for subscription television.

So says Christoph Limmer, the senior director for market development in Africa at satellite provider SES. SES provides satellite services and capacity for pay TV operators across Africa, such as TopTV in South Africa. He was speaking at the AfricaCast 2011 TV summit in Cape Town that is part of the 14th AfricaCom conference.

Christoph Limmer said pay TV operators in Africa fail because they don't have attractive enough bouquets of channels that offer a collective value of quality content to viewers. Pay TV operators fail to successfully create and maintain what is called ''the virtuous circle'': a quality line-up of TV channels offered to consumers, consumers who see it as value which leads to a growing subscribers base, and which in turn attracts more and better TV channels who want to be a part of the platform.

''Pay TV subscribers and consumers select satellite television and a pay TV service based on the content, so the content neighbourhood is very, very, very important,'' said Christoph Limmer.

''The content you have on your satellite television and your subscription television - your neighbourhood - the channels you have on there together is very important. It drives the market take-up. If you have the right content, you can market it to consumers. If you have attractive content, you can market it. If your TV channels are not perceived to be attractive and desirable, you will not be successful in driving TV household uptake no matter what your subscription model. Consumers will not take it,'' he said.

''But if you have attractive content, you create a situation where more and more homes want to be connected to your service. The more homes that are connected, the more attractive the satellite TV service become for other channels, so that at the end of the day, channels want to be on your platform. It's the virtuous circle of pay TV.''

''Once you have managed to successfully kick-start this intricate pay TV ecosystem, you can create a wonderful system for everyone - broadcasters on the one side, and consumers on the other side. The more popular your pay TV offering and service is, the more TV channels will request and want to be part of it which creates value for everyone,'' said Christoph Limmer.