MultiChoice is ending two TV channels on its bouquet, with the business channel Bloomberg Television (DStv 411) and the mk (DStv 324) music channel which are both being discontinued in their current form as separate TV channels on the DStv pay-TV platform in South Africa.
South Africans will still be able to see both Bloomberg Television content and mk content but not as stand-alone TV channels on DStv, with Bloomberg Television which will continue on television in the form of programming blocks on another business TV channel run by BDFM, and mk which will be streamed online as it relocates to primarily inhabit a cyber presence.
Bloomberg Television programming blocks of the most important market day coverage are being added on Summit TV exactly as TV with Thinus reported back in March, together with Summit TV changing its channel name to Business Day TV on channel 412 from today.
mk meanwhile will continue as an online channel at www.mktv.co.za where it will exist as a cyber platform streaming music videos and songs. mk will also live on as an audio channel on channel 886 on the DStv audio bouquet.
Various separate sources connected to Summit TV as well as sources connected to mk told TV with Thinus back in March about the changes and said the same thing: that Bloomberg Television and mk will no longer be separate TV channels on DStv from later in the year.
MultiChoice has apparently started a process of "reallocating capacity" on the DStv platform. There was no official confirmation though at the time from MultiChoice, which - when asked about mk ending as a separate stand-alone TV channel and Bloomberg Television ending as a stand-alone TV channel - said at the time that there is no news to share in this regard and that DStv doesn't share information on developments until the pay-TV operator is ready to make the necessary announcements.
Now the news about Bloomberg Television and mk are official and here is what is happening:
Bloomberg Television will continue until the end of June in South Africa on channel 411. Bloomberg Television content will continue to be available to viewers on Business Day Television from Wednesday 19 June to DStv Premium, DStv Compact and DStv Family subscribers for 10 hours per day.
Bloomberg Television content will be shown in programming blocks from 07:00 to 12:00, 16:00 to 18:00 and 23:00 to 03:00 (South African times) on Business Day TV.
ALSO READ: Business Day TV replaces Summit TV on MultiChoice's DStv; Bloomberg Television programming blocks added to the schedule.
Business decision makers and financiers who watch Bloomberg Television will still be able to access the European markets opening and closing, the United States market opening and closing, and other feature programming such as Bloomberg West and Charlie Rose's talk show within these programming blocks.
Clients of Bloomberg Professional service can also watch Bloomberg Television on their terminals, the channel is streamed online at bloomberg.com as well as clips which can also be watched there, and the channel can also be viewed free on the app for Apple iPad (Bloomberg TV+).
mk started in mid-2005 with big fanfare as mk89 as a music video channel aiming to serve the youth music market and supplied to DStv by the pay-TV broadcaster M-Net. The channel later dropped the "89" from its moniker after a DStv channel number shuffle.
After 8 years mk which served as a driver of the local production of especially Afrikaans rock music videos to be produced, will now be transformed into South Africa's first online music video streaming channel.
"The mk audience is an online generation and in due course these free-spirited, on-the-go world citizens will be able to enjoy mk wherever and whenever they have internet access," says M-Net.
M-Net says "this move will open up countless exciting possibilities for both the brand and the music featured on mk".
"It's mindblowing to think that internet users across the globe would be able to enjoy mk's content and that you only need a smart phone, tablet or PC with an internet connection to be exposed to the great South African bands and musos that rock mk."
