It's breathtaking, astounding, unbelievable, and shocking how superbly bad the lack of communication - and how big the fail - is from both TopTV and Fox International Channels Africa - over the sudden dumping of the Fox Retro channel from TopTV's channel line-up without any prior warning.
TopTV's publicity and marketing division and its PR agency, Fox International Channels Africa's marketing division, and its PR agency, all four of them based in Johannesburg inside South Africa and filled with supposed expert communication specialists, all failed monumentally in even showing the lowest form of common courtesy: to just at least tell TopTV subscribers, to tell TopTV Retro viewers, and to tell the South African press that the channel is getting yanked before it was instantly just gone.
TV channel don't just suddenly disappear. Decisions are made weeks if not months in advance; definitely 24 hours before a TV channel such as Fox Retro goes dark and subscribers suddenly are left wondering - without any warning, explanation, reason or communication - what is going on.
Yet that is exactly what happened: Not even 24 hours before the time could either TopTV or FIC Africa or both muster up with any type of statement, programming note, press release or just basically tell people that Fox Retro is getting dumped.
No. They wait for it to happen and the fall-out to start, disrepecting pay-TV viewers who are just good enough to pay; but not to be actually spoken to.
On Monday morning TopTV responded with an answer after media enquiries. FIC Africa finally issued a general press statement but also only after media enquiries are made about what is going on with a missing TV channel.
Why must TopTV subscribers wonder what is going on? Why must TopTV subscribers be in the dark when something like this happens, instead of knowing and being informed before it is going to happen so that they're in the loop?
Why must TopTV subscribers then go to the press to desperately ask journalists to try and find answers? Is this reputable brands? Is this how professional companies behave? Is this what media companies who work in communications do? Not talk at all in time?
Why is something like Fox Retro being removed as a channel with a lack of transparent communication to customers happening in South Africa in real-life? Why are pay-TV subscribers and even the press then left in the dark until after it has happened? Why is the communication being done so non-existently poorly?
It will simply not happen in other pay-TV markets in the world, but companies and PR agencies and marketing executives possibly think South Africans don't deserve better. Perhaps its a philosophy of lets just make money and not worry about the backwater subscribers who won't kick up a fuss and who don't deserve answers.
Why are people in marketing, publicity and working in a media industry and South Africa's TV industry so bad at talking and transparency and so terrible that they don't communicate at all when its required and don't do so in time? It's almost as if people huddle and think: What's the worst possible decision(s) or communication strategy we can cope up with? And then they choose that one.
TopTV subscribers deserve better. They actually paid for something (or prepaid for something) suddenly taken away.
Fox Retro viewers deserve better. They grew with and were exposed to a brand and perhaps fell in love with it. Somewhere every TV channel is someone's favourite can't-live-without channel. But then it leaves them without saying goodbye and rips their heart out.
South African TV viewers in general deserve better. National and multi-national companies in the TV business have clearly shown how little respect and responsibility they feel towards South Africa and South African viewers. TV channel removed? Oh well, we will tell you after the fact because that's how little you as a viewer really matter to us. But please just keep paying.
Sadly when it comes to Fox playing open cards and communicating upfront and openly with South African pay-TV subscribers, in my opinion, in the case of Fox Retro suddenly vanishing, it's not just one of Fox's channels which are retro.
ALSO READ: TopTV loses Fox Retro as Fox International Channels Africa pulls Fox Retro after saying in May all the Fox channels on TopTV are safe.
ALSO READ: Fox International Channels Africa explains pulling Fox Retro, the lack of communication, and if Fox Crime is coming to TopTV.
