Neither Discovery Networks International nor Fox International Channels (FIC) Africa has anything to say about the South African pay TV operator TopTV's plans to launch a new stand-alone package of 3 pornographic channels.
Both Discovery Networks International and FIC Africa have multiple channels they provide to TopTV's platform since its commercial launch in May 2010. Discovery has Discovery Science, Investigation Discovery (ID) and TLC as channels on TopTV, while FIC Africa provides Fox Entertainment, FX, Fox Retro and Fuel, and there's the Fox News Channel.
Neither Discovery nor Fox have any comment on TopTV's controversial plans to add R18 rated channels after TopTV signed a carriage agreement with Playboy TV. ''Discovery can not comment on operator packages,'' says Discovery Networks International, while Fox sufficed with an official ''no comment''.
The silence says as much as anything. Both Discovery Networks International and FIC Africa are the biggest content providers to TopTV - in fact their channels, especially Fox, are the most popular, which means they're the strongest drivers of subscriber growth and subscriber retention.
Both Discovery and Fox will have very high CPRs (cost per ratings) which basically means they're very valuable - these channels and the shows such as Falling Skies and The Walking Dead on FX bring subscribers and viewers - and keep them. It's no random fluke that MultiChoice decided to add Discovery's TLC and Investigation Discovery (ID) to their DStv platform this year as well - it would not have happened if MultiChoice did not consider these channels an asset.
With the delicate ecosystem of a pay TV system where a collection of channels create a combined TV content product offering both Discovery and Fox stand to be impacted by TopTV's controversial decision.
With vast resistance against TopTV's porn plans, and growing, including a massive boycott called by various faith groups including Christians, Muslims and Hindus against TopTV as well as TopTV sponsors and advertisers, its likely to have an impact on channel providers such as Discovery and Fox.
If TopTV subscribers cancel their subscriptions because of the boycott or because they no longer want to be associated with TopTV's expanded pornographic TV offering, it will have an impact on the viewership levels of the channels that Discovery Networks International and FIC Africa provide to TopTV.
In essence, TopTV's actions on the one side by starting a new controversial subscription service on its pay TV platform, could have repercussions on the other side of its pay TV platform.
