e.tv isn't at all interested in investing in On Digital Media (ODM) and the South African free-to-air broadcaster has no desire in coming to the ailing pay-TV operator's aid by investing millions in TopTV and becoming an equity investment partner.
This means that ODM will definitely not be getting rescued by any existing South African television broadcaster.
ODM needs a cash injection fast for its TopTV pay-TV service and has entered into business rescue, looking for a new South African partner to quickly come to its aid in the form of an investment backer. Two years after TopTV's commercial launch in May 2010, ODM indicated that without a further cash injection from a new investment partner, the struggling pay-TV company is no longer able to service creditors of its broadcasting business.
A possible life buoy could have been thrown to the Woodmead headquartered TopTV by an existing South African broadcasting conglom. It wouldn't have been rival MultiChoice running the DStv platform or M-Net; the SABC is the South African public broadcaster and can't become involved (besides suffering its own ongoing terrible financial and management nightmare; which basically left e.tv.
Interestingly e.tv and ODM both applied for pay-TV licenses in 2007. Interestingly both got licenses from the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa). e.tv which created e.Sat was upset about the multiple licenses Icasa issued and said it wouldn't be able to effectively compete if so many pay-TV operators started.
e.tv decided e.Sat will become a content provider of TV channels such as the eNews Channel (now eNCA to MultiChoice's DStv). Further plans for porn channels which e.tv would have supplied was cancelled. Ironically only ODM managed to start TopTV as all the rest of the licensees such as Telkom Media (then Super 5 Media), Walking on Water (WoW) languished and never started commercial pay-TV services.
Now e.tv tells TV with Thinus that e.tv will not be investing in TopTV or consider the opportunity.
'e.tv would not be interested in this, as it does not fit in with our current strategy," says the free-to-air broadcaster. e.tv has to invest, and already did, millions of rands in infrastructure, technology, content costs, signal distribution costs and broadcasting changes as a part of South Africa's far-behind and constantly postponed switch-over from analogue to digital broadcasting and digital terrestrial television (DTT), a process known as digital migration.
ALSO READ: With TopTV desperately seeking a balance sheet bail-out, which partner could do a Few Million Rand Money Drop? e.tv? Telkom? Vodacom? Avusa?
