CTV has moved its transmission to the same channel as M-Net, which means that M-Net has to shift to a new frequency for its analogue broadcast signal, after a change mandated by South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) in preparation for the move from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT) in South Africa.
The regulator allocated M-Net's channel frequency to CTV, which meant that M-Net had to comply by switching to another channel. The change only affects M-Net's analogue subscriber base in Cape Town and not DStv subscribers who receive M-Net as a digital TV channel.
Channel 32 is the factory default on M-Net analogue decoders and that is why M-Net terrestrial customers using RF
cable on their TV in the Tygerberg and surrounding areas will experience
interference since CTV switched to channel 32.
M-Net is paying for installers to go to M-Net analogue viewers' homes to change the settings on M-Net decoders to another channel to prevent CTV interference on M-Net/CSN or even losing the M-Net service entirely.
"We are paying for the change because a frequency within the M-Net analogue decoder has to be re-tuned from the factory default to another frequency," the pay-TV company tells TV with Thinus.
The company has been in touch with affected customers since July and support teams in Cape Town have been working the past few weeks to set up appointments with M-Net analogue subscribers in Cape Town with accredited installers.
Only M-Net terrestrial customers using RF cable to
their TV in the Tygerberg and surrounding areas are affected by the signal switch; other M-Net terrestrial
customers in other areas and DStv customers are not affected at all.
"M-Net values all its customers, including the M-Net
terrestrial customers. That is why we doing the best to ensure they don't
experience any interference."
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