Russia's RT channel eyes African expansion with a South African newsroom run by Paula Slier.

by Thinus Ferreira

Russia's RT channel has embarked on expansion plans in Africa, starting to set up headquarters on the continent in South Africa where the Kremlin-funded TV channel is carried and supported by China.

Paula Slier, the South African TV reporter who previously worked for SABC News and who was posted in Jerusalem, Israel, as RT's correspondent for that region, is now overseeing the set-up of RT's African headquarters in South Africa and will be managing the bureau.

On Monday an RT spokesperson told TVwithThinus "We are indeed currently focused on developing our English-language Africa hub in South Africa, headed up by Paula Slier - a South Africa native, RT's longtime correspondent and formerly head of RT's Jerusalem bureau".

"We will be releasing more updates about the particulars of this operation at the appropriate time," RT said.

According to an insider, the RT South African newsroom is currently being set up although it's still unclear how many South African staff, camera operators and reporters RT plans to hire as it takes a page from the playbook of what other global TV news channels like CNN International, Al Jazeera, BBC World News and China's pro-Beijing CGTN have done in Africa.

The African expansion of Russia's state-backed TV channel comes amid Russia's unprovoked invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine and widespread global condemnation of the pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine misinformation and propaganda on the channel over the past few months.

Earlier this year Russia Today, formerly Russia Today, was banned by the European Union (UN), as well as in Canada and in the United Kingdom by Britain's broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

Imposed EU sanctions also meant that RT abruptly went dark in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa on 2 March.

This was the date when Luxembourg-based companies like Intelsat and SES SA flipped the kill-switch on the satellite uplinking of RT's channel feed to their satellite transponders like Intelsat's IS-20 on which a pay-TV operator like the Randburg-based MultiChoice leases bandwidth to bring the channel to DStv subscribers.  

Google and other companies also blocked the propaganda channel's YouTube streaming.

Two and a half months later, RT surprisingly flickered back on South African TV screens on 11 May - this time thanks to Chinese support.

The MultiChoice pay-TV rival, StarTimes Media - running the StarSat pay-TV service in South Africa and StarTimes elsewhere in Africa - added RT to its TV channels line-up in mid-May, using SES S.A.'s SES-5 satellite transponder on which StarTimes/StarSat is leasing space.

SES S.A. is a satellite and terrestrial telecommunications network provider also based in Luxembourg in Europe.

SES S.A. told TVwithThinus that it "engaged with European regulatory bodies to suspend the distribution of specific Russia Today channels and Sputnik across Europe" and had turned off the designated signals on 2 March.

"While the channel in question – Russia Today Global  – is being delivered via SES-5 (a satellite that SES owns) over sub-Saharan Africa, it is our customer who has leased our bandwidth and is distributing the channel over the leased capacity."

"SES also notes that this channel is not one that has been banned by the European Union."

"We have been engaging with our customers and regulatory authorities to assess both what we can do and must do under the various legal regimes to which we are subject. SES is prepared to take immediate action and implement any instructions we receive from regulatory authorities." 

StarTimes told TVwithThinus in May that as a pay-TV service it "takes pride in sourcing relevant and current content to enhance our packages, thus we regard RT Global as a 24-hour English-language news channel that focuses on all major economic, political and social issues of our time".

From Russia with love

While RT's original plan was to get a localised foothold on the African continent by establishing its African bureau in Nairobi, Kenya where the African headquarters of China's CGTN has also been set up and based for the past few years, RT has now switched from the East African country to South Africa where it won't be directly competing with CGTN for newsroom resources.

It's unclear if RT's move away from Kenya to South Africa to set up its first localised African hub is possibly a tit-for-tat move to get out of CGTN's way, after StarTimes' decision to sign a channel carriage agreement to showcase RT on channel 260 on the Chinese pay-TV platform. 

In February RT still posted adverts for journalist positions who would have had to work and be based in Nairobi.    

The RT spokesperson didn't comment on the African location change, how many South African staff RT plans to hire, or why RT is interested in creating a regional headquarter in Africa.

In shocking double standard China to ban foreign TV content during prime time, imposing severe restrictions on international workers in Chinese shows.

China's Radio and Television Administration has decided to place a blanket ban on all foreign TV content on Chinese television during prime time that stretched from 19:00 to 22:00, along with abruptly placing a 30% quota on all video streaming platform for any imported foreign content.

While China funnels millions of hours of Chinese content that keep increasing and without restriction into territories like Africa during the entire day - including prime time - China in a blatant double standard, doesn't want international content to be shown in China because it wants to prevent "a negative influence on viewers".

The Chinese pay-TV StarTimes operating in Africa and under the StarSat brand in South Africa where it competes with Naspers' MultiChoice for African eyeballs and subscriber fees, pumps dozens of Chinese packaged TV channels into Africa filled with Chinese shows and films.

Under the new regulations China wants to protect itself and Chinese from content that "deviates from socialist core values".

Under the Chinese regulator's increased restrictions, foreign talent such as writers, directors and actors are not allowed to comprise more than one-fifth of total talent in Chinese TV dramas.

In addition, a TV show's writer and director are not allowed to both be foreigners. A lead foreign actor and actress are also banned, with only one allowed per show at maximum.

China merges its 3 state broadcaster propaganda services into one macro unit called Zhongguo Zhisheng, now overseen by Chinese government's Publicity Department.

The Chinese government announced that it's merging its state broadcasting units into one new macro unit called Zhongguo Zhisheng (中国之声) that will be overseen by the Chinese government's Publicity Department to more effectively control the country's propaganda information efforts from China's Communist Party.

China's state-owned propaganda television and radio stations are being fused into one overall broadcasting platform with China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI), and China National Radio (CNR) that will form the new Zhongguo Zhisheng.

Zhongguo Zhisheng translates as "Voice of China", although an official English name of Zhongguo Zhisheng has not yet been announced. The former CCTV president Shen Haixiong was appointed to lead the organization.

China Central Television (CCTV), China Radio International (CRI), and China National Radio (CNR) will keep their individual names.

The announcement comes a day after the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) as part of a plan from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Several of the news and documentary channels from CCTV are available and seen in South Africa, as well as through the rest of Africa, on various pay-TV satellite services ranging from MultiChoice's DStv and StarSat, to China's StarTimes in other Southern, East and West African countries.

Besides the various CCTV named channels run by CCTV, CCTV is also responsible for its global 24-hour TV news channel CGTN.

CGTN has 6 different language versions. The English version of CGTN is carried by MultiChoice on DStv channel 409.

The French version of CGTN (CGTN French) is carried by StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media (ODM) on StarSat and in the rest of Africa, along with some CCTV channels.

StarTimes (again) takes Africa reporters to China as it ignores South Africa, while StarSat hits an infamous 1 year anniversary.

The Chinese pay-TV operator StarTimes has once again scooped up a gaggle of Africa reporters for a propaganda-like trip to China while ignoring South Africa's press.

Meanwhile StarSat, StarTimes' affiliate in South Africa, is marking a whole year of doing literally nothing  in terms of any programming publicity that is supposed to be sent to media.

In the past week, StarTimes took 51 Africa journalists from 25 African countries - the bulk of whom will end up doing absolutely nothing and no actual reporting about it - for an "educational" 10-day tour to the People's Republic of China as part of a so-called "enriching relationships" junket.

After several days, there's literally been just one story - probably not the return of investment StarTimes wants. On the other hand, it could also be that getting actual press coverage for this isn't the actual aim.

Interestingly StarTimes couldn't be bothered with South Africa, where StarTimes South Africa and On Digital Media (ODM) run the StarSat satellite pay-TV platform.

StarTimes decided to take the African journalists to Beijing and Guangzhou in China for a media tour to interestingly co-incide with the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China that started on 19 October and lasts for a week.

The African journalists toured the StarTimes Media headquarters in Beijing on Monday.

Also on the itinerary - besides the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China taking place in Beijing - are visits to an industrial fair, a technological park, a textile park, port, agricultural park and a agricultural equipment manufacturing plant.

How bad is StarTimes' media liaison? This bad:

Guo Ziqi, StarTimes vice president at the StarTimes Media headquarters spoke about StarTimes' investment in pay-TV in Africa.

TVwithThinus asked Luke Liu, handling StarTimes overseas public relations, for a transcript or statement of what she said, but was told there is none.

Gao Wenzhi, another StarTimes vice president, spoke about StarTimes' research, StarTimes' content security and StarTimes' future development slate.

Again, TVwithThinus that asked Luke Lui for a transcript or statement of what Gao Wenzhi said - was told there is nothing StarTimes can share.

Luke Liu said that Guo Ziqi and Gao Wenzhi answered questions from African media and that "there is no transcript or press release".

How media covering StarTimes is supposed to report on what StarTimes executives are saying and doing when they do so publicly, is anybody's guess.

Luke Lui says "StarTimes is a Chinese company and a leading digital TV operator in Africa at the same time. We are very glad to be a bridge between China and Africa with promoting exchanges of the two sides".



A year of StarSat doing no programming publicity...
... and counting

Meanwhile October marks an infamous first anniversary for StarSat that stopped providing South Africa's media with any programming publicity material, monthly programming and scheduling and channel updates since October 2016.

South African media can't report about StarSat's month-to-month and day-to-day content or specific channel highlights because they literally don't know what it is due to a lack of information.

StarSat doesn't have any publicist or PR people communicating anything regarding any general content on StarSat - either about self-packaged or third-party channels, or specific shows or programming - to the South African press.

StarSat is trying to make inroads in growing its StarSat subscriber base but isn't communicating to the media what the content, channels and shows worth watching are that are available on its pay-TV platform.

Of course ordinary viewers and consumers don't buy decoders - they buy an experience and entertainment.

That's the reason why it's important - in fact crucial - for a pay-TV operator to issue programming publicity material to the press.

Yet, for 12 months now and counting, StarSat has failed to do the most basic communication in terms of programming - information that StarSat gets anyway on a monthly and weekly basis from overseas third-party channel providers, but doesn't bother or care to issue to the local media.

You don't see StarSat programming highlights in the newspaper and magazine that you read if it carries TV listing pages, and that is the reason why.

StarSat - formerly TopTV - used to have both in-house publicists (plural), and also paid external PR companies and PR people that it cycled through, to do this work.

For a year now it's not being done, after all of the TopTV and then StarSat publicists exited until only one was left; and after one PR company's contract was ended and a single external publicist got the task until her contract was also unceremoniously axed.

Without even a goodbye or advisory to media, emails suddenly bounced back this week a year ago in October 2016 with an "unfortunately I am no longer contracted to StarTimes Media SA".

And that was the end.

At this point in time it's anybody's guess what exactly StarTimes Media SA and ODM's media strategy is for StarSat as far as its basic programming communications strategy with journalists and the press covering StarSat and television in South Africa is concerned.

StarSat doesn't care about having, or building and strengthening, media relations with South Africa's press and TV critics or it would have employed a publicist or publicists months ago - or would have made an effort to put a PR company on retainer to communicate its programming on its behalf.

If it were important for StarSat to have the South African TV industry know what it's doing, and its programming, it would have appointed South African publicists months ago.

Instead, nothing.

If it were important for StarSat to educate the South African press about what it is and what it's doing, it would have made an effort to include South African journalists in things like the current StarTimes Media educational to Beijing for African journalists - or at the very least have reams of press releases and information about it on hand and available to send out.

Not communicating properly, not having a point-person or people in the form of publicist, and in effect shunning South Africa's press isn't having no effect - it's having a continued detrimental effect on StarSat.

Beyond being disappointing to the media trying to cover StarSat and its programming, it's practically damaging as well.

StarSat is damaging it brand but the press also isn't able to effectively do their work - telling potential viewers what there is on StarSat's various channels that's worth watching.

The press doesn't think highly of StarSat and that's a PR and perception problem.

In fact journalists - beyond not really knowing what StarSat is and what it's doing and showing - doesn't quite know what to think of StarSat, and that's bad if you're selling a service that even the media covering it, is unsure, skeptical and uninformed about.

Of course TV critics and journalists would rather write about StarSat's actual programming instead of ruminating about what a satellite pay-TV service is not doing, but in the absence of any actual programming info push, it is what's left.

Last month in parliament one of the then SABC board candidates and now a SABC board member, (still) referred to StarSat as TopTV - 4 years after and since it had changed its name.

It's just one example of how uninformed the general South African public is about StarSat.

That is StarSat's executives fault for not seeing PR and programmatic communication to the media as absolutely crucial to its existence, growth and brand image.

South Africa's consumer market, TV industry, media and trade press are much more evolved that the rest of Africa.

That makes real, effective, relevant and constant communication from a company to the media extremely important.

This past week, Netflix South Africa over 2 days communicated more with South Africa's media covering television than what StarSat had over the past 2 years.

Why should potential and existing StarSat subscribers remain or sign up for the service if they see nothing about StarSat and its programming in the press?

If StarTimes can afford to take over 50 journalists - who are likely not going to report to the public what StarTimes wants to communicate - to Bejing for 10 days, then StarTimes Media and StarSat can afford to pay to have a South African publicist communicating about its programming.

Sadly that realisation seems not have dawned yet on StarSat and its Beijing-based parent StarTimes Media.

DAILY TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 19 October 2017.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:


■ Where has TStv gone? 18 days after its 1 October launch in Nigeria, TStv is seemingly nowhere.
Biola Kazeem wonders about Nigerian's gullibility and their willingness to accept fake promises like thelies about TV channels TStv says its carrying but isn't allowed to.
- TStv isn't what we need now," says Nigerians. "We actually need an uninterrupted electricity supply".

■ MIPCOM TV market told: Black people are rare as unicorns on prime time TV

■ Australian breakfast show presenter lurks and hides behind her car!
Lisa Wilkingson hides behind her car from the paparazzi after a nasty fight following abreakdown in salary negotiations goes public between a TV star's agent in Australia and the Nine network.

■ China's StarTimes says Uganda is one of the African countries that benefitted from the $2.5 billion contract for digital terrestrial TV migration.
Of course StarTimes itself benefitted commercially too - since it's China's money.
Meanwhile StarTimes has taken 51 journalists from across Africa to Beijing and China for a media tour and to cover the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China but has deliberately excluded South Africa's media.

■ New SABC board Febe Potgieter-Qubule claims:
"I don't see myself compromised". Says her new SABC board position will make her reconsider her role in the ANC going forward.

■ Econet Media officially launches Kwesé TV in Uganda.
Has a media launch event in Kampala where Kwesé TV will now have to battle it out against MultiChoice Uganda's DStv and China's StarTimes for pay-TV viewers.
- Quite inane and non-sensical comments from Herbert Mucunguzi, Kwesé TV Uganda general manager as to what Kwesé TV Uganda offers. You'd think he or the PR people would put in actual effort to come up with non-stock comments not already used before by MultiChoice and StarTimes for their offerings.
- Kwesé TV Zambia's general manager Kapa Kaumba fawning over Zambia's government, likewise talks a lot that means absolutely nothing.


■ Nielsen to measure viewing of shows streaming on Netflix.
The service aiming to measure and find ratings for On Demand video streaming services, will provide data comparable to what Nielsen provides for linear TV, including ratings, reach, frequency and demographics.
- Netflix slams the effort and Nielsen: "The data that Nielsen is reporting is not accurate, not even close, and does not reflect the viewing of these shows on Netflix".

■ Digital TV a massive and expensive flop in Thailand.
Digital terrestrial television migration came too late and audience behaviour had already changed due to technology.

■ Final 4th season of Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD (DStv 304) will be more serialised.
Last season just started in America, no date yet for when it starts in South Africa and Africa, but Dave Filoni says "episodes will be more serialised than you're used to".


■ The actor Javid Iqbal doesn't really exist, Star Trek: Discovery made him up since actor Shazad Latif is apparently playing both Voq who disguises himself to become Ash Tyler.
- Maybe some clarity about the confusing plot points in Star Trek: Discovery.
- Jason Isaacs says Star Trek: Discovery is "of our time, and for our time."
- Klingon Voq can't stay missing for much longer.


■ How big is delayed TV viewing in America?
In some cases it's even bigger than live viewing - in others almost nothing. Here's how some of America's biggest TV shows break down when it comes to viewers who watch it after its been shown.

■ Why competing with Netflix and Amazon is impossible.
MUST WATCH: Barry Diller discusses what makes Netflix and Amazon today's leaders in video.


■ Executive producer of Viacom's The Mist TV drama, Amanda Segel, accuses Harvey Weinstein's brother Bob Weinstein of sexual harassment.
- Variety's TV critic Maureen Ryan says a TV executive sexually assaulted her.
- Hollywood's other open secret: Preying on young boys.
- Inside Harvey Weinstein's horrific history of bullying: "Has never done anything that was consensual".

■ The shamed Roy Price out at Amazon after shocking sexual harassment claims.

■ And a MUST READ: Inside Amazon and the fall of the vulgar exec Roy Price.
As usual Amazon and Roy Price are silent and refused to comment. Amazon insiders reveal Roy Price's "crude sex talk" at gatherings, asked staffers if stars in a TV series would "show their tits";  misogyny of scripts.

■ Fighting the pirates.
How illegal downloads and streaming of TV shows is now impacting the global TV industry.
Netflix says it's pushing to secure global rights and release all originals simultaneously to global members to help address piracy, and "that there's been a notable reduction in piracy in countries where we operate".

■ Lifetime (DStv 131) finally releases a trailer for the delayed 3rd season of UnReal.
The 3rd season will start in America on 26 February 2018 and will this time revolve around a bachelorette looking for Mister Right. No word yet on when the 3rd season will start on Lifetime in South Africa and Africa on MultiChoice's DStv.

■ The delicate art of the TV series finale.
Ending a TV series properly with a perfect final episode is equal parts craft and philosophy.

■ Next year the Swiss will vote to get rid of TV and radio licence fees.
Switzerland voting in March 2018 on a proposal to scrap the licence fee for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC).

■ Nigerian presenter of a TV crime show sues over being blocked by Nigerian police.
Aisha Tosan, the presenter of presenter of Crime Fighters, Police and You files papers in Lagos High Court to stop Nigeria's police from blocking her, and impeding her right to give out information.

■ Chelsea Handler's talk show, Chelsea, on Netflix cancelled after 2 seasons.
Went from daily in the first season, to weekly in the second season to cancelled.

■ In a new generation of social media-driven dramas
viewers decide the outcome in the next episode, as part of TV's next big new trend.

Chinese pay-TV operator StarTimes launches 4th Beijing TV dramas and film broadcasting season in Africa; says Chinese TV content 'strengthens friendship' between China and Africa.

The Chinese pay-TV operator in Africa, StarTimes, has launched the 4th 2017 Beijing TV dramas and movies broadcasting season in Africa, with a launch event that took place in Lusaka, Zambia.

Through StarTimes - that operates in 35 African nations including under the brand StarSat in South Africa - the Chinese government says it wants to bring a lot more Chinese TV dramas and Chinese films to viewers in Zambia and across the African continent.

StarTimes that says it has almost 10 million pay-TV subscribers across Africa, says that it's the fastest-growing digital TV operator in Africa since its launch in 2002.

That makes StarTimes the biggest competitor to pay-TV operator MultiChoice and its DStv and GOtv brands, with StarTimes that is signing deals with various African governments backed by support and money funneled from the Chinese government, as well as driving subscriber growth with hand outs of free StarTimes decoder deals.

As part of the 2017 Beijing TV drama festival, StarTimes that has partnered with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Radio, Film and Television, will be showing 8 Chinese TV series and films in Zambia.

StarTimes will also continue to show African StarTimes subscribers 400 Chinese drama episodes and 17 Chinese films over the course of a year, dubbed into 7 languages - English, French, Portuguese, Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba and Luganda.

Guo Ziqi, StarTimes vice-president, said the broadcasting of Chinese content in Africa will continue to support the "strengthened friendship" between China and Zambia.

Wang Yefei, the deputy director-general of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said China sees the cultural exchanges between China and Africa as very important and that the Chinese TV series and films will help African viewers "to get a panorama of China".