Struggling Econet puts its shuttered and debt-riddled Econet Media and Kwesé up for sale in 29 countries including its 20%-stake in South Africa's new free-to-air Kwesé Free TV licensed venture.

Zimbabwe's struggling Econet Wireless Ltd. - that has seen its ambitious pay-TV business Kwesé TV implode under a mountain of debt with services ranging from its abruptly shuttered Kwesé Play streaming service to TV channels like Kwesé Play Free Sports go dark - has put up a "for sale" sign for Econet Media for all of its businesses across Southern Africa and Dubai.

Interestingly this includes its 20%-stake in Kwesé Free TV, the free-to-air, commercial TV station that got a licence from South Africa's broadcasting regulator earlier this year to start a new bouquet of freely available TV channels in South Africa.

It's not clear how the sale and proposed sale of Econet's stake in Kwesé Free TV will affect its TV licence, with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) that has done nothing so far to investigate and re-interrogate the granted licence given the changing conditions of ownership under which the original licence was granted.

Bloomberg reported on Friday that Econet is now offering up its Econet Media unit, housing the damaged Kwesé brands, for sale.

Ernst & Young Ltd. ran a full-page newspaper advertisement, saying that it will oversee offers for all or part of the company's shareholdings in 29 businesses in Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mauritius, Ghana, Kenya and Dubai.

It remains to be seen whether companies and rivals operating in South Africa, ranging from the MultiChoice Group, M-Net, and Netflix, to China's StarTimes, telecom operators like Vodacom and MTN or other players might be interested in any of the severely reputation-damaged Econet Media debt-mess.

The shutdown of the embattled Econet's business ventures keeps rippling as it abruptly shuttered its whole Econet Media division which included Kwesé iflix as latest victim.

The debt-laden Econet that has not paid retrenched staffers their severance money and told them it doesn't know when it will be able to, has seen its Kwese TV pay-TV division abruptly shut down and placed into liquidation, its TV channels like Kwesé Free Sports abruptly go dark and off air without warning, and its Kwesé Play streaming service and Roku-device terminated.

Now Econet,owned by the Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, has been forced to shut down its entire Econet Media subsidiary where Joseph Hundah has been Econet Media CEO and that racked up more than $130 million in debt in content costs including expensive sports rights and other services.

Econet has said nothing about its alleged bad management, rapid and aggressive expansion plans and cash splurges, bad and often non-existent customer care and foolish content acquisition strategies that were all self-inflicted damage that led to Econet Media's downfall and implosion.

Econet said in July that its beleaguered pay-TV and TV business struggled to compete with China's StarTimes and MultiChoice's DStv.

Meanwhile several current and former South African workers of Econet who are enduring living hell but who were once "promised heaven" if they join Kwesé TV, showed TVwithThinus correspondence of them not having been paid their severance packages after being retrenched and Econet executives telling them that there isn't money and that they can't give answers as to when they will be paid.

The shutdown of the embattled Econet keeps rippling as it abruptly shutters its whole Econet Media division which includes Kwesé iflix as latest victim.

The expanding shutdown of the embattled Econet's divisions keeps rippling through the embattled business with Econet that has now abruptly shuttered its whole Econet Media division as well, that includes its Kwesé iflix streaming service as apparently the latest victim of its cash-crunch.

The debt-laden Econet that has not paid retrenched staffers their severance money and told them it doesn't know when it will be able to, has seen its Kwese TV pay-TV division abruptly shut down and placed into liquidation, its TV channels like Kwesé Free Sports abruptly go dark and off air without warning, and its Kwesé Play streaming service and Roku-device terminated.

Now Econet,owned by the Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa, has been forced to shut down its entire Econet Media subsidiary where Joseph Hundah has been Econet Media CEO and that racked up more than $130 million in debt in content costs including expensive sports rights and other services, with Econet Media that housed Kwesé TV, Kwesé Play and Kwesé Iflix.

The Econet Group in a statement says that "The Econet Group regrets to confirm that Econet Media Limited has ceased operations with effect from 5 August 2019".

"It is a difficult decision that we could not postpone. Over the last 4 years we sought to disrupt Africa’s media landscape and enable Africa to tell its own stories using a variety of technologies including satellite broadcast, video streaming and free-to-air TV."

"The Econet Group invested heavily into Econet Media and supported the business over the period it operated without any third-party funding. Unfortunately, market conditions and content price inflation got in the way of us completing our mission."

"We are particularly grateful to all our dedicated staff and contractors who have worked tirelessly to bring a great product to market and who until the last day believed in the Kwesé story. We are also grateful to our customers and our partners who believed in the Kwesé vision and who worked with us as we tried to change how Africans consume and pay for media."

"We deeply regret the impact that this decision has had on our staff, contractors, customers, regulators and content providers."

"We will engage with each of our valued stakeholders transparently and will seek to meet our obligations to each of them as provided under law."

"The Econet Group is entrepreneurial and believes in Africa and its potential. Our belief in 'an inclusive connected future that leaves no African behind' remains undaunted."

"We would like to emphasise and reiterate that the rest of the Econet Group businesses continue to operate normally as each of our companies are separate legal entities with their own management teams and boards."

In its statement, Econet mentions nothing about its alleged bad management, rapid and aggressive expansion plans and cash splurges, bad and often non-existent customer care and foolish content acquisition strategies that were all self-inflicted damage that led to Econet Media's downfall and implosion. 

Econet said in July that its beleaguered pay-TV and TV business struggled to compete with China's StarTimes and MultiChoice's DStv.

Meanwhile several current and former South African workers of Econet who are enduring living hell but who were once "promised heaven" if they join Kwesé TV, showed TVwithThinus correspondence of them not having been paid their severance packages after being retrenched and Econet executives telling them that there isn't money and that they can't give answers as to when they will be paid.


ALSO READ: Embattled Econet announces it will be shutting down its struggling Kwesé TV entirely on Monday 5 August 2019 after owing R1.9 billion to third-party content providers.
ALSO READ: Living hell after Kwesé implosion: Massive problems, fear, secrecy, non-payment and scared staffers at Econet Kwesé TV in South Africa where workers were once "promised heaven".

Embattled Econet announces it will be shutting down its struggling Kwesé TV entirely on Monday 5 August 2019 after owing R1.9 billion to third-party content providers.

The embattled Econet Media has announced that it is shutting down its struggling Kwesé TV entirely on Monday 5 August 2019 after owing more than $130 million (R1.9 billion) in external liabilities to third-party TV content providers and international content suppliers.

The implosion and complete shutdown of Kwesé TV under a barrage of debt explains why its Kwesé Free Sports channel carried on eMedia Investments' Openview free-to-air satellite TV service abruptly went off the air on Sunday a week ago.

Econet Media CEO Joseph Hundah was also forced to abruptly shutter its Kwese Play video streaming service that was housed under its Kwesé TV division.

With Kwesé Play being liquidated, customers in South Africa and across Southern Africa are left with useless Roku streaming devices that will never work again and having paid for a service they're suddenly no longer getting.

The shocking Kwesé TV shutdown is also raising serious questions about the "Kwesé Free TV" TV station that Econet and Kwesé TV wanted to start in South Africa after being granted a commercial free-to-air TV licence by the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) with Econet Media that holds a 20% stake in this venture.

"How will they broadcast when they have no staff or broadcasting facilities?" South African Kwesé TV staffers are asking who told TVwithThinus that Kwesé TV's South African office in Bryanston, Johannesburg in shutting down.

Econet said in July that its beleaguered pay-TV and TV business struggled to compete with China's StarTimes and MultiChoice's DStv.

Meanwhile current and former South African workers of Econet who are enduring living hell but who were once "promised heaven" if they join Kwesé TV, alleges that they have not been paid, are not getting paid, and are demanding answers about their future and what's going on after a process of retrenchments started as the TV empire of the Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa continues to crumble and implode.

In a statement Econet now says its Kwesé TV's pay-TV service is completely shutting down on 5 August 2019.

"We regret to announce the discontinuation of the Kwesé TV satellite service with effect from 5 August 2019," says Douglas Mboweni, group CEO.

"The service was offered to our customers by our sister company Econet Media. We regret to end this service, which thousands had embraced and welcomed into their homes and offices as a viable, alternative source of news, sport and entertainment."

"The third-party content providers, on whose content we rely, require payment in foreign currency. With the prevailing economic conditions in Zimbabwe, and the current business operating environment – characterized by an acute shortage of foreign currency – sustaining Kwesé and the Kwesé satellite service service was no longer viable."

"Once again we apologise for ending this service and take this opportunity to thank our customers for their valued support," says Douglas Mboweni.


ALSO READ: Living hell after Kwesé implosion: Massive problems, fear, secrecy, non-payment and scared staffers at Econet Kwesé TV in South Africa where workers were once "promised heaven".

Econet's flagship Kwesé Free Sports channel in abrupt blackout on Openview as Econet's financial problems spread; e.tv says it's permanently terminating the channel's carriage after a days-long blackout.

The Kwesé Free Sports from Econet Media's Kwesé TV has abruptly gone dark and disappeared from e.tv's Openview free-to-air satellite service as Econet's financial problems continue to spread, with e.tv saying it's permanently dumping Kwesé Free Sports after days of the unfixed channel blackout.

Econet Media blames the blackout of its Kwesé Free Sports channel on channel 115 on Openview on "unforeseen technical difficulties".

It's "unforeseen technical difficulties" that Econet Media CEO Joseph Hundah doesn't want to explain although it's part of the spreading financial problems faced by his Kwesé TV and media empire which started to collapse a few months ago.

Kwesé Free Sports was added to Openview a year and a half ago in March 2018. The sports channel that Econet can no longer keep on the air was also supposed to be an alternative to MultiChoice's SuperSport pay-TV operation, and the cornerstone of Econet's "Kwesé Free TV" - the new free-to-air commercial TV station that recently got licensed to start broadcasting in South Africa.

It's not clear and Econet is staying silent, about how its growing financial troubles will affect South its Kwesé Free TV licence that it got from the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) with Econet Media that holds a 20% stake in the venture.

On Thursday Econet Media finally admitted to the public and its customers that its struggling video streaming service Kwesé Play is also done and that the Roku Kwesé Play devices are now worthless with service that won't be restored. Econet said Kwesé Play is being liquidated. Econet also told staffers that a process of voluntary retrenchments is taking place across the business.

While Kwesé Play customers in Zimbabwe can get a refund, there is no word on where it leaves South African Kwesé Play subscribers stuck with a service and the customised media players that no longer work.

Econet's Kwesé was placed under administration at the beginning of July 2019 with the African pay-TV operator's Kwesé Play streaming service that abruptly shut down and stopped working although Econet at the time lied and said that it's only temporary.

Econet said that its beleaguered pay-TV business struggled to compete with China's StarTimes and MultiChoice's DStv.

Econet's Kwesé Free Sports channel abruptly cut out on Sunday 28 July and has been dark five days.

Since Monday 29 July e.tv was asked what happened to Kwesé Free Sports on Openview and for comment but e.tv didn't respond with any answers.

On Friday e.tv in a press release said that "technical efforts to restore its connectivity proved to be unsuccessful".

In a supplied quote through e.tv, Joseph Hundah said that "Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, we have been unable to restore our channels in a satisfactory state at this time. We understand that this is disappointing and apologise for the inconvenience."

Econet didn't respond to media enquiries made this week. 

Ziyanda Mngomezulu, Openview's head of channel acquisitions, in the e.tv statement says that "Providing our audience with a sports channel was a significant achievement for us on the platform channel offerings. The dissolution of the Kwesè Free Sports channel has been a tremendous loss, not only for us as Openview, but most importantly, for the audiences that we serve".

Openview says it will no longer be carrying Econet's Kwesé Free Sports on its satellite TV -platform.

Econet Media finally admits that its Kwesé Play device is dead as a brick and that the Kwesé Play video streaming service is being liquidated; process of voluntary retrenchments across organisation happening.

Econet Media is finally admitting to the public and its customers that its struggling video streaming service Kwesé Play is done and that the Roku Kwesé Play devices are now worthless bricks that will never work again, with Kwesé Play that is being liquidated.

A process of voluntary retrenchments is taking place across the business.

Meanwhile the Kwesé Free Sports channel from Econet carried on eMedia Investments' Openview satellite pay-TV platform has also gone dark, while Econet insiders have shared internal emails notifying them of retrenchments and that Kwesé Play won't continue.

While Kwesé Play customers in Zimbabwe can get a refund, there is no word on where it leaves South African Kwesé Play subscribers stuck with a service and the customised media players that no longer work.

"It is with deep regret that we are today announcing the liquidation of Kwesé Play. A few weeks ago, Roku, our technology platform partners, deactivated all the Kwesé Play devices in our markets and customers have been unable to use them to watch Netflix, YouTube and other apps on their TVs," says Econet in a statement.

"We’ve spent considerable time negotiating with Roku in order to reactivate the devices, but have unfortunately been unsuccessful. This means that the Kwesé Play devices will remain deactivated and will no longer work."

Econet's Kwesé was placed under administration at the beginning of July 2019 with the African pay-TV operator's Kwesé Play streaming service that abruptly shut down and stopped working although Econet lied and said it's only temporary.

There's no clarity yet on how Econet's growing financial troubles will affect South Africa's just awarded Kwesé Free TV licence that is supposed to be the country's new free-to-air TV channel and in which Econet Media has a 20% stake.

Kwesé CEO Joseph Hundah confirmed to Business Day in July that its beleaguered pay-TV business that struggled to compete with China's StarTimes and MultiChoice's DStv has been placed under administration and that Econet has appointed Ernst & Young to manage the process.

Now Kwesé Play is being liquidated. The Kwesé Play streaming service offered through Roku devices in South Africa since September 2017 suddenly shut down without any warning to customers on 3 July for users in South Africa and across Southern Africa, simply saying "Econet no longer offers Kwesé Play. For more information contact Econet".

On 22 July in an internal communique to Econet staffers that TVwithThinus saw, Econet already told staffers then that Kwesé Play "has been discontinued as it is not an economically viable business", and that the company is starting a process of voluntary retrenchments.

Last week Kwesé Play told customers in Zimbabwe and elsewhere but not South Africa, that "the Kwesé Play service will no longer be available in Zimbabwe" and is offering customers "airtime equivalent to the purchase value of the Kwesé Play Roku device you acquired" with the offer that is only valid until 15 August 2019.

Econet didn't respond to a media enquiry.

Kwesé Play abruptly shuttered as pay-TV subscribers lose access after Econet Media's struggling Kwesé pay-TV business is placed under administration.

Econet's Kwesé has been placed into administration with the African pay-TV operator's Kwesé Play streaming service that abruptly shut down and stopped working, with no word how its growing financial troubles will affect South Africa's just awarded Kwesé Free TV licence that is supposed to be the country's new free-to-air TV channel and in which Econet Media has a 20% stake.

Kwesé CEO Joseph Hundah confirmed to Business Day that its beleaguered pay-TV business that struggled to compete with China's StarTimes and MultiChoice's DStv has been placed under administration and that Econet has appointed Ernst & Young to manage the process.

The Kwesé Play streaming service offered through Roku devices in South African since September 2017 suddenly shut down without any warning to customers on 3 July for users in South Africa and across Southern Africa, simply saying "Econet no longer offers Kwesé Play. For more information contact Econet".

Emailed media enquiries on Thursday to Econet's PRs from TVwithThinus bounced saying their email addresses no longer exist.

On social media Kwesé Play lied to customers, saying that although it was effectively shut down it was "experiencing a challenge on the platform".

Roku in a statement said "Econet is shutting down the Kwesé Play service and is no longer working with Roku".

According to Joseph Hundah Econet, owned by Zimbabwe's richest man, Strive Masiyiwa, will start negotiations with creditors to rescue the Kwesé business.

"The group's inability to exit money out of Zimbabwe has had an impact on the business. No other business in Masiyiwa’s Econet Global group is affected by the administration process," Joseph Hundah told Business Day.

In late-June Zimbabwe abruptly announced that the American dollar, South African rand and other currencies are no longer accepted as legal tender in the country struggling with hyper-inflation and a deteriorating economy.

In March South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) awarded the country's first free-to-air TV licence in more than 2 decades to Kwesé Free TV  and a consortium in which Econet Media has a 20% stake.

The consortium consists of Econet Media (20%), Royal Bafokeng (45%) and Mosong Capital (35%). It's not clear what impact placing the Kwesé pay-TV division under administration will have on the Kwesé Free TV plan which is yet to launch and in its proposal told Icasa it would consist out of several Kwesé branded and packaged channels.

In November 2018 the strugglin Kwesé TV abrptly decided to get out of its satellite pay-TV business to concentrate on streaming and delivering free-to-air TV channels.

BREAKING. It's over for Econet Media's once-hot Kwesé TV: Kwesé pulls the plug on its satellite pay-TV ambitions as Kwesé branded sports and entertainment channels, most third-party channels scrapped, focus shifted to Kwesé Free Sports and Kwesé iflix, Kwesé Play streaming services.

Africa's latest satellite pay-TV upstart, Kwesé TV, is abruptly downsizing and ending its lofty direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV plans to focus on a single branded sports channel and its streaming services.

After rapidly burning through millions, with aggressive content and country presence expansion across sub-Saharan Africa the past three years only to become ensnared by multiple missed payments and cancelled content deals due to cash flow problems, Econet Media, a subsidiary of Econet Wireless, is downscaling its once-lofty plans for a satellite pay-TV service.

Kwesé TV is scrapping its self-packaged and branded Kwesé general entertainment channels, removing all Kwesé branded sports channels except for the Kwesé Free Sports channel, and also getting rid of the majority of third-party acquired TV channels on its Kwesé TV bouquet.

The truncated Kwesé TV will henceforth just carry some free-to-air (FTA) channels, some news channels and some faith-based channels for a small fee, with Kwesé TV that will no longer require monthly subscription fees. Kwesé TV subscribers who have prepaid will get a refund.

To stop the bleeding, Kwesé TV run by Econet Media president and CEO Joseph Hundah will now focus on the Kwesé Free Sports channel (KFS) and providing streaming services through its mobile video-on-demand (VOD) service Kwesé iflix and its over-the-top (OTT) video streaming Kwesé Play brands.

Kwesé Play carries streaming channels like Red Bull TV, NBA, YouTube, TED and Bloomberg financial news.

Econet Media will also keep its Kwesé Studios and will continue investments in developing its own original programming with the help of African producers.

In an internal memo to staffers, Joseph Hundah says "We will streamline our direct-to-home, satellite television service. This means we will reduce our third-party channels as well as remove our own Kwesé-branded sports and general entertainment channels except Kwesé Free Sports".

Staffers are told in the memo that "We are in the process of reviewing our operational structures across our markets, which may result in changes across various business units".

Econet Media rapidly expanded its satellite pay-TV business with a presence in 11 African markets, excluding South Africa, with a free-to-air presence across 27 countries and sub-licensing content - mostly sport - across 37 countries.

That rapid expansion however came at a big cost as Econet Media's Kwesé TV burned through cash, signing deals with ESPN and partnering with VICE Media, trying to establish a foothold in the fierce Africa pay-TV market.

For the past three years Econet Media's Kwesé TV splashed the cash in a satellite TV market dominated by Naspers' MultiChoice in South Africa and across sub-Saharan Africa; as well as China's aggressive StarTimes making major inroads throughout Africa and operating under the StarSat brand in South Africa.

Kwesé TV especially went hard with signing up sports rights to compete with MultiChoice's SuperSport, going as far as sub-licensing and partnering with community channels in South Africa like Soweto TV and 1KZN to show boxing matches and NBA, to try and lure viewers to its offering.

After the past year and a half during which it became evident that the burning hot Kwesé TV's wheels is starting to come off as details about scuppered deals and late payments emerged, Econet Media has now capitulated, and is reorganising to focus on streaming services.

The past few months Kwesé TV suddenly started dumping TV channels as deals with the FOX Networks Group and other channel distributors got scrapped and derailed, in addition to multiple missed payments and cancelled deals including for content from FIFA, UEFA, Formula One, EPL, ESPN, NBA and the beIN Media Group.

Kwesé Free Sports - a pan-African free-to-air channel available in 27 African countries, including in South Africa on eMedia Investments' Openview free-to-air satellite platform - will now remain one of Kwesé TV's three core services.

Kwesé Free Sports has been showing Premier League matches, NBA, various FIFA tournaments including the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and leagues, NFL, AVIVA Premiership rugby as well as sport-themed magazine shows like ESPN's SportCenter.


'Changes will safeguard the success of our business'
In a statement to TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry on Thursday afternoon about the shuttering of channels on Kwesé TV, Joseph Hundah says "We believe these changes will safeguard the future success of our business as we continue to make an indelible impact on Africa's media industry".

"The revised business strategy will also ensure that Kwesé TV continues to remain competitive within the industry."

"Refocusing our business offering across markets is a strategic move which aligns our business to OTT and video-on-demand trends which present significant growth opportunities for Kwesé. This renewed focus on digital services will see us provide new compelling offers for our customer’s enjoyment."

"Additionally, through the development of the Kwesé Studios content hub, Econet Media will now have a legitimate claim to being the home of African content, as we will now create a place where Africans can tell their own stories and shape their own narrative."

"Kwesé's entry into the market had a game changing impact on the media industry. With these changes, we believe Kwesé will continue to positively disrupt the industry for the benefit of African consumers, as we continue to provide affordable premium content through digital media services."

Econet Media says that as a consequence of the revised business model it is "reviewing its operational structures across all markets where Kwesé TV has presence which may result in changes to the company's various business units".

TOLDJA! The Americentric channel, Kwesé Free Sports, from Econet Media's Kwesé TV will start on OpenView HD as its first real sports channel on Friday 16 March.

A day after TVwithThinus reported on Tuesday that OpenView HD will be adding the Kwesé Free Sports channel but with eMedia Investments not wanting to say more, OpenView HD on Wednesday issued a press release saying that Kwesé Free Sports will start on Friday 16 March 2018 on channel 110 at 11:30.

Why eMedia Investments and OpenView HD couldn't say that in response when TVwithThinus asked in a media enquiry on Tuesday, but then suddenly can a day later, is mind-boggling, but as already reported on Tuesday, Kwesé Free Sports will be OpenView HD's first real sports channel, although it's very Americentric.

Packed with American sports content from ESPN, Kwesé Free Sports is a great beginning into real sports content for OpenView HD and its existing viewers.

There might also be existing and former subscribers of MultiChoice's DStv who might switch to OpenView HD for the exclusive content like basketball that isn't available on SuperSport's channels on DStv.

Kwesé Free Sports is a pan-African free-to-air channel from Econet Media's Kwesé TV that is already available in more than 27 countries in Africa and shows the Premier League live, NBA, various FIFA tournaments including the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and leagues, NFL, AVIVA Premiership Rugby as well as sport themed magazine shows like ESPN's SportCenter.

ESPN is crawling back to Africa and using Kwesé TV to do so, after dumping the continent and MultiChoice in July 2013 during corporate downsizing. In the process ESPN burnt a lot of bridges and sentiment and destroyed its relationship with viewers who will not easily trust or return to ESPN's programming. 

OpenView HD says that "the demand for a dedicated sports channel on OpenView has been at the top of the OpenView viewers' requests, and the platform is delighted to have struck a deal with this dynamic sports channel". 

"Sport is one of the most talked about subjects in South Africa and giving our audiences a new experience on the platform is perfectly timed," says Ziyanda Mngomezulu, OpenView HD's head of channel acquisitions.

"We have had requests for a sports channel since the launch of OpenView and Kwesé Free Sports is the perfect choice for quality sport from around the world that our viewers will love."

Joseph Hundah, Econet Media president and group CEO says "This is yet another significant milestone for us as we introduce another premium Kwesé platform to the South African market following the launch of Kwesé Play in 2017."

"This increases Kwesé Free Sports' footprint to 27 markets. As a business premised on making world-class sports and entertainment content accessible, we are proud to deliver a dedicated sports channel beaming 24 hours of premium and in some cases exclusive sporting action."

Kwesé Free Sports will show WTA Miami Masters tennis, while baseball fans can watch Toronto Blue Jays second baseman and shortstop Gift Ngoepe make his mark in the South African history books in Major League Baseball. 

Motoring heads can get their fix of fast paced racing action in the Formula E, while basketball fans can watch the NBA season.

MultiChoice won't be hiking DStv fees in Southern African countries Zimbabwe and Swaziland after its latest DStv price increase coming to South Africa from April.

MultiChoice won't be hiking DStv fees in the Southern African countries of Zimbabwe and Swaziland after its latest DStv price hike that is coming for South Africa's DStv subscribers from April.

While South Africa's rand is a stronger currency against the dollar and has been more resilient against the greenback that the currency of several other African nations, MultiChoice Africa decreased the DStv subscription fees in the past few months in several other African countries.

In contrast MultiChoice South Africa keeps increasing overall DStv subscription fees in South Africa every year - its biggest subscriber base market.

Now for 2018, it appears so far as if South Africa is going to be the only Southern African market in which MultiChoice operates its DStv satellite pay-TV service, where it will be upping its monthly DStv subscription fees this year.

MultiChoice Zimbabwe and MultiChoice Swaziland have both been very quick to respond that in these countries DStv subscribers won't see a similar increase in 2018, with more Southern African nations - Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Zambia - who could possibly follow.

Swazi Observer reporter Fortune Ndlangamandla blatantly plagiarised and stole large chunks of my orginal reporting by stealing through a copy-and-paste job what I wrote first about South Africa's DStv subscriber fee increase, but did add an originally sourced response from MultiChoice Swaziland saying it won't be hiking DStv fees there.

Dumsile Masuku, MultiChoice Swaziland publicist said about MultiChoice South Africa's DStv price hike that "What they do is irrelevant to us. We know nothing about the price hikes".

In Zimbabwe DStv actually lowered DStv subscription fees due to DStv subscribers struggling extremely with its trash currency, Zimbabwe's reserve bank making it basically impossible to pay DStv subscription fees, and the launch of rival Kwesé TV from Econet Media.

MultiChoice Zimbabwe told told TechZim that DStv subscription fees will remain the same in 2018.

"While we can confirm that Multichoice South Africa will increase DStv prices in South Africa, it’s worth noting that MultiChoice Africa is a seperate business unit that operates independently."

"In the past two years, we haven’t increased DStv subscription prices for our customers in Zimbabwe – and in fact, we’ve decreased some package prices and added exciting premium content across various packages as part of our priority to put customers in the heart of everything we do."

"Should there be any changes to DStv subscription prices in Zimbabwe, we will inform our customers accordingly."

MultiChoice Uganda joins growing list of African countries where MultiChoice is cutting the price of monthly DStv subscription fees.

MultiChoice Uganda is cutting the price of DStv Uganda subscriptions from 1 November 2017, following the lead of a growing number of African countries including Kenya, Zambia and Ghana where DStv already started to slash prices since August this year.

While DStv subscribers in South Africa have not seen any downward price adjustment to monthly subscription fees, DStv Uganda is now also lowering subscription fees across all its DStv bouquets from 1 November, saying it recognises that consumers are struggling.

MultiChoice Uganda's announcement of a price reduction comes a week after new pay-TV rival, Econet Media's Kwesé TV, officially launched in the Uganda market on 17 October.

The dramatic price reduction sees MultiChoice Uganda dropping monthly subscription fees in Uganda Shilling between 2.5% to a whopping 13.16%, with the price decrease getting bigger from the top to the lower-tiered bouquets.

Interestingly, Econet Media's Kwesé TV - although meant for any pay-TV consumer - is specifically aimed at the lower pay-TV market segment, which is where DStv Uganda has now announced the biggest price cuts.

DStv Premium is dropping 2.52% to Ugx 280,000, DStv Compact Plus is dropping 5.61% to Ugx 180,000, DStv Compact is dropping 5.43% to Ugx 115,000, DStv Family is dropping 10.11% to Ugx 60,000 and DStv Access is dropping 13.16% to Ugx 33,000.

"We recognise that our customers are living in tough economic times and want to reward them for their ongoing loyalty and support," says Charles Hamya, MultiChoice Uganda's general manager in announcing the DStv price cut for the country.

Making the announcement at a press conference at MultiChoice Uganda's office in Kololo, Uganda, Charles Hamya said "We want to do our part by adjusting the price of our DStv packages through making them more affordable while adding more value at the same time."

"The majority of our input costs are in US dollars and we hope we won't experience any further currency devaluations or other unexpected increases in costs for the remainder of the year. We will continue to review pricing from time to time, taking into account the economic conditions of our operations."

DStv Uganda subscribers will see their monthly subscription fees drop from 1 November. 

In addition DStv Uganda subscribers on the DStv Compact and DStv Compact Plus bouquets will get to see all of the SuperSport channels available to the top-tiered DStv Premium subscription for the first week of 2018.

DStv Access and DStv Family subscribers will get to see all of the SuperSport channels available to DStv Compact subscribers for the first week of 2018.

Vice Media coming to South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as Kwesé VICE in partnership with Econet Media's Kwesé TV; will open production studio and ad agency in Johannesburg.

Vice Media that runs TV channels like Viceland is coming to South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa with its content and will produce new local African content as part of a joint venture with Econet Media that runs Kwesé TV.

The joint venture between Kwesé TV and Vice Media will be known as Kwesé VICE.

Content from Vice Media, like its weekly documentary and news show VICE that's similar to Carte Blanche, was briefly broadcast by M-Net on MultiChoice's DStv in mid-2014.

Kwesé VICE will launch in 2018 and will produce original programming from its Johannesburg headquarters, with satellite offices in Nairobi, Kenya as well as in Lagos, Nigeria.

With Kwesé that is rapidly expanding its presence in Johannesburg from its South African head office in Bryanston, Kwesé Studios signage is for instance also already visible at the front entrance of the Urban Brew Studios lot in Randburg.

While Econet Media isn't yet allowed or licensed to operate its Kwesé TV service in South Africa as either an over-the-top or direct-to-home (DTH) offering, it last month launched its Kwesé Play Roku device in South Africa integrating a partnership with Netflix.

Moving forward Kwesé TV will be the home of the Viceland channel in sub-Saharan Africa as part of Kwesé TV's ongoing expansion across 45 African countries.

Besides the content division Kwesé VICE is establishing, it will also be housing a local African unit of Vice Media's ad agency, Virtue Worldwide in Johannesburg.

Vice Media says it will "hire the best young creatives, journalists and filmmakers locally, and air tailored lifestyle and culture programming across linear and digital platforms around-the-clock for the young audience in Africa."

"Continuing to build on what’s been a flourishing partnership with Econet over the past year, we're excited to be fully launching Vice across the region," says Matt Elek, CEO of Vice Media for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in a statement.

"Pairing Econet Media's extensive local knowledge and innovative distribution with Vice's creative powerhouse and storytelling expertise, we're committed to delivering a fresh new voice for Africa's diverse youth audiences".

Joseph Hundah, president and CEO of Econet Media says "this venture is particularly exciting as it adds to our offering for the youth demographic across the continent".

"VICE is an important strategic partner for us in building an innovative, future-focused media business for Africa".

Econet Media launches new TV streaming service, Kwesé Play in South Africa, partnering with Roku and Netflix Africa.

Kwesé Play is launching in South Africa as a new streaming TV service with 100 streaming channels available through its branded black digital media player set-top box, and also offering South Africans access to Netflix for a monthly fee.

Kwesé Play is part of the pan-African pay-TV service Kwesé TV that is owned and run by Econet Media.

Kwesé TV is a pay-TV service that is already available in several other African countries and just added the countries of Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Kwesé Play is partnering with Roku and Netflix in Africa to offer the streaming channels and Netflix can for the first time be paid in South African rand.

The set of Kwesé TV's pay-TV channels available through its traditional satellite pay-TV service elsewhere in Africa is however blocked on the device for South Africa and not available, and can't be paid for or streamed through the device.

Econet, through the Kwesé Play Roku, however plans to roll out the Kwesé TV pay-TV functionality in South Africa eventually.

Kwesé is now targeting competitors head-on in the new South African TV arms race for not just space on the TV stand but also viewers' time, attention and their money.

Kwesé and its Kwesé Play is the latest TV service entrant to enter the fray where Naspers's satellite pay-TV giant MultiChoice and its DStv service, Naspers' subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax, and other pay-TV players ranging from the Chinese StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media's StarSat and other SVOD services like DEOD and ONTAPtv are battling for viewers' wallets.

Kwesé Play will target South African viewers who have ADSL, as well as fibre-to-home and LTE broadband users with its little black box that give access to 100 video-on-demand channels, including the American sports channels ESPN, NBA, Red Bull TV and things like YouTube, Iflix and TED Talks.

Kwesé Play users who have to buy the box for R1 599 don't pay a monthly subscription fee - just like Platco Digital's OpenView HD (OVHD) free-to-air satellite service for instance.

Kwesé Play Roku users will however have to pay for the large amounts of data needed to stream content through the device, with TV content streaming that remains data intensive and expensive in South Africa.

Kwesé Play Roku users also have to pay if they want to use Netflix.

Kwesé in a statement says it wants to be "Africa's source for the best in international and African programming".

The launch of Kwesé Play in South Africa comes in the same week and just 3 days after MultiChoice announced that it's bundling Showmax for free with DStv Premium subscriptions.

Partnering with Netflix for sub-Saharan Africa, Kwesé Play subscribers using Netflix as a SVOD on the box, can be billed by Kwesé in local African currencies, starting with the rand.

Kwesé Play viewers can pay their monthly Netflix add-on subscription fee through the Kwesé Play device.

Netflix subscriptions through Kwesé Play will, at launch, cost R129.99 per month (Basic in SD resolution), R164.99 per month (Standard in HD resolution)) and R199.99 per month (Premium with HD resolution) depending on the package.

The Roku media box is approved by South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) and users can watch content in high definition (HD) in 720p and 1080p.

The Kwesé Play Roku that comes with a HDMI cable, also has a microSD card slot, and supports WiFi and has an ethernet port.

The Kwesé Play streaming box is the first set-top box in Africa to officially include Netflix as a service, says Kwesé. The remote control has a branded red Netflix shortcut button and a purple Kwesé shortcut button.

South Africans who sign up for Kwesé Play before the end of January 2018 will get a 3 months free Netflix subscription.

Kwesé Play can be brought through takealot.com, FNB, VOX and at Cellucity, Ellies and Incredible Connection.

"The number of connected homes in Africa continues to grow at an impressive rate and we expect to see strong uptake of Netflix in our markets," says Joseph Hundah, Econet Media president and CEO in a statement about the Kwesé Play and Netflix Africa tie-up.

"The current number of active subscribers is a fraction of what we both believe the potential to be. We see this as an opportunity to expand Kwesé's multi-platform offering while bringing the best in original general entertainment to households across the continent".

Maria Ferreras, Netflix vice president of business development for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region says "African customers are demonstrating their enthusiasm and appetite for internet television and we believe they should be able to access the best shows in the world at the same time as everyone else, without the restrictions of a linear schedule."

"We're working hard to make this a reality and we are thrilled to be working with Kwesé to make it easier for people to access and enjoy our service."

Netflix has several American shows and upcoming new shows exclusive to the platform ranging from Shadowhunters and Designated Survivor to Marvel's The Defenders. The new Star Trek: Discovery will for instance start to roll out internationally and in Africa and South Africa on Netflix from the end of this month.

Here's the channels available on Kwesé Play in South Africa at launch with more channels that will continue to be added:

Series
Netflix
M2M
America's Funniest Home Videos
Family TV
iComedy
Made for TV

Kids content
Happy Kids 2
Appu Series
Popeye Channel
Looney Tune Network
Toon Goggles
Kids Bop
Space Bop

Movies
The Movie Channel

Sports
RedBull TV
Driving Sports

Music
YouTube
TuneIn
AccuRadio (offering 850 music radio channels)

News
Al Jazeera
Russia Today (RT)
izzit.org
The Real News Network
World News

Lifestyle
TED Talks
iFood
DayStar
TBN
Indian Recipes
Chinese Recipes
Cake Recipes
Drinks
Baking
iEducation
iQ2
The Design Network

SABC and SuperSport given the Olympic Games and Winter Olympics broadcasting rights for South Africa until 2024.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has awarded the Olympic Games free-to-air and pay-TV broadcasting rights for South Africa to the SABC and to SuperSport for the next two Olympic Games and the Winter Olympics.

The SABC to free-to-air viewers, and SuperSport to MultiChoice's DStv subscribers, will broadcast the Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and the Olympic Games in 2024.

SuperSport was given the pay-TV rights in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, with the SABC given the free-to-air broadcasting rights in South Africa. Econet Media gets the free-to-air rights in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as pay-TV broadcasting rights as well for its Kwesé Sports channels, where it will compete with SuperSport for viewers.

According to the agreement the SABC will have to broadcast at least 200 hours of live or same day coverage of each edition of the Olympic Games and faily highlights of the Olympic Winter Games.

SuperSport will have to work with the IOC to support the development of the Olympic Channel, including the production of localised content and linear distribution across Africa.

"As long-time partners of the OIC, SuperSport is delighted to have secured these excellent Olympic rights," says Gideon Khobane, SuperSport CEO.

"The Games produce consistently good ratings, no doubt because of the non-stop drama and action that make for compelling viewing. We look forward to putting together a multi-platform, multi-channel offering that will reflect the Olympics in their full glory".

Sully Motsweni, the SABC's head of SABC Sport says "there are many live events that SABC Sport brings to millions of South Africans every day, but none comes close to the triumph of Olympic spirit and the ultimate objective of winning gold as our athletes represent South Africa on a global stage".

Habu Gumel, OIC member for broadcasting rights in Africa says "we are pleased to be able to continue our longstanding partnerships with DStv, SuperSport and the SABC".