OnseTV launching as first TV channel for South Africa's coloured community on StarSat, comes from creators of ASTV.

OnseTV will launch as a brand-new TV channel on Friday as the first Afrikaans TV channel catering specifically to South Africa's coloured community.

OnseTV is set to launch on Friday 29 September on the StarSat satellite pay-TV service of the Chinese StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media, on channel 462.

OnseTV will compete with Afrikaans TV channels on MultiChoice's DStv platform like the M-Net packaged kykNET (DStv 144) and kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) carrying programming like the soap Suidooster and dramas like Sara se Geheim, as well as channel's like Media24's VIA (DStv 147) and the SABC's SABC2.

OnseTV comes from, and will be run, by the husband-and-wife team of Jaco and Hilda Ferreira who started the Afrikaans TV channel ASTV.

ASTV was quietly rebranded to MYtv in March this year. MYtv is now just available on StarSat after it was dumped from Platco Digital's OpenView HD platform in mid-October last year but is now spawning a sister-channel.

While OnseTV will be predominantly broadcasting in Afrikaans from Friday, the channel will also include English - what OnseTV calls "marginal language deviation from the staple language of Afrikaans".

OnseTV says the channel will portray the interests and cultural aspirations of South Africa's coloured community and is specifically targeting the TV content gap present in South Africa's broadcasting environment when it comes to this population demographic.

"Working with a wide range of people in the industry and indeed our community, it has long been clear to us that there is no focused TV channel that caters for entertainment and the educational needs of our largest South African, Afrikaans speaking community, our coloured Afrikaans community," says OnseTV.

"The socio-cultural depth of this demographic is varied and extensive and worthy of celebration and embrace," with OnseTV that says the channel's plans to "capture the spirit and drive and reflect it on the small screen" of this community.

OnseTV says "all groups within the coloured community [will] now have a voice. Something that they never had before. OnseTV is a home for the coloured community to fully live out their culture and language, thus bridging cultural gaps."

"Onse TV is a channel by the people, for the people that opens up a whole new world of opportunities, job creation and involvement with the channel for people who have never had these opportunities before".

Debbie Wu, acting CEO of StarSat says OnseTV "will go a long way to celebrating the rich heritage of South African 'people of colour' through the vibrant medium of Afrikaans language".

"We are proud to be associated with OnseTV as it will add great entertainment value and diversity to an already stunning line-up of channels on StarSat's platform."

It's not yet known whether OnseTV will broadcast for 24 hours per day, 12, or 6, or what the repeat block structure of the line-up is.

Neither OnseTV nor StarSat has released any channel schedule, programming highlights and synopses, or content preview to the media ahead of the channel's planned launch in two days time; neither is it known whether there will be a media launch for the channel as is customary in the local TV industry.

The Facebook page of OnseTV does reveal some programming clues as to the channel's upcoming content.

Snoek & Patat will be a lifestyle food show and Dink Jy Jy Kan Sing? looks like a karaoke-type music show.

In the weekly show Kom Roer Met Tannie, Tannie Koeksister goes to the shop, buys ingredients for her guests she's visiting and then cooks for them while telling stories - with Fatima also dropping by for a visit.

Onse Boeke is a show about books and reading and interviewing writers, with OnseTV that will also be broadcasting the ATKV Rieldanskompetisie.

Op die Beat met Reemay is an exercise show that will start on 2 October and run on weekday mornings at 07:00. Music videos will be show in a daily slot branded as "Anibrand".

OpenView HD dumps its former Afrikaans channel ASTV; will go dark on 14 October for failure to meet 'content and performance criteria'.

OpenView HD has dumped ASTV, with the Afrikaans TV channel that didn't meet its content and performance criteria that will go dark on 14 October on the OpenView HD platform just three years after it was added in October 2013.

ASTV will remain available on StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media's (ODM) StarSat satellite pay-TV platform.

ASTV's culling from Platco Digital's OpenView HD is however a big set-back and an embarrassment - especially since it was actually acquired by Sabido Investments (now eMedia Investments) in mid-2014 with big fanfare and the news launched with a media event.

While the former CEO of e.tv, Marcel Golding saw potential in ASTV, ASTV says the channel's contract was ended with eMedia early in 2015.

The contract was ended just a few months after Mark Rosin and Antonio Lee took over following the ugly and acrimonious corporate ousting of Marcel Golding and his wife, Bronwyn Keene-Young as COO.

ASTV's channel head, Jaco Ferreira, in a statement, says despite "talks of a new Afrikaans TV channel with which ASTV would have merged, nothing came of it after months of meetings".

"Due to unsuccessful negotiations, ASTV was sold back to the original shareholders during November 2015. ASTV was however still given the opportunity to continue broadcasting on the OVHD platform".

ASTV was told on 2 August that the channel is getting dumped from OpenView HD.

ASTV says that after a meeting on 10 August with OpenView HD's group channel and acquisitions executive, Ziyanda Mngomezulu, ASTV still tried in vain to persuade OpenView HD to keep ASTV on the platform, but according to ASTV, OpenView HD kept to its decision to kick the channel off.

"ASTV has always had a great relationship with OpenView HD, Platco Digital and e.tv. It was especially the case during the time when Marcel Golding was still involved," says ASTV in its statement.

"Unfortunately OpenView HD no longer sees a place for ASTV on their decoder," says ASTV, adding that "during the time of carriage on OpenView HD, ASTV advertised the company [OpenView] and lured thousands of customers to the platform".

"These days there is however an obstacle from OpenView HD's side in terms of the availability of decoder stock in stores," says ASTV.

"Currently disheartened customers must return home empty handed since there's not enough stock available. It's therefore with big regret that we have to end our broadcast on OpenView HD from 14 October because of the aforementioned reasons," says ASTV.

ASTV says it will remain available on OpenView HD competitor StarSat, and that a big benefit is that "there's exists no costs to broadcast on StarSat".

"StarSat is also willing to make the necessary investments in ASTV that will ensure more better quality entertainment".

In response to a media enquiry, Ziyanda Mngomezulu of OpenView HD confirms to TVwithThinus that "ASTV will be coming off OpenView HD. The channel did not meet our content and performance criteria. OpenView is continually looking at refreshing its channel offering".

ASTV says it will remain on TopTV as a TV channel; doesn't want to say if - or how much - money the Afrikaans channel is owed by TopTV.

ASTV (TopTV 177) says it will remain on On Digital Media's (ODM) struggling South African satellite pay-TV platform.

ASTV, the Afrikaans TV channel, saying it will remain as a content provider, comes amidst a growing number of content distributors who've pulled their TV channels from TopTV due to mounting debt and outstanding payment.

After Manchester United Television (MUTV) pulled its channel in November due to large outstanding payments from TopTV, followed by Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) which followed suit in December and pulled Silver, Showtime and Star!, TopTV scrambled last week to sort out the "miscommunication" when Discovery Networks CEEMEA pulled its three TV channels - Discovery Science, ID: Investigation Discovery and TLC - from the flailing pay-TV service.

Disney has also threatened to pull its content from TopTV and it's not yet clear what Fox International's position is on TopTV. TopTV runs FOX, FX and Fox Retro from Fox International Channels (FIC) on TopTV.

TopTV owes Fox International a massive R43,8 million which amounts to 3% overall of TopTV's debt to creditors. Warner Bros. is owed R25,4 million or 1,7% of the total, Paramount is owed R13,1 million and Manchester United Television is owed R9,5 million, Turner Broadcasting is owed R6,4 million and The Walt Disney Company R7,2 million.

"ASTV remains on the TopTV platform," says Jaco Ferreira, ASTV managing director. Asked whether TopTV also owes ASTV money in outstanding payments, and if so, how much, ASTV says that it is "confidential".

TopTV has been placed in public business rescue at the end of October 2012 with a business rescue practitioner which was appointed.

Asked how ASTV feels about TopTV, ASTV says "our feelings towards ASTV remains unchanged".

Asked if there is anything else ASTV wants to comment on regarding TopTV, ASTV says there is nothing else that ASTV wants to mention about TopTV.

TOLDJA! Afrikaans TV channel ASTV launches on TopTV as one of the new channels in October.

You're reading it here first.

I broke the news RIGHT HERE at the beginning of September that ASTV will be added to TopTV in October and now On Digital Media (ODM) just confirmed that the Afrikaans Satelliettelevisie (ASTV) channel will indeed be added to the bouquet from October.

Earlier today I also had word first about a brand-new Indian bouquet that TopTV plans to introduce in November and is currently working on. But back to ASTV joining TopTV. ASTV that operates from out of Rustenburg started with a haphazard launch/delayed launch towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year with limited viewership. With the ASTV and TopTV deal, TopTV gets an Afrikaans TV channel to ''compete'' with MultiChoice that has kykNET on DStv and ASTV gets a much wider footprint and audience.

ASTV will be available on TopTV's Variety bouquet of R99 per month says Ian Woodrow, TopTV's general manager for content. ASTV broadcast a mix of actuality, outdoor, lifestyle, youth and teen content as well as Afrikaans music videos. ASTV says viewers can look forward to shows such as Vaskap, Eksieperfeksie, Kos is oppie tafel, Ons Gesels Met. . ., Klankbaan, Joernaal and Diere Maniere.

''Afrikaans is in my blood and from my side I want to promote our language and culture,'' says Jaco Ferreira, managing director of ASTV, who says he's excited about the opportunity to have ASTV broadcast on TopTV from October. ''We're very excited to become a part of the TopTV family. It's a big moment and we know that viewers will enjoy the new shows a lot.''