MultiChoice appoints Emma Gichonge as Showmax's first-ever general operations manager for East Africa.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice has appointed Emma Gichonge as the first-ever general manager for operations for East Africa for its Showmax video streaming service, overseeing its East African market.

MultiChoice and Showmax just relaunched the streaming service in partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal's Peacock and Sky.

"With our ambition to be Africa's number one streamer we're happy to welcome Emma, whose wealth of experience will serve our customers in the key East African market," says Joe Heshu, Showmax chief operating officer, in a statement.

Emma Gichonge joins MultiChoice's Showmax after previous roles at the startup Yutap and the telecoms giant Safaricom.

She holds a masters degree in IT management and a BA science degree in information technology. Most recently she as MultiChoice Malawi's managing director.

"Showmax is a bold business and is in an exciting stage of its story - moving onto the globally-scaled Peacock platform, increasing its loved local content slate and introducing affordable new plans," Emma Gichonge says in a prepared statement.

"With my passion for innovation and for East Africa, I'm looking forward to building the business with the Kenyan Showmax team. We're already hard at work with our partner Safaricom to re-integrate in-app M-PESA payments with our new technology."

Barry Dubovsky out at Showmax as MultiChoice's streamer loses COO just after CEO exit and before its Comcast's NBCUniversal relaunch: 'The optics look awful'.

by Thinus Ferreira

Barry Dubovsky is out as Showmax chief operating officer (COO) shortly after the abrupt exit of Yolisa Phahle as Showmax CEO a month ago, with Dubovsky's gap now being plugged by Joe Heshu who is now moved to Showmax after he was recently moved to the position of Southern Africa regional director at MultiChoice.

Insiders tell TVwithThinus "the optics look awful" for a video streaming service which is supposed to be relaunched within months with the help of Comcast's NBCUniversal and Britain's Sky, to try and more effectively compete with Netflix on the African continent.

Neither MultiChoice nor Showmax shared the latest management upheaval and changes with the media - similar to the CEO position exit of Yolisa Phahle. Comment will be added here if received.

The Australian Barry Dubovsky was at MultiChoice for 5 years after joining in 2018 - first as group exec of digital for MultiChoice Africa and later moved to the Showmax COO role.

In an internal email, similar to the one issued belatedly to MultiChoice staffers when they were informed that Yolisa Phahle is no longer Showmax CEO, MultiChoice said that Barry Dubovsky played "an integral role in closing the Peacock Platform agreement as part of the Comcast deal".

Similar to Yolisa Phahle who will be providing an "advisory" role to MultiChoice South Africa CEO and acting Showmax CEO Marc Jury until the end of February 2024, Barry Dubovsky will also play an "advisory role" for Showmax until the end of February 2024.

Joe Heshu is now the plug-and-play Showmax COO. 

In November 2021 Joe Heshu was quietly moved from his corporate affairs role in Johannesburg to Lusaka in Zambia to replace Kobus Bezuidenhout as Southern Africa regional director at MultiChoice and who only lasted a few month before also exiting.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice's Showmax CEO Yolisa Phahle resigns - plus other executive changes.

Joe Heshu gone from MultiChoice corporate comms and moved to MultiChoice regional director for Southern Africa in Zambia replacing short-stay Kobus Bezuidenhout.

by Thinus Ferreira

Joe Heshu has quietly been moved from his MultiChoice corporate affairs role in Johannesburg, South Africa to suddenly heading up MultiChoice's Southern region as MultiChoice's new regional director for Southern Africa from Lusaka, Zambia.

Joe Heshu replaces Kobus Bezuidenhout who was appointed in the role of MultiChoice regional director for Southern Africa in August 2021 but apparently lasted only a few months before inexplicably exiting.

MultiChoice made no public announcement about Jabavu Heshu's appointment as regional director for Southern Africa, nor sent any advisory to media about the move.

Meanwhile journalists are still under the impression that they should contact Joe Heshu with media queries.

Joe Heshu took over the role of MultiChoice regional director for Southern Africa from November 2021 after he was MultiChoice's head of corporate affairs for 3 years since October 2018.

Benedict Maaga also quietly exited earlier in 2021 to Absa from his role as a senior corporate communications manager at the MultiChoice Group, also without any notification to the media, with Benedict Maaga who also started in October 2018 at MultiChoice at the same time as Joe Heshu.

Collen Dlamini who was MultiChoice's executive head of corporate affairs has now been upped to MultiChoice's head of corporate affairs as group executive of corporate affairs since November 2021, replacing Joe Heshu in the role - again, with no announcement to the public, and no advisory or notification to the media.

South Africa's Competition Commission investigating MultiChoice over DStv plan to add rival video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video alongside its own Showmax.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's Competition Commission has started an investigation into MultiChoice that has announced plans and wants to adds global streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video - and in future even more others - alongside its own Showmax service.

In its latest financial year results announced in mid-June MultiChoice revealed that it plans to add Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services to a new streaming app carousel that it wants to launch for DStv subscribers.

This new streaming app vertical will house separate blocks or apps, incorporating DStv Now, Showmax, Joox, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video - and in future even more global streaming services like possibly Disney+, HBO Max, Spotify and others - as MultiChoice evolves to become what in the pay-TV industry is termed a "super-aggregator" of video content.

How it will work, and already works elsewhere in the world, is that consumers can still subscribe separately and directly with these streaming services, but can also do so through their traditional pay-TV service that gives access to their rivals in win-win "frenemy" content distribution agreements.

MultiChoice wants to offer DStv subscribers who sign up for one or more of these SVOD services - for however long - the convenience of one monthly bill, paid in rand and the streaming service amount(s) just showing up as an additional invoice line-item.

How MultiChoice benefits is that by offering DStv subscribers seamless access to streaming service competitors but through its interface and platform, MultiChoice gets to keep a DStv subscriber within its own eco-system. MultiChoice also gets paid a commission by a SVOD service for every subscribers who signs up to each of these services.

How the pay-TV subscriber benefits is that the tacked-on streaming service subscription, paid in local currency, is usually a bit cheaper that going direct as part of a promotion to entice them to try and use it, and because the pay-TV operator because of scale gets a "wholesale" price.

The streaming service benefits by getting additional revenue and a new subscribers through leveraging the scale of the pay-TV operator and piggy-backing on the more trusted local brand. It lower what is called "product friction" - potential customers too scared to try something new or unwilling to complete a new registration and sign-up and cumbersome login process.

Traditional pay-TV operators in the United States like Comcast, in the United Kingdom like Sky, Canal+ in France and several others worldwide have already taken the leap to integrate and offer streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and others that are actually competititors, into their existing serivices and making them available through their platforms and user interfaces.

MultiChoice plans to take the wrapping off its latest DStv Explora decoder next week Wednesday in a media launch that it will broadcast on one of its own DStv channels, with the decoder that will likely be 4K-resolution capable.

It will likely also come with a DStv remote control that will have a dedicated Netflix or video streaming button, similar to elsewhere in the world, taking DStv subscribers directly to the streaming app carousel where DStv Now, Showmax, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and future streaming services will all appear stacked next to each other.

It's unclear how the new Competition Commission investigation might scupper or alter MultiChoice's showcase plans for next week.

MultiChoice was asked for comment regarding the Competition Commission investigation into MultiChoice's SVOD expansion plans, and how the investigation will impact the Randburg-based pay-TV operator's plans for the consumer roll-out of these rival services on its platform.

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs, told TVwithThinus on Wednesday in response to the media enquiry that MultiChoice is unable to comment at this stage.

Siyabulela Makunga, Competition Commission spokesperson, told TVwithThinus about its investigation of MultiChoice wanting to add Netflix and Amazon Prime Video that "we're not commenting on the issue because it is still at a very sensitive stage".

He couldn't say when the investigation started, or when it might be finished. "It's still very early," he said.

As even more Mike Bolhuis racist slurs from the kykNET reality star surface including him using the 'k'-word, MultiChoice says it is still considering 'the reinstatement of the show'.

As a flurry of more racist slurs and derogatory remarks made by Mike Bolhuis in audio recordings - including using the racist "k"-word - surfaced from the disgraced private investigator and kykNET reality star, MultiChoice now says it hasn't taken a decision to permanently cancel his show and will still consider the reinstatement of the show in due course.

The latest Mike Bolhuis recording laced with his racist and derogatory language comes a week after an initial racist conversation was revealed publicly that privately lead MultiChoice to remove his reality show, Bolhuis, for the time being from M-Net's Afrikaans language kykNET channels and its Showmax video streaming service.

After his pre-recorded TV apology on kykNET's eNuus on Thursday evening and a written statement on Friday suddenly warning that more "further conversations might surface that might paint me as someone who discriminates", it happened on Sunday when the Rapport newspaper revealed further shocking recorded conversations in which Mike Bolhuis used the "k"-word and other highly offensive and derogatory language.

An original recording with racist and derogatory language coming to light in late-July caused MultiChoice to axe the kykNET show Bolhuis for now after a voice note came to light in which Mike Bolhuis can be heard saying "a pitchblack houtkop" (wood head) and using the "n"-word.

The second season of the detective reality show Bolhuis, produced by Rian van Heerden also responsible for other kykNET tabloid programming fare like Die Siener, was set to start on 31 July on kykNET (DStv 144).

M-Net's Afrikaans language channels division however abruptly pulled the show from its schedule and also yanked the first season repeats of Bolhuis from sister channel kykNET&kie (DStv 145) shortly before broadcast.

Bolhuis also disappeared from the DStv Now's Catch Up service and the Showmax subscription video-on-demand service run by MultiChoice's Connected Video division with episodes that would have been made available simultaneously on Showmax.

kykNET, when asked why the show was pulled from the schedule initially, said that it could no longer be broadcast "due to contractual issues".

Last Sunday Rapport revealed the shocking audio recording that Mike Bolhuis made himself, and also distributed and sent to other people himself.

MultiChoice said in a statement that "It came to our attention that Mike Bolhuis had conducted certain conversations in which he expressed himself in a discriminatory manner, which is unacceptable to MultiChoice".

"MultiChoice is committed to the building of a non-racial society and strongly condemns any acts of discrimination. In the circumstances, we resolved that programming in the second season of the Bolhuis series, in which Mike Bolhuis is the central figure would not be broadcast."

eNuus at the end of the choreographed Mike Bolhuis public TV apology insert on Thursday reported that "MultiChoice has not yet made a final decision on whether Bolhuis will be broadcast in the future or not".

Now more recordings came to light with Rapport on Sunday reporting that Mike Bolhuis also said "any f-  k- up in Africa" and "f- Arabs" in another conversation which he also voluntarily sent to people in December 2018, and calling a female Pretoria advocate a "vetgat" [fat ass].

On Sunday TVwithThinus asked kykNET boss Karen Meiring again for comment from the TV channel's side but kykNET didn't responded with any public statement by the time of publication of this article.

MultiChoice was also asked for comment on Sunday, and whether MultiChoice is considering broadcasting Bolhuis in future instead of permanently cancelling the kykNET show.

 Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs in a response says "On Monday 12 August 2019 Mike Bolhuis apologised to kykNET and the MultiChoice Group".

 "He has also publicly apologised and has committed to creating awareness regarding the lessons he has learnt. We believe Mike has learned from the experience and that he can contribute positively going forward. The reinstatement of the show is however something that will be considered in due course."

MultiChoice canned the Bolhuis reality show on kykNET after investigator Mike Bolhuis used racist and derogatory language including the 'n'-word.

Racism caused MultiChoice to can the kykNET show Bolhuis after a voice note with extremely racist and derogatory language by investigator and Bolhuis star Mike Bolhuis surfaced referring to a black person as "a pitchblack houtkop" (wood head) and using the "n"-word.

The second season of the detective reality show Bolhuis was set to start last week Wednesday on kykNET (DStv 144) but M-Net's Afrikaans language channels division abruptly pulled the show from its schedule and also yanked the first season repeats of Bolhuis from sister channel kykNET&kie (DStv 145).

Bolhuis also disappeared from the DStv Now's Catch Up service and the Showmax subscription video-on-demand service run by MultiChoice's Connected Video division.

The new second season of Bolhuis, following the private investigator Mike Bolhuis tackling and commenting on various crime cases, was supposed to start on Wednesday night 31 July at 20:00 on kykNET (DStv 144) and episodes would have been made available simultaneously on Showmax.

In the new second season of Bolhuis, viewers would have seen how Mike Bolhuis hunts international fugitives and takes a look at drugs targeted at school children, along with shedding light on dark occult activities, as he tries to save a town and even gives romantic advice.

The second season of Bolhuis would also have shown "Mike’s softer side when he releases the flamingos he saved, and there’s even a wedding on the horizon" with the show that is part of the tabloid programming slate produced by Rian van Heerden and include shows like Die Siener and Skelmpie.

A rebroadcast of the first season of Bolhuis would have started on Wednesday night 31 July at 21:00 with MultiChoice that said viewers can binge-watch the first season of Bolhuis on Showmax.

MultiChoice still promoted Bolhuis to the press in publicity material in the Friday before what would have been the Wednesday broadcasting date and Bolhuis publicity material, articles and videos are still available on the kykNET website.

Last week Tuesday, kykNET in a programming notification a day before the second season was supposed to debut, said Bolhuis is being replaced with Sandra op 'n Drafstap at 20:00 for the next three months.

On kykNET & kie the first season Bolhuis repeat has been replaced by a rebroadcast of the documentary series Oppie Kassie detailing the history of South African television.

kykNET when asked last week why Bolhuis was pulled from the schedule at short notice only told TVwithThinus then that the show can no longer be broadcast due to contractual issues but refused to explain what exactly the contractual problems behind-the-scenes are.

On Sunday the Rapport newspaper reported that Mike Bolhuis sent a racist voice note of a recording of a telephone interview with a young Potchefstroom student who was being blackmailed by a girl with naked images of him which he said wasn't his.

The student sought help from Mike Bolhuis who said "Firstly,  it's not a 'she', it's a n-, it's a pitchblack houtkop".

The voice note led to kykNET management canning the show.

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's head of corporate affairs, told TVwithThinus on Sunday that "It came to our attention that Mike Bolhuis had conducted certain conversations in which he expressed himself in a discriminatory manner, which is unacceptable to MultiChoice".

"MultiChoice is committed to the building of a non-racial society and strongly condemns any acts of discrimination. In the circumstances we resolved that programming in the second season of the Bolhuis series, in which Mike Bolhuis is the central figure would not be broadcast."

"We are in full support of a society where freedom of speech is celebrated, however we take a stand against discrimination."

kykNET's channel head, Karen Meiring haven't yet respond to a media enquiry but if or when comment is received it will be added here.

WHEN DStv Now WENT DStv NOT: MultiChoice's crash of its DStv Now Sunday service didn't just paralyse its video streaming service - it also collapsed its communications, with MultiChoice confused and unwilling to talk about what happened.

MultiChoice's latest crash of DStv Now didn't just paralyse its video streaming service - it also collapsed its communications with the media and the public, with MultiChoice that comes across as confused and looking terribly inept about how to respond to the press about it.

MultiChoice and its Connected Video division that was repeatedly asked for answers over the past few days, as well as who is available to talk about what happened and what is happening at the moment, doesn't want to talk about why its DStv Now video streaming service imploded and turned into DStv Not.

MultiChoice is seemingly under the mistaken belief that if it doesn't talk about its terrible and non-available service or when it has a big service interruption that there won't be media coverage, or that the media won't keep reporting on it if it deliberately stays quiet and doesn't answer questions about it.

MultiChoice takes customers' money but when it doesn't provide the service it promises in return - like when upgrades to DStv Now caused that service to unexpectedly crash - it doesn't take accountability and doesn't want to explain to its customers and the media exactly what happened and what is being done to fix and improve it.

Having a service interruption is one thing, but MultiChoice during and afterwards not wanting to talk about it reeks of an arrogant and dismissive attitude towards both its customers as well as the media.

After asking MultiChoice on Monday morning who the right person is to talk to (after multiple enquiries since DStv Now crashed on Sunday), Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's head of corporate affairs referred TVwithThinus to Richard Boorman, MultiChoice Connected Video's head of communications.

After reaching out to Richard Boorman, it took the whole of Monday to get a response at the end of the day, saying its best to speak to Joe Heshu.

If a company can't even decide internally who speaks to the media when there is a crisis or problem, what chance does the general public or the industry have to find and get the right, relevant person from a company to answer very basic questions about non-service?

MultiChoice's latest slogan for DStv is "feel every moment". When DStv Now broke - the 4th time that happened over the past month - the DStv Now blackout lasted for hours on Sunday and into Monday.

By not being open and more transparent, by not responding to the media's questions and by refusing to talk about it, MultiChoice added insult to injury - ensuring that its consumers paying for something they're not getting and the broader TV industry just wanting to know what is going on, are feeling every bad moment of MultiChoice's absence of agency when it comes to proper public communication as a company.

By not wanting to answer questions and being open and upfront with the press doing their job asking about what went wrong, by not explaining what is being done and when customers and South Africa's TV and media industry can expect something like DStv Now to be operational again, MultiChoice is doing itself a disservice, the industry a disservice, and adding additional damage to its brand reputation.

Instead of coming across as being able to handle a crisis and communicate during it, MultiChoice and its Connected Video division that runs DStv Now and Showmax displays a run-and-hide attitude when there's a problem instead of being responsive and open about it.

The MultiChoice Group has executives like Nicklas Ekdahl, CEO of its Connected Video division; Nicolas Callegari, senior manager for customer experience in its Connected Video unit, and several others.

None of them or anyone else has yet come forward to talk about what went wrong and how MultiChoice fix problems when something like DStv Now implodes. MultiChoice has offered up nobody to publicly speak and answer basic questions about what happened.

Yet this is the company that wants customers and the industry to continue to give it money for something that when it doesn't work, it's not willing to answer questions about.

As digital streaming services grow and expand, services like these from MultiChoice, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and others, don't just build trust and reputation through normal day-to-day costumer-touchpoint interaction but also when things go wrong and something isn't working  -perhaps especially during those times.

MultiChoice and its Connected Video division don't seem to understand that yet, or if it does, doesn't care.

When something like a streaming service "breaks" - especially for such a long time as what happened on Sunday with DStv Now, companies like MultiChoice and its Connected Video division can actually build and keep trust by showing customers and potential customers that it won't simply "disappear" and go mute at the first sign of trouble.

It can show - like when an airline's flight gets disrupted or a bank's services go down - that it's bigger than its problem, that it will remain responsive, will and can communicate, and will explain what went wrong and what is being done to fix things.

It can show that although it's chaotic inside its corridors, that it will make the interrupted and bad "customer experience" better.

Sadly that's not yet DStv Now.

MultiChoice on its DStv Now streaming crash still not fixed on Monday morning: 'We're doing everything we can' to fix it.

While DStv subscribers on Monday morning continued to struggle to access the DStv Now streaming service that crashed for a 4th time the past month on Sunday during an attempt at system upgrades, MultiChoice says it's doing "everything we can" to fix the problem.

On Sunday DStv subscribers fumed over missing live so-called "appointment television" ranging from the final of the English Premier League season closer, UEFA League semi-finals, the cricket league IPL final, the ATP tennis final to The Voice South Africa and Carte Blanche on M-Net, Date My Family on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and other programming that they couldn't watch when they wanted to use MultiChoice's streaming service.

While a workable version returned on Sunday night around 22:30 and remained for people to live stream the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones on M-Net (DStv 101) at 03:00 on Monday morning, many DStv customers cited problems and being unable to do so.

On Monday morning DStv Now continued to be unavailable to many DStv subscribers.

MultiChoice chose not to answer specific questions made since Sunday afternoon about what exactly went wrong, what has been happening and when it envisions the technical problems to be completely fixed.

It's also not clear why, when upgrades failed on Thursday, MultiChoice went ahead to tinker with DStv Now again on Sunday knowing that it's a day jam-packed with multiple big-ticket sporting and entertainment programming events.

On Monday morning MultiChoice, when asked again about who can talk about what has happened and is happening, said that it apologises to DStv customers and is working at ensuring the best customer experience for DStv Now.

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs, told TVwithThinus that MultiChoice's Connected Video division is "doing everything we can to resume the service and ensure stability".

MultiChoice plans to launch a "dishless", stand-alone commercial version of its pay-TV service, similar to DStv Now, later this year.


ALSO READ: 'ERROR 500' ... AGAIN. Furious DStv subscribers slam MultiChoice after its DStv Now streaming service crashes again on Sunday impacting the English Premier League final on SuperSport, The Voice SA on M-Net and other shows. 
ALSO READ: 'ERROR 500'. Latest DStv Now streaming crash and its failure to properly communicate is inflicting huge damage and distrust under consumers over MultiChoice's plans to launch a similar stand-alone, pay-for DStv streaming version in late-2019.

MultiChoice on why it helps community TV stations in South Africa like Bay TV in Port Elizabeth: 'We want a video entertainment sector that has many players who serve and understand the nuances of communities'.

The MultiChoice Group that has been investing in and helping community TV stations across South Africa like Bay TV in Port Elizabeth with equipment upgrades, technical training and content-sharing partnerships on community-level, says the pay-TV service is doing so to build out bigger and more video entertainment players in the country's broadcasting sector.

MultiChoice says that South Africa's community TV stations will not escape the onslaught of the rapid technological changes and innovation and the drastic global consumption trends that are sweeping the world and impacting all broadcasters, and will have to make adequate preparations, adapt and change with it, to ensure their ongoing existence and relevance as well.

On Thursday Port Elizabeth's Bay TV (DStv 260) officially unveiled its upgraded green-screen studi and control room facilities that are part of a R2 million upgrade investment in the community TV station from the MultiChoice Group.

The studio, servers, cameras and control room investment will help Bay TV as a community TV channel to improve its production values and on-air playout quality with the station that serves viewers in the Nelson Mandela Bay area in the Eastern Cape but can be watched nationally in South Africa on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service as well.

The upgraded Bay TV facilities include digital mobile news-gathering DMNG Pro 180 – RA (3G/4G) with a downlink server and uplink; 8 professional studio cameras; as well as a digital screen panel for alternate backdrops.

In 2014, MultiChoice donated a state-of-the-art final control centre (FCC) to Bay TV and in 2018 MultiChoice installed a studio and control room, making it possible for Bay TV to produce their own talk shows, news and other local content.

Mandla Ndlovu, MultiChoice's senior manager for corporate social investment (CSI) and transformation, about Bay TV said "you can't take for granted what it takes to build a TV station from nothing to what Bay TV is today".

"For us, it really reinforces our vision, which is a video entertainment sector that has many players; players who are able to understand their communities; players who are able to build opportunities for young people, and players who are able to bring the nuances of communities to the fore."

"That is why we invest in local community TV stations because we believe that the story of local communities, of young people, the story of our history - all of those stories are important and the best people to tell those stories are these TV stations."

"For Bay TV we were not just looking at helping to improve the studio or final control centre (FCC). We also look at what goes on to the screens - what do people see, and to what degree are the people putting this together trained," said Mandla Ndlovu.

"So what we've done over the past few years - in fact, it's been 5 years now that we've been investing in Bay TV in particular - we started with the FCC in 2014 ... so it was the equipment and then the content that goes with it."

"We also help to train the young people who work at Bay TV or Soweto TV on how to use this equipment. So they've become hot property now. You find them everywhere. You find them at SABC. You find them at e.tv. You find them at MultiChoice. But they started here."

"If you look at Bonang Matheba's show or Somizi's show and you track where that show comes from, you'll find that it's being produced by a young person who came from one of South Africa's community TV stations."

"A few weeks ago we had a State of the Province address in the Eastern Cape province and Bay TV carried that State of the Province address live. So from what Bay TV was in 2011 to what it is today, we are very, very proud."

"Bay TV, along with all the other community TV stations, need to understand that this environment of video entertainment is changing. They are not going to be competing with MultiChoice or e.tv or the SABC. There are now a lot of other players."

"So they are growing in a field where they are going to have to compete with people who are watching TV on devices in the taxi, or at work, or wherever they are watching."

So as TV stations like Bay TV and others grow, they need to be cognisant of what they need to achieve. They need to win all of those viewers," said Mandla Ndlovu.

Finding and building local broadcasting talent at community level
Motse Mfuleni, Bay TV chairperson, said "the important part is that you must build the talent locally so that they're able to tell the stories locally".

"It's important to use the expertise of these people for the Eastern Cape as well as Nelson Mandela Bay which includes Port Elizabeth, Dispatch and Uitenhage and not have that talent leaving the province and the Bay".

"Without talent, you're not going to be able to tell these stories. The biggest asset is Bay TV being able to play a role in skills development in television without people having to go to Johannesburg and Cape Town to work in the film and video content industry."

"Bay TV allows local content developers a platform to have airtime to show the portfolio of their work, without having to worry about waiting to be commissioned by a broadcaster. It's also important to reflect the cultural diversity of this region."

The TV and radio presenter Zizo Tshwete said "In this upgraded facilities the studio is beautiful and certainly the promise for the future looks absolutely bright for the Bay TV broadcasts that will be happening here".

Sibongiseni Tyali, Bay TV's head of production said "What Bay TV has done for people who want to enter the local media space is that it has given them a different avenue".

Reinhardt Botha, final control centre (FCC) controller at Bay TV, said "Bay TV has given me the opportunity to grow as a person and as a media professional as well".

Monwabisi Nzimela, the head of admin and HR at Bay TV, said "It has been an interesting journey. All I can tell you is that you learn new things every day and with all the challenges that are there, you get to understand that TV is changing on a daily basis.

A platform for local content creators to tell their stories
Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs, said that a community TV station like Bay TV is a platform for local content creators to "tell their stories - to tell stories about Nelson Mandela Bay, and in so doing create a talent pool that can help feed all of South Africa, and indeed take our stories to the world as we see Bay TV alumni going on and doing great things".

Tony Duba, an ANC political party member and portfolio chairperson for economic development, finance, tourism and environmental affairs in the Eastern Cape provincial legislature committee, said "Seven years ago Bay TV took its first steps as an infant in the South African TV industry but has since them claimed its rightful place as the voice of the people of not only Nelson Mandela Bay but of the entire Eastern Cape".

"The media industry in South Africa, in general, is a 'survival of the fittest' industry that is highly monopolised - which is highly monopolised."

"For community TV entities like Bay TV to survive it means people with passion and drive who are willing to kick open doors if they are not answered".

"I'm quite certain that to a large degree the pillar of support of Bay TV to date has been the support it has received from government and other progressive partners such as MultiChoice who are true to their conviction of pursuing the transformation agenda in our society."

"The Eastern Cape government has for many years been vocal about the need to transform and support new players in the media industry," said Tony Duba.

"Ownership of the industry is still too white. And what we must understand is that those who are at the top are not willing to lower the ladder so that the rest of us can climb to the top," said Tony Duba.

"This, therefore, exposes us to a dangerous situation where the few players in the broadcasting media are forcing their narrow narrative down our throats because they have means of control. As government, we have communicated our intention to transform the industry."


ALSO READ: IN IMAGES. 29 photos of the Bay TV community TV station's official inauguration ceremony of its upgraded studio and control room in Port Elizabeth done with the help of MultiChoice.
ALSO READ: Port Elizabeth's Bay TV community station officially unveils its upgraded studio and control room facilities with the help of MultiChoice.

Port Elizabeth's Bay TV community station officially unveils its upgraded studio and control room facilities with the help of MultiChoice.

Port Elizabeth's Bay TV (DStv 260) officially unveiled its upgraded green-screen studio and adjacent control room facilities that are part of a R2 million upgrade investment in the community TV station by the MultiChoice Group.

The studio, servers, cameras and control room investment will help Bay TV as a community TV channel to improve its production values and on-air playout quality with the station that serves viewers in the Nelson Mandela Bay area in the Eastern Cape but can be watched nationally in South Africa on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service as well.

The upgraded Bay TV facilities include digital mobile news-gathering DMNG Pro 180 – RA (3G/4G) with a downlink server and uplink; 8 professional studio cameras; as well as a digital screen panel for alternate backdrops.

In 2014, MultiChoice donated a state-of-the-art final control centre (FCC) to Bay TV and in 2018 MultiChoice installed a studio and control room, making it possible for Bay TV to produce their own talk shows, news and other local content.

Bay TV now broadcasts for 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.

On Thursday evening Bay TV and MultiChoice held an official inauguration and handover ceremony under a big white marquee tent in front of the Bay TV offices in Port Elizabeth to celebrate the station's technical infrastructure revamp.

"The biggest asset we have is the ability for skills development in television and we are able to use a platform such as this to develop our people to tell our own stories - because without talent you are not going to be able to do that," said Motse Mfuleni, Bay TV chairperson, who spoke at the event.

Motse Mfuleni said ongoing investment into Bay TV as well as other community TV stations across South Africa is important to help independent community television channels in the country to find and grow local talent in their own communities.

"We have seen talent that we have developed and grown, feed the broader media community - whether it be at technical level, camera crews, engineers and presenters. Our passion is about creating a platform for out talent to profile their work without having to go through what can be arduous and restrictive commissioning processes."

Bay TV is one of 6 South African community TV stations that MultiChoice is supporting, providing equipment, training opportunities, as well as content. The other channels are Tshwane TV, Gau TV, 1KZN TV, Soweto TV and Cape Town TV (CTV).

In 2018 CTV in a submission to South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), revealed the massive extent to which community TV stations in South Africa are dependent for their financial survival on the money and support they are receiving from MultiChoice without which they would essentially shut down.

"Carriage on national pay-TV platforms is essential to the survival of the community TV channels in the current broadcasting environment," CTV told the broadcasting regulator last year.

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs in a statement about the Bay TV investment and upgrades, says "For us it's about broadening access to African story-telling and creating platforms for local content creators to tell their stories, and in so doing, creating a talent pipeline that can feed all of South African and indeed take our stories to the world".

Joe Heshu says "Through our investments in infrastructure, technology and empowerment initiatives, we are proud to empower an entertainment supply chain which in turn supports local business and communities. In turn, and for stations like Bay TV, this means more local content for local communities".

"We continue to play a significant role in communities touched by our business operations by adding economic value, creating enterprise and employment opportunities, providing training opportunities and technical support, which ultimately grows and empowers the video entertainment sector."

Beyond the physical infrastructure and technical equipment upgrades at community TV stations, MultiChoice also has an ongoing partnership with community TV stations for the provision of content – specifically for the MultiChoice Diski and SuperSport Rugby Challenge events.

The Diski Challenge, done in partnership with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) gives young people opportunities to gain and improve broadcasting skills through the production of football content.

The various community TV channels receive full content distribution rights from MultiChoice for all content generated for the Diski and Rugby challenge, including all live matches, non-live match and all highlights packages. 

In addition, the community TV channels also have the right to generate their own content from related events on and off the field.

"Sharing these broadcast rights not only ensures the community channels become involved in the delivery of high-quality, live sports content to their audiences but also positions the channels to gain stronger market presence, which will improve their ability to commercialise the content over time," says Joe Heshu.

"We also provide technical support and equipment to the channels to ensure that they can receive and make use of the content rights so that they can improve the quality of their overall broadcast delivery."

ALSO READ: IN IMAGES. 29 photos of the Bay TV community TV station's official inauguration ceremony of its upgraded studio and control room in Port Elizabeth done with the help of MultiChoice.
ALSO READ: MultiChoice on why it helps community TV stations in South Africa like Bay TV in Port Elizabeth: 'We want a video entertainment sector that has many players who serve and understand the nuances of communities'.

MultiChoice orders the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards to remove Steve Hofmeyr as nominee, as kykNET dumps it as a live broadcast, after which singers now say they will boycott tonight's awards show.

MultiChoice has ordered the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards for Afrikaans music and broadcast on M-Net's Afrikaans language channel kykNET (DStv 144) to remove Steve Hofmeyr as a nominee, with kykNET that has abruptly removed it as a live broadcast tonight from its schedule, and with several singers who have announced that they will now boycott the Ghoemas.

The kykNET Ghoema Music Awards are set to take place this evening, 17 April, at the Sun Arena at Times Square in Pretoria and was originally set to be a live broadcast awards show ceremony on kykNET at 20:00, with the Ghoema Music Awards that agreed to MultiChoice's demand as a sponsor for one of its selected category nominees to be removed.

MultiChoice on 25 March gave the Ghoema Music Trust an ultimatum and ordered the awards show to remove Steve Hofmeyr and one of his songs from the nominee list and told the organisers that MultiChoice will withdraw as a sponsor if this isn't done.

kykNET has meanwhile dumped the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 as a live broadcast tonight with any warning or advisory to the media which will now be a recorded show that will be shown on Saturday 20 April at 20:00.

Several DStv subscribers on social media also indicated that they have on Wednesday called to cancel their DStv and kykNET channe pay-TV subscriptions and others who said they are going to do so.

The song Die Land (The Land), that features Steve Hofmeyr along with other Afrikaans singers like Bok van Blerk, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Jay, and Touch of Class, was nominated for a Ghoema award in the Best Music Video category.

Steve Hofmeyr as a white Afrikaans man has increasingly courted public controversy and acrimony the past few years with provocative public statements, comments and images about race on social media.

In February 2019 for instance he tweeted a photo of himself on social media posing with the old South African flag and captioned it with: "Good rains. Found a waterproof roof. Mooi ne" meaning "pretty, right?"

Joe Heshu, MultiChoice group executive for corporate affairs, in a statement as to why it ordered a nominee to be removed from an awards show, says "We are committed to building g of a non-racial society and strongly condemn any acts of discrimination".

"MultiChoice is proud of its support for Afrikaans, not only our investment in content for our DStv platforms, but also our sponsorships of festivals, events and the broader Afrikaans performing arts sector."

"Our commitment to Afrikaans and all local languages will not change.  It has come to our attention that Steve Hofmeyr was nominated for a Ghoema Music Award in the category for Best Music video."

"We have requested that Steve Hofmeyr not form part of the event that we sponsor as his views are not aligned with our values. We welcome a society where freedom of speech is celebrated, however we take a stand against racism."

kykNET's spokesperson Suzaan Keyter and M-Net's Afrikaans channels boss Karen Meiring were both asked for comment on Wednesday but have so far not responded to questions asked. When comment is received from kykNET it will be added here.

kykNET was asked for its response as a TV channel over MultiChoice, as sponsor of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019, ordering the removal of a nomination from an awards show.

kykNET was also asked for its reaction over Afrikaans artists who said they will now boycott the Ghoemas, why the plans to broadcast the awards show live was suddenly scuppered, and what it makes of DStv subscribers saying they're cancelling their subscriptions.

It's also not clear if or how people will be refunded who already spent money to vote for the music video.

Heidi Edeling, Ghoema Music Trust CEO, writes in response to MultiChoice as a sponsor ordering the removal of a category nominee that "I've received an official letter from Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group exec for communications. Due to Steve Hofmeyr's participation in the video, MultiChoice requires that the nomination of Die Land be removed."

"Further MultiChoice says that if this doesn't happen they have no other option but to withdraw their sponsorship from the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019."

Steve Hofmeyr in a statement on his Facebook page says "The bottomless childishness continues. Hi-jacking the arts, especially the white part of it. Just look at how MultiChoice is making the Afrikaners at the Ghoemas jump through a fire hoop of political correctness like poodles."

The other Afrikaans artists who appear in the music video, said they will now boycott the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards and will no longer be attending.

Bok van Blerk on Twitter said "I will definitely not be seen at the Ghoemas".

Bobby van Jaarsveld on Twitter said that he "will not be attending the Ghoemas. If our music isn't welcome, then we surely aren't either. Getting tired of keeping quiet while they bully us".

Dewald Wasserfall also said he won't attend and Corlea Botha said she is disappointed over the silly decision, asking "are we going to only be allowed to work with certain people?"

Bok Radio that was the sponsor of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards' Most Popular Song category said that it is withdrawing its sponsorship of the Ghoemas due to Steve Hofmeyr's music video being removed from the Best Music Video category.

"Bok Radio can't support discrimination on any level against any artists, group, or language. Bok Radio supports the arts and artists right of association, poetic freedom, and freedom of speech."

On Wednesday another sponsor of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019, the vitamin brand Immunadue, also withdrew its sponsorship after it has been involved with the Afrikaans music awards for five years.

Immunadue said that it is "shocked and disappointed. kykNET knew two months ago already about the removal but it only came to light two days before the Ghoemas. If they told us earlier we would have withdrawn as a sponsor then already but it feels as if they've tried to push us into a corner to stay involved by not telling us about it," the Immunadue CEO told Maroela Media.

Coleske Artists under whose music banner the song was entered in the Best Music Video Category in a statement says "We are deeply saddened to receive your email notifying the industry that the video of the Die Land has been withdrawn from the Ghoemas".

"Not only does this affect the artists participating, the composer of the song and director of the video, but every other artist who receives an award, as we believe that this decision will put the integrity of the awards in question."

"We have to express our utter disappointment in this decision by the Ghoema Musiek Trust, which is in vast contrast with what is stipulated in the official criteria, rules and regulations. This is a slap in the face for the arts, freedom of expression and for the furtherance of Afrikaans."

The scuppered live broadcast of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 on kykNET has now been moved to Saturday 20 April at 20:00. The blue carpet section will now be broadcast on Sunday 21 April at 18:30 on kykNET NOU! (DStv 146), followed by a rebroadcast of the awards show.


ALSO READ: Afrikaans singer Demi Lee Moore after winning Best Music Video at controversial kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 honours artists from removed nomination as Steve Hofmeyr's son is told to leave the auditorium. 
ALSO READ: Ongoing silence from kykNET as DStv's Afrikaans channel remains quiet over questions around its handling of the kykNET Ghoema Music Awards 2019 controversy.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. I said no to Steve Hofmeyr years ago - then South African Afrikaans television finally caught up and rightly said no but in one of the worst ways possible.

SuperSport to cooperate with the SA Human Rights Commission's inquiry into alleged racism at the sports broadcaster prompted by the Ashwin Willemse walk-off incident.

SuperSport will cooperate with the South African Human Right's Commission's (SAHRC) upcoming inquiry into alleged racism at the sports broadcaster.

The SAHRC will start an inquiry in February 2019 that is projected to last 5 months until June.

It's prompted by the hugely damaging and infamous Ashwin Willemse walk-out incident on live television on DStv in May 2018 that caused great public uproar when the former SuperSport commentator got up and left the SuperSport studio set after visibly getting upset with Nick Mallett and Naas Botha.

SuperSport and MultiChoice's internal investigation, an inquiry led by Advocate Vincent Maleka found no racism, but Ashwin Willemse wasn't interviewed and decided not to participate in the inquiry.

Ashwin Willemse also said through his legal representation that the incident was sparked by perceived racism.

Ashwin Willemse said he would pursue the matter through other avenues and Advocate Vincent Maleka also recommended that the case be referred to the South African Human Right's Commission.

While Nick Mallett and Naas Botha stayed on at SuperSport, the contract of Ashwin Willemse at SuperSport ran out and wasn't renewed.

"SuperSport has cooperated fully with the SA Human Rights Commission since the broadcaster referred the Ashwin Willemse matter to the Commission," says Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's corporate affairs spokesperson says in a statement.

"This followed the completion of an independent investigation instituted by SuperSport and conducted by Advocate Vincent Maleka SC into the circumstances surrounding the former presenter walking off the set of a live broadcast."

"Advocate Vincent Maleka SC found that the walk-off was not the result of racism. He recommended that the matter be referred to the Commission. SuperSport will participate fully in the enquiry to be conducted by the Commission and maintains its firm view that racism did not play a role in this matter."

Competition Commission rules that MultiChoice and the SABC's TV channels contract for SABC News and SABC Encore amounts to a notifiable merger and should be declared.

South Africa's Competition Commission on Friday ruled that the highly-controversial TV channels contract for SABC News (DStv 404) and SABC Encore (DStv 156) between Naspers' pay-TV arm, MultiChoice and the South African public broadcaster constitutes a merger and should be declared as such.

The Competition Commission ruled that the controversial channel distribution agreement between MultiChoice and the SABC amounting to hundreds of millions of rand first signed in 2013 constitutes a notifiable merger, and has ordered MultiChoice and the SABC to register the transaction as a merger or be in breach of South Africa's competition laws.

It recently emerged that MultiChoice allegedly placed pressure on the SABC to, as a prerequisite for signing the deal, back MultiChoice's position on the encryption standard to be used for set-top boxes (STBs) in South Africa's switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT).

After the signing of the extremely controversial deal, the SABC paid its controversial famously matricless and now fired former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng a massive R11 million "signing bonus".

The Competition Commission's ruling comes after the Caxton media group and the public broadcasting and media freedom pressure groups SOS Coalition and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) appealed against a ruling of the Competition Appeals Court at the Constitutional Court and won, granting the Competition Commission the right to investigate whether the channel carriage agreement constituted a notifiable merger.

The Competition Commission has now ruled that while the agreement for the TV channels provided by the SABC to MultiChoice doesn't constitute a merger between MultiChoice and the SABC, that MultiChoice's role in influencing the SABC's stance on the government and public policy regarding STB encryption does represent a notifiable merger between Naspers' MultiChoice and the South African public broadcaster.

"The commission will call upon MultiChoice and the SABC to file the transaction in terms of 13A(1) of the Act as a merger," says the Competition Commission.

"If the parties fail to notify the transaction as a merger, the commission will exercise its rights in terms of the Act to refer the matter as a contravention [of the Act]."

"The SABC categorically and unequivocally undertook in favour of MultiChoice not to encrypt all of its channel signals in respect of its free-to-air channels transmitted on its digital TV platform."

"The commission found that the encryption of SABC's free-to-air channels, including STB control, would have enabled new entrants into the market and that the agreement had the effect of protecting MultiChoice's dominance in the pay-TV market."

"In terms of the Competition Act, the ability by one company to materially influence the policy of another company through various legal instruments, including an agreement, constitutes a notifiable merger transaction which must first be approved by competition authorities before it is implemented."

"The reason why the Competition Act requires that such agreements should first be scrutinised by the competition authorities before they are implemented is because they could have a significant impact on the competitive process and raise significant public interest issues, which ought to be investigated by competition authorities."

"In this case, the SABC and MultiChoice failed to seek prior approval of the commission before implementing the agreement."

The Competition Commission has filed a report with this finding with the Competition Tribunal.


SABC 'concerned'
The SABC's spokesperson Neo Momodu on Monday in a statement in response to a written media enquiry from TVwithThinus said that "the SABC has noted with concern the Competition Commission's ruling on the SABC and MultiChoice agreement entered into in July 2013 and which has since expired".

"The SABC has since entered into a new commercial channel supply agreement with MultiChoice which in the SABC's understanding, does not constitute a merger."

"The SABC board is reviewing the Commission's recommendations in relation to the encryption part of the 2013 agreement and will respond appropriately in due course. The SABC remains committed to ensure compliance with applicable competition laws".


MultiChoice says it's not a merger
Joe Heshu, MultiChoice's group executive for corporate affairs didn't respond to a written media enquiry TVwithThinus made on Monday about the ruling.

Joe Heshu told Business Day that "we've noted the recommendation of the Competition Commission".

"Our view remains that the 2013 agreement between MultiChoice and the SABC was not a merger but a standard channel supply agreement."

"We have not been presented with the new facts to which the commission refers, nor the opportunity to refute them. We will make further representations in the process to be conducted before the Competition Tribunal."