by Thinus Ferreira
StarTimes Media has decided to axe its set of Afrikaans TV channels on its StarSat satellite pay-TV service after 13 years, with MYtv - previously branded as ASTV - and OnseTV which has been running for the past five years, both getting terminated at the end of the month and with the Christian channel InPasTV already off air.
StarSat told TVwithThinus in response to a media query that its "Afrikaans-speaking subscriber base is minuscule - less than 2% - the vast majority of our customers (95% or more) use indigenous African language, primarily Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, Shangaan) as preferred medium of communication".
StarSat says MYtv and OnseTV were on a fixed-term basis contract, expiring at the end of September
"From a strategic perspective in order for StarSat to develop
competitive edge in an increasingly crowded media and entertainment space, we
are compelled to re-position the business as preferred destination for TV
entertainment options in South Africa in indigenous languages not adequately catered for by
mainstream competitors."
"Local content production for linear TV
is costly and this cost is rising each year. In order to manage cost in a hyper-competitive, unregulated pay-TV environment, we have had to steadily
shift our procurement focus away from 3rd party content provision, to a more
internally focused content production capability."
"In this regard, we focus are
developing strategic capability in areas of; content adaption, dubbing,
sub-titling supported by innovative low-cost commissioning of unique programme
formats that appeal to the vast majority of indigenous African language StarSat
viewers."
StarSat says "In recent time, we have
witnessed the launch of several new Afrikaans channels by linear operators and
new streaming initiatives. The Afrikaans market has become a highly contested one,
supported by cost-intensive investment by the more 'resourced' media players in
South Africa".
"Starsat has attempted to pre-emptively challenge such competitor actions
with launch of MyTV and OnseTV, and despite best effort our challenge to
penetrate the Afrikaans market at scale has not proven very successful."
"We have
thus opted to re-align our focus to niche African language groups as first
priority. This does not preclude the future possibility of re-entry into Afrikaans
community, but for now we have to prioritize deployment of scarce resources to
cater for the culturally specific entertainment need of majority of our
customer base."
MYtv, run from Rustenburg, launched as ASTV 13 years ago and was heralded as a competitor for M-Net's set of kykNET channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform. ASTV was added to StarSat, then known as TopTV, in October 2009.
Due to TopTV and StarSat's much smaller subscriber base and limited programming schedule comprising mostly advertiser-funded shows, ASTV and MYtv never gained the cultural prominence or audience scale that kykNET achieved.
The OnseTV channel was added to StarSat in September 2017, aimed at South Africa's Afrikaans-speaking coloured audience, with ASTV which was also available for a few years on eMedia's Openview free-to-air satellite TV service before that contract was terminated.
MYtv says it got no reason for the upcoming termination of its TV channels on StarSat from StarTimes Media SA.
"We say goodbye to StarSat with a heavy heart, but we are thankful for the 13 years we've had to broadcast there," says Jaco Ferreira, managing director. "We'll forever be thankful for the time we had to spend with the StarSat team."
