Former M-Net finance boss Steve Pacak dead at 71 after cancer battle

by Thinus Ferreira

Steve Pacak, former group financial manager at M-Net and later a non-executive director and chairperson of Naspers' audit and risk committees, died on Monday after a cancer battle. He was 71.

Naspers announced Steve Pacak's death on Tuesday on the JSE's Stock Exchange News Service (Sens).

Steve Pacak joined M-Net in 1988 as its group financial manager, two years after M-Net was launched in 1986 as South Africa's first pay-TV channel and over time held various executive positions within the group as a qualified chartered accountant.

Overseeing M-Net's rapid expansion as a pay-TV operator, he was instrumental in its financial operations during its transformative late 1980s and mid-1990s period that gave rise to the creation and growth of MultiChoice and MIH holdings.

He became an executive director of Naspers in 1998 and was the group's financial director until his retirement in 2014. 

After his retirement, he continued to serve as a non-executive director on the boards of Naspers and Prosus where he was the chairman of the audit and risk committees.

Steve Pacak was also a director of Media24, MIH B.V, MIH (Mauritius) Limited, MIH Holdings, and MultiChoice South Africa Holdings.

Naspers chairman Koos Bekker says, "Over almost four decades, Steve was a key mover in the development of our Naspers group. His financial and business acumen, deep knowledge of our business and work ethic were invaluable."

"Beyond professional achievements, Steve was one of the most honest and decent human beings I ever met."

Steve Pacak suffered from health complications after treatment for cancer in 2025. He is survived by his wife Sheila and two children Stephanie and Gerard who both live in London.

MultiChoice Group lists on the JSE as South African broadcasting regulator Icasa says it's 'concerned' that the listing went ahead while a MultiChoice complaint is being heard by the Compliance Committee.

The MultiChoice on Wednesday morning listed on the JSE with a market capitalisation of around R44 billion, while South Africa's broadcasting regulator, Icasa, hours later issued a statement saying it's concerned about Naspers and MultiChoice doing the listing when there's a pending complaint before its compliance committee.

"Today is a proud day for Naspers. Listing MultiChoice Group through an unbundling unlocks value for Naspers shareholders by creating the opportunity for them to own a direct stake in MultiChoice Group, a top-40 JSE-listed African entertainment group," says Bob van Dijk, Naspers CEO, in a statement.

The MultiChoice Group comprises MultiChoice South Africa Holdings, MultiChoice Africa Holdings, MultiChoice Botswana, MultiChoice Namibia, NMS Insurance Services SA, the African division of Showmax, Irdeto Holdings and Irdeto South Africa.

"We are also very pleased to be able to create further value for Phuthuma Nathi shareholders, who, through MultiChoice South Africa, have already participated in one of South Africa’s most successful empowerment schemes."

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, in the statement says "Today’s listing is an important milestone in our exciting journey of growth".

"As one of the fastest growing pay-TV broadcast providers globally, our strong financial position at listing is backed by attractive long-term growth opportunities in both subscriber numbers and revenue. The MultiChoice Group has a highly cash generative core with no financial debt, and we are poised to deliver value to our shareholders over time."

"We are overwhelmingly positive about MultiChoice Group's future. With the largest pay-TV footprint across Africa, we understand our customers and tailor our offering and services to suit market-specific video entertainment needs."

"This, coupled with a leading content offering, world-class technology and infrastructure, pan-African scale and strong in-country capabilities, positions us well to generate shareholder returns and future growth," said Calvo Mawela.

Meanwhile the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), in a statement issued just after 11:0 after MultiChoice Group already listed, Icasa said it "is noting with concern that the listing of the MultiChoice Group seems to be going ahead when there is a complaint against it before the Complaints and Compliance Committee".

"On 23 January 2019, Khulisa Social Group NPC (Khulisa) lodged a complaint with the CCC against MultiChoice in respect of the listing," says Icasa.

"In its complaint, Khulisa stated that the upcoming listing of the Multichoice Group on the JSE will result in a contravention of Section 13(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 0f 2005 (ECA), as amended."

"Section 13(1) of the ECA states that 'an individual licence may not be let, sub-let, assigned, ceded or in any way transferred, and the control of the individual licence may not be assigned, ceded or in any way transferred to any other person without the prior written permission of the Authority."

"MultiChoice appeared before the CCC on Monday, 18 February 2019 where the licensee argued that the matter was not urgent and that the listing had not taken place. MultiChoice further argued before the Committee that, in any case, there was no past contravention by the licensee and that the CCC had no jurisdiction over future events."

"Icasa is indeed concerned that the listing seems to be going ahead whilst the CCC is still considering representations that were made and yet to make its final recommendations on the matter to Council of the Authority,” said Icasa.

BREAKING. MultiChoice Group sets 27 February 2019 as its listing date on the JSE, company focused on 'pay-TV growth opportunities across Africa'.

The MultiChoice Group plans to list and start trading shares on the JSE on Wednesday 27 February 2019 with Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, saying the company is focused on growth pay-TV opportunities across Africa.

The MultiChoice Group made the announcement on Monday evening after local markets had closed for the day.

Naspers and its pay-TV arm MultiChoice announced in 2018 that it plans to spin-off The MultiChoice Group as a separate company and to list it on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

 In September 2018 it was announced that The MultiChoice Group will include MultiChoice South Africa, MultiChoice Africa, its video streaming service Showmax, as well as the global digital platform security provider Irdeto.

Now The MultiChoice Group plans to list on 27 February 2019 in the "broadcasting and entertainment" sector of the JSE.

"We believe the listing of MultiChoice provides an excellent opportunity to invest in the leading provider of video entertainment on the African continent," says Calvo Mawela in a statement on Monday announcing the 27 February JSE date.

"The MuliChoice Group brings an incomparable local and international content offering to around 14 million households and is one of the fastest growing pay-TV broadcast providers globally."

"With strong financials, the flexibility of an ungeared balance sheet and deep local knowledge, we hope to deliver excellent returns to shareholders over time," says Calvo Mawela.

"The MultiChoice Group management team is focused on the growth opportunity across Africa, a market of significant TV consumption by global standards. Pay-TV and connected video remain under-penetrated on the continent compared to many other markets in the world and MCG intends to pursue both these avenues of growth."

Bob van Dijk, Naspers CEO, said "The strength of the company’s leadership team, alongside its compelling content, world-class technological capabilities and attractive financial profile means that it is very well positioned for future growth in an evolving sector on the African continent."

The MultiChoice Group says it creates and showcases unparalleled local content and has access to international content from 8 of the top 10 studios in the United States, including movie and children's content.

The MultiChoice Group is also the continent's largest funder of sport, providing sports offerings and holding major international as well as local sports rights. 

The MultiChoice Group employs more than 11 000 people across Africa and indirectly helps with the economic empowerment of more than 20 000 people who are employed by partners and suppliers.

Poland's public broadcaster, TVP, is interested in buying the streaming service of Showmax Poland that is shutting down.

Poland's public broadcaster, TVP, is now interested in buying the video streaming service of Showmax Poland that is soon shutting down after just over two years operating in the European country as MultiChoice refocused its attention on Africa and South Africa.

Last week it was announced that after barely 2 years of operation Naspers' Showmax is abruptly cutting its losses and shutting down in Poland where it has been operating as well outside of South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, ending the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service's lofty international expansion plans.

Now Wirtualnew Media reports that Poland's public broadcaster is interested in possibly buying Showmax Poland from Showmax CEE, the parent company of Showmax Poland, and the rights to its content, so that it could bolster TVP's own video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service, VOD TVP.

Marciej Stanecki, TVP vice-president, said that after Showmax Poland's withdrawal from the Polish market, " a certain free pace to be developed by its competitors will be created, and th fight in the Polish VOD segment is very fierce".

"Telewizja Polska is potentially interested in buying content from this platform."

"As a board member, I can say that we are potentially interested in purchasing the Showmax Poland platform service and license. It would be a complement to our strongly developing VOD TVP platform."

"Of course, we will be able to make the final decision after conducting the valuation and confirming the content of the offer. From the point of view of TVP, the library of rights and the websites themselves are of particular interest," said Marciej Stanecki, noting that TVP had already made contact with Showmax.

Maciej Sojka, the head of Showmax in Poland, told Wirtualnew Media he's not willing to comment on the TVP interest.

BREAKING. Naspers' Showmax shutting down in Poland after just 2 years, ending the service's lofty international expansion plans outside Africa as MultiChoice Group decides to refocus its video streaming efforts closer to home.

After barely 2 years of operation Naspers' Showmax is abruptly cutting its losses and shutting down in Poland where it has been operating as well outside of South Africa and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, ending the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service's lofty international expansion plans as the MultiChoice Group refocuses its video streaming efforts closer to home.

Showmax will shutter in Poland at the end of January 2019, just over two years after it started in Poland in February 2017, promising original productions and a strong investment in local Polish shows and films.

Naspers plans to spin off the MultiChoice Group during the first half of 2019 that includes Showmax and that will continue with its South African and sub-Saharan Africa service.

Magdalena Marzec, Showmax Poland PR manager said the shut down of Showmax in Poland is part of the MultiChoice Group refocusing efforts on Africa.

"We are very grateful to all partners, clients and the Showmax team who have supported the company since its inception nearly two years ago and we are sorry that this story is coming to an end," a statement says.

Showmax Poland users don't have to cancel subscriptions or delete accounts - from 17 December Showmax in Poland will no longer charge a monthly fee for subsequent billing periods and by the end of January 2019, all subscriptions will expire.

In June this year, rival Netflix that launched in Poland in January 2016 a year before Showmax, was outpacing Showmax in terms of user growth according to data from Gemius/PBI.

Showmax has seen a constant top executive turn-over the past two years with first CEO John Kotsaftis who exited, followed by Chris Savides who was Showmax's head of Africa and left.

In August Naspers appointed Niclas Ekdahl as CEO of the newly-formed Connected Video unit in charge of Showmax and MultiChoice's DStv Now over-the-top service (OTT) for the MultiChoice Group.

'Netflix threat' remains overblown as MultiChoice adds another 400 000 pay-TV subscribers - although DStv Premium subs continue to shrink.

The much-hyped "Netflix threat" remains overblown with MultiChoice that added 400 000 further DStv and GOtv subscribers as well as Showmax users to its pay-TV business in South Africa and Africa compared to a year before, although the share of DStv Premium subscribers continue to shrink as consumers don't see MultiChoice's top tier as offering enough value for money anymore.

Naspers released its interim results for the 6 months to 30 September 2018 on Friday afternoon and added another impressive 400 000 pay-TV households across Africa.

That brings the total to 13.9 million pay-TV subscribers, of which 7.2 million are in South Africa that remains MultiChoice's biggest market, and a combined 6.69 million in the rest of Africa.

Naspers said that its "value strategy", one aimed at "growing the subscriber base and reducing costs" lead to $15 million in cost savings.

MultiChoice's pay-TV growth was strong in the middle-income and mass-market segments where it added 285 000 pay-TV subscribers in South Africa during the first half of the 2019 financial year.

While the DStv Premium base continues to grow, it's not growing as fast as the mid-market tiers, and as a result continues to represent a smaller and smaller portion of overall subscribers.

While MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela earlier this year blamed DStv Premium drop-off on Netflix South Africa's aggressive expansion, Naspers on Friday said that the pressure leading to DStv Premium subscriber churn is due to consumers coming "under some disposable income pressure" and not because of competition from video streaming competitors like Netflix.

What the drop in the overall percentage of DStv Premium subscriber numbers means is that MultiChoice is making less average revenue per subscriber - or a decrease in the ARPU (average revenue per user) - from $27 (R347) a year ago to $25 (R335) currently) as consumers opt for DStv Compact Plus and DStv Compact instead of DStv Premium.

(The ARPU as DStv subscription fee revenue includes the PVR Access fee and DStv BoxOffice incomre, but excludes Showmax subscription fees.)

That is a drop of 3%.

At MultiChoice South Africa "the focus of the South African business remains retaining premium subscribers while driving subscriber growth in the mid- and mass-market tiers" Naspers said.

"Subscriber retention is underpinned by rising PVR penetration uptake of connected video services, and roll-out of additional services, for instance Joox Music launched in October 2018)."

PVR use by DStv subscribers ticked up slightly, from 20.1% during the same period a year ago, to 20.3%.

Naspers says "The Fifa World Cup provided a significant opportunity to drive growth on the back
of significant investment in content and subscriber acquisition, mainly through set-top box subsidies".

"Customers added by this promotion will contribute to second-half revenues and profitability, driving year-on-year improvements."


Sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa
Naspers says that in sub-Saharan Africa, outside South Africa, subscriber growth accelerated and the business generated 9% (16%) growth in revenues to $524 million.

Naspers says "this improvement would have been stronger but for the Fifa World Cup promotional drive" and that results were also affected by "the 42% devaluation of the Angolan kwanza since January 2018".

"The limited availability of foreign currency in the Angolan and Zimbabwean economies continues to affect liquidity."

More South Africans say they watch Showmax than Netflix, although video streaming remains tiny under consumers - 73% say they haven't watched any streaming content for the past week.

More South Africans say they're watching Showmax than rival Netflix South Africa – but by just a smidgen, although Netflix's video streaming service is more popular in the top "supergroups" of consumers, while Naspers' SVOD leads in the two middle groups.

A new survey of the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) looking at brands and services in South Africa that just released the results, surveyed 3 154 South Africans from all socio-economic levels in urban and rural South Africa between January and June this year.

South Africans said SABC1 is their most often watched TV channel, that eNCA (DStv 403) on MultiChoice’s DStv is their most often watched TV news channel, and that SuperSport 4 (DStv 204) is their most often watched sports channel.

The survey also reveals the interesting rise in the growing popularity of TV channels making inroads and carving away at the SABC’s television dominance.

While SABC1, followed by e.tv, SABC2 and SABC3 are still the biggest and most often watched channels, e.tv’s set of free-to-air channels like eMovies and eExtra are rapidly gaining traction, as is the Indian-infused Zee World (DStv 166). 

M-Net’s Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) is the TV channel that leads the charge on smartphones as the most watched channel on this type of device.

YouTube is by far the most viewed streaming service in South Africa, with more South Africans saying they're making use of Showmax often, than those indicating they're using Netflix – but by a very narrow margin. 

While 24% of users said they've used YouTube in the past week, 5% indicated that they've accessed Showmax, and 4% said they’ve accessed Netflix. 

One percent accessed other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video. A whopping 87% said they use YouTube most often, followed by 6% for Showmax, 5% for Netflix and 2% for other.

With new, segmented so-called Socio-Economic Measure (SEM) "supergroups" that have replaced the outdated Living Standards Measure (LSM) that advertisers and marketers use to target and identify South African consumers, the survey reveals that Netflix is the most preferred and used video streaming service in South Africa's three top consumer "supergroups" of 3, 4 and 5 – the wealthiest consumers.

In SEM supergroup 5, 22% of people said that they have watched Netflix in the past week. 

In SEM supergroup 4, 17% of people said they have watched Netflix in South Africa in the past week and it was 36% for supergroup 3. 

That was more than for Showmax that had 17% viewing under SEM supergroup 5 in the past week, 15% for SEM supergroup 4, and 32% for SEM supergroup 3.

Showmax however outranked Netflix in the lower end of the consumer market where Showmax is more popular than Netflix. 

In SEM supergroup 2, 30% of people said they've watched Showmax the past week (compared to 21% for Netflix), and 6% of SEM supergroup 1 respondents indicated that they've watched Showmax in the past seven days, compared to 4% for Netflix.

The survey makes clear how small video streaming services are still in South Africa, with 73% of South Africans in the survey saying they have not watched any video streaming content in the past week.

Naspers does executive shuffle for the newly-created MultiChoice Group before its planned spin-off and listing on the JSE in 2019, with Calvo Mawela as CEO.

Naspers that has dumped and respawned its Naspers Video Entertainment unit as the MultiChoice Group business, has done an executive shuffle and appointments with Calvo Mawela as new MultiChoice Group CEO.

Naspers plans to spin-off MultiChoice as its own business that plans to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) during the first half of 2019.

Naspers has announced Calvo Mwela as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the MultiChoice Group. Until now Calvo Mawela has been the MultiChoice South Africa CEO.

Calvo Mawela's appointment as CEO of the MultiChoice Group is effective from 1 November, along with other appointments and reshufflings as part of the top management shake-up as MultiChoice gets ready to unbundle from Naspers.

The other appointments at the new MultiChoice Group are Brand de Villiers as chief operating officer (COO), Tim Jacobs as chief financial officer (CFO), and Imtiaz Patel as executive chairperson of the MultiChoice Group.

The MultiChoice Group incorporates MultiChoice South Africa, MultiChoice Africa, the streaming service Showmax in South Africa and Africa, and Irdeto.

There's been no word yet on what happens to Mark Rayner who until now has been the MultiChoice South Africa COO.

"This announcement marks a significant step for the MultiChoice Group as they journey towards a standalone business," says Bob van Dijk, Naspers CEO in a statement announcing the MultiChoice Group creation and management shuffle.

"I am confident that through the leadership of Imtiaz and Calvo, MultiChoice Group will continue on its growth trajectory and unlock even more value for its shareholders."

New study finds consumers are confused by streaming services; more would drop pay-TV if they knew what was available and could stream live programming, especially sports.

New American research from a TV consumer study has found that consumers are confused by streaming services (so-called over-the-top or OTT operators like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video etc.), don't know what programming, and live programming, are available or where; and that more would dump their pay-TV subscriptions and switch to streaming services if more live programming were available, especially sports.

Since the United States has a more sophisticated and more mature TV market and consumer market, it's easy to postulate that the findings of the study by Telaria and Adobe, entitled "Inside the Minds of Cord-Cutters and Cable-Keepers", would be true - and even more so - for South Africa and Africa.

South African consumers and pay-TV subscribers are still getting used to nascent streaming services ranging from Naspers' Showmax run by MultiChoice that also provides the DStv satellite direct-to-home (DTH) pay-TV service, Netflix operating Netflix South Africa, Amazon Prime Video, Cell C black, and a few other small service.

While streaming service uptake in South Africa is rapidly growing, it's still from a very small base with streamers like Showmax, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video unwilling to make subscriber numbers per market, like in South Africa, available.

What the Telaria and Adobe study found is that while a lot of people switch to streaming services, even more would switch and get rid of their existing traditional pay-TV subscription if they knew that they could get live programming - especially sports content - and knew what live TV programming existed.

Among consumers who won't let go of their pay-TV subscription - people called "cable keepers" - 20% said they don't know how, if they dropped their pay-TV, how they would access live TV.

"Despite steady declines in subscribers, cable still dominates viewership," the study found.

"The primary reason people keep the cord is the perception that only a linear connection can deliver live television content (42%). The second and third most common reasons are the desire to have a lot of TV channels (34%), and the fear of losing favourite networks (32%)."

Sports content and other live TV events are also strong reasons why people want and want to keep their pay-TV subscription.

According to the study 30% of "cable keepers" said they would drop their pay-TV subscription of they could stream their favourite sports content, live events they want to watch and TV news.

Pay-TV subscribers also don't know enough about streaming services, and don't know what is available, and where.

More than half (55%) say they are confused by the available streaming options.

"Despite the barriers, almost half of cable subscribers have or are considering cutting the cord," the study found.

"This is especially true among millennials, who outpace older segments in cord-free status. One in three pay-TV subscribers would definitely cut the cord if they could live stream their favourite sports, events and news, and an additional 40% would consider it."

"Sports fans are even more likely to consider cutting the cord if they could live stream programming."

According to the study the top reason why people dropped their pay-TV subscription was that it was deemed to be too expensive (73%), that everything was available through streaming (36%), and that there were too many TV channels available on the pay-TV bouquet (36%).

The study found that a lot of people are accessing streaming services through password sharing. A whopping 16% of respondents said they use someone else's password from a network or a provider to authenticate an app on a device.

Another 21% share their passwords with friends and family. Interestingly people are more satisfied with the price they're paying for streaming services than for traditional pay-TV with 70% saying they're satisfied with the monthly price they're paying for streaming, compared to just 40% for traditional pay-TV subscribers.

BREAKING. Naspers to spin off and list its video entertainment business MultiChoice on the JSE as the MultiChoice Group including MultiChoice SA, MultiChoice Africa and Showmax in Africa during first half of 2019.

Naspers, as expected, announced late on Monday that it plans to spin off and list its video entertainment business, MultiChoice on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) during the first half of 2019, comprising of MultiChoice South Africa, MultiChoice Africa, Irdeto and its Showmax streaming service in Africa.

Naspers made noise earlier this year signaling its plans to get rid of MultiChoice and its pay-TV division in the form of a separate stock market listing since it no longer offer as much value and more importantly as much growth potential as Naspers' main investment focus that is its internet business component.

By spinning out and essentially "unbundling" its video entertainment division, MultiChoice - that is profitable - helps to reduce the overall size of Naspers.

"This marks a significant step for the Naspers Group as we continue our evolution into a global consumer internet company," says Bob van Dijk, Naspers CEO, in a statement.

Imtiaz Patel, Naspers video entertainment CEO, says "Listing and unbundling MultiChoice Group is intended to create a leading entertainment business listed on the JSE that is profitable and cash generative. We offer an unmatched selection of local and original content, as well as a world-class sports offering."

"Our leadership team is diverse, experienced and well-positioned to take the company forward. I am particularly pleased that this transaction will further enhance the value for Phuthuma Nathi shareholders."

"There are significant growth opportunities for MultiChoice Group in Africa. The combination of MultiChoice’s reach, Showmax and DStv Now's cutting-edge internet television service, alongside Irdeto’s 360 security suite will provide a unique offering."

Naspers says its video entertainment business is one of the fastest growing pay-TV operators globally and thatits multi-platform business reaches 13.5 million households across Africa.

"In the last financial year, the business added 1.5 million subscribers, and generated revenue of R47.1 billion and trading profit of R6.1 billion. It employs more than 9 000 people in Africa and indirectly creates economic prosperity for over 20 000 more who are employed by its various partners and suppliers across the continent."

Naspers says the MultiChoice Group is expected to be unbundled "with limited leverage", "providing it with the necessary financial flexibility to pursue growth opportunities in African video entertainment".

"The business is also positioning itself for the future by offering online streaming services, including Showmax and DStv Now".

Naspers will retain its primary listing on the JSE as well as its interests in Media24. MultiChoice Group is anticipated to list on the JSE and simultaneously unbundle in the first half of 2019, subject to the approval of the requisite regulatory authorities.

MultiChoice asks staffers to reapply for jobs as Naspers' pay-TV arm looks at up to 200 job cuts 'to remain globally competitive'.

MultiChoice has asked staffers at Naspers' pay-TV arm to reapply for their jobs, as the Randburg-based subscription television business that might list separately in future on the JSE, is looking at cutting down on personnel numbers.

While the percentage of DStv Premium subscribers - the most valuable segment in terms of revenue - as part of MultiChoice's overall subscriber base continues to shrink, the company is looking at cutting as many as 200 staffers from its 7 000 workforce.

The embattled South African public broadcaster is similarly looking at job cuts of its almost 4 000 strong workforce and already let go of fixed-term contract workers and freelancers at the end of August who worked for its SABC News (DStv 404) channel despite getting a multi-million rand channel carriage agreement renewal for this channel with MultiChoice in August.  

MultiChoice was asked if the number of 200 is correct and if it's accurate that the company is considering job cuts. 

MultiChoice responded to TVwithThinus with a statement saying "we are creating a leaner and more agile organisation in order to remain globally competitive as we continue to deliver a world-class entertainment experience to our customers and value to our 90 000 BEE shareholders".

"We are looking at different ways to transform our business into a more agile and digitally-focused company."

In its financial year to the end of March 2018, although MultiChoice's overall DStv subscribers numbers continue to grow, it shed another 41 000 DStv Premium subscribers across Africa as consumers no longer see the most expensive package as offering enough distinctive value compared to other DStv bouquets.

While MultiChoice is earning more money overall from more DStv and GOtv subscribers, a growing percentage comes from lower-tiered packages where MultiChoice makes less money per consumer, with the average revenue per user (ARPU) that has slid from R353 to R344 per month due to the decline in DStv Premium subscribers.

Niclas Ekdahl to head up Naspers' new Connected Video business unit that will now encapsulate its OTT services, Showmax and DStv Now.

Nicklas Ekdahl (48) has been appointed as CEO of Naspers' new Connected Video business unit that now encapsulates its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service Showmax, as well as its pay-TV arm, MultiChoice's DStv Now streaming and catch-up service.

Neither Naspers nor MultiChoice made any announcement when the Connected Video unit was created as a new hub to house its internet TV and over-the-top (OTT) services in Africa, but Nicklas Ekdahl will now head up this unit from 10 September.

MultiChoice plans to launch a dishless, streaming-only commercial version of DStv, similar to DStv Now, sometime in 2019.

According to MultiChoice Niclas Ekdahl has 19 years of executive leadership in the audio-visual services industry and previously headed up Viasat Broadcasting's pay-TV channel division in London in the United Kingdom.

Niclas Ekdahl joins Naspers and the Connected Video unit from Nuvu where he was the managing director of the video-on-demand (VOD) service that Ericsson launched in 2015.

"OTT video services are growing rapidly across Africa," says Imtiaz Patel, CEO of Naspers' video entertainment division.

"We've made a healthy start preparing for this future with our Showmax and DStv Now services and it's now time to consolidate those learnings in a single unit to build the best possible services for our customers. Niclas has the right experience to make this happen and we're thrilled to have him on board."

Niclas Ekdahl was also formerly a project manager at IKEA that sells ready-to-assemble furniture, and says he enjoys DIY projects.

MultiChoice dumps Tencent's VOOV from DStv after just 9 months as the failed VOOVTV flopped in audience engagement and ratings.

MultiChoice is dumping Tencent's failed VOOV after just 9 months with the failed VOOVTV channel that went nowhere and was a flop in audience engagement and ratings.

VOOV - that you probably never heard about - is getting canned at the end of July after MultiChoice added the what-is-it-exactly? channel in November 2017. VOOVTV failed to market or publicise itself and couldn't get traction on DStv.

VOOV, a social live streaming mobile app, launched in July 2017 in South Africa, with MultiChoice that then decided to run packaged content from VOOV as part of "VOOVTV". VOOV is owned and operated by Tencent in China, that is part of Naspers.

"While VOOVTV offered a fresh take on TV, and produced learnings that are already influencing the future of TV production, it didn't gain the traction anticipated. As from 31 July 2018, VOOVTV will stop airing on DStv," says MultiChoice in a statement.

The future of SABC News channel in doubt, will continue on DStv while discussions between the SABC and MultiChoice continue.

Not only will Afro Worldview disappear on 20 August from MultiChoice's DStv but the future of a second channel in the news block is now in doubt: the South African public broadcaster's SABC News channel could soon be a gonner too since the SABC and MultiChoice haven't signed a new contract.

The struggling and cash-strapped SABC doesn't have the money to fund and run SABC News (DStv 404) on its own although it is supposed to be one of the SABC's envisioned, freely available TV channels for digital terrestrial television (DTT).

If MultiChoice doesn't extend the contract for SABC News, the channel will presumably have to shutter just like SABC News International, the public broadcaster's first try at a 24-hour TV news channel that bled the corporation dry and was terminated after bleeding millions of rand after just three years at the end of March 2010.

Ironically the fate of a public broadcasting TV news channel lies squarely in the hands of a commercial company, in this case Naspers' pay-TV arm, MultiChoice.

According to insider sources who asked for anonymity because they're not allowed to speak directly to media, SABC managers allegedly had a meeting with fixed-term producers for the SABC News channel on Monday, informing them that the SABC has not reached an agreement with MultiChoice for the renewal of SABC News.

There's now growing buzz that producers will apparently receive letters this week informing them that production on SABC News will stop, although producer contracts allegedly still run until the end of August.

The SABC was asked whether this is accurate and whether the broadcaster can confirm a meeting with producers in which they were told that the channel won't be continuing, but the SABC declined to answer the question.

The SABC and MultiChoice were both asked, separately, about the future of the SABC News channel and whether it's accurate that the channel on DStv channel 404 will not be renewed and end during July.

Both the SABC and MultiChoice responded on Tuesday afternoon at 16:00 within minutes of each other, and with the exact same holding statement, saying that discussions are ongoing and that SABC News and SABC Encore will stay on the air on DStv for the time being.

"The SABC and MultiChoice are currently in discussions to carry the SABC News and SABC Encore channels on DStv. We will communicate the outcome once the discussions have been finalised. The channels will continue to air on DStv whilst the discussions are ongoing," said the SABC and MultiChoice.

Earlier this year the new SABC board told parliament's portfolio committee on communications that it would like to see the SABC News channel continue.

The SABC started SABC News (DStv 404) in August 2013, along with SABC Encore (DStv 156) as a placeholder rerun channel in May 2015. Both channels were part of an exclusive two-channel packaged deal with MultiChoice. In May 2015 the footprint of the SABC News channel was extended beyond South Africa into several other African countries on DStv.

These two channels - although they're content from and created by the public broadcaster - are however not available to other satellite TV platforms like StarSat, e.tv's Openview or Deukom in the way that SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 are.

In November 2017 explosive, leaked meeting transcripts between MultiChoice and the SABC, as well as #GuptaLeaks contracts between MultiChoice and the controversial ANN7 (DStv 405) channel, now renamed Afro Worldview, became public, showing massive payments from MultiChoice to the Guptas.

These payments not only raised multiple serious questions over possible corporate impropriety, but also over TV news channel carriage deals and payments for these channels, as well as raising eyebrows over a private pay-TV company's possible undue influence in the country's switch from analogue to digital TV broadcasting.

MultiChoice told the SABC it would pay the broadcaster R100 million for the SABC News channel but but only on the strict must-have contract clause condition that the SABC must support MultiChoice's stance on conditional access (CA) for digital television.

MultiChoice also dramatically upped its payments from R50 million per year to R100 million per year and then R141 million per year, as well as a questionable, additional R25 million payment to the Guptas for the low-rated, mistake-filled and often criticised ANN7.

It means that MultiChoice has been paying ANN7, now Afro Worldview owned by Mzwanele Manyi, more money despite its very low ratings than what MultiChoice has been paying eNCA (DStv 403) that has more than 50% of the overall TV news audience share on DStv. eMedia Investments will now start a second TV news channel, OpenNews, within months on its own Openview platform as a backup if eNCA were to discontinue on DStv.

Since November 2017 the SABC is aware of how much more money MultiChoice is paying Afro Worldview, although the SABC in May 2018 had 25.23% of the overall TV news channel audience share, compared to Afro Worldview's paltry and sliding 9%.

Meanwhile MultiChoice is finalising the shortlist for a new black-owned local TV news channel to replace Afro Worldview with 24 applications from various consortiums that were received.

MultiChoice doesn't want to announce any of the names of the applicants for public scrutiny and will only communicate who the successful TV news channel bidder is after a new channel carriage contract has been signed.

MultiChoice boss warns the Naspers pay-TV giant isn't being alarmistic about the online threat of global video services to DStv: 'Satellite pay-TV will disappear'.

MultiChoice's boss is warning that the Naspers pay-TV giant isn't being alarmistic about the massive online threat posed by global streamers and services like Netflix, YouTube, Facebook and Amazon Prime Video that are ready ready to not just destroy and replace its satellite pay-TV business but severely damage South Africa's entire TV industry.

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice South Africa CEO, shocked the country's TV biz the past two weeks with highly alarming quotes and interviews, in extremely stark language, speaking in a way that MultiChoice in its entire 22-year history since its founding, never used before.

To The Sunday Times Calvo Mawela in an eye-popping interview said traditional satellite pay-TV is dying and that "the regulation that Icasa is proposing will just make the business die quicker".

In shocking statistics, MultiChoice is apparently losing 630 DStv Premium subscribers across all its African markets per day.

In other interviews Calvo Mawela raised eyebrows as well, and is now arguing for South Africa's broadcasting regulator to urgently implement regulations on global streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video operating in South Africa, instead of imposing even more onerous regulations on video entertainment businesses like MultiChoice.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is currently conducting yet another investigation into pay-TV regulations in the country, and how and if, regulations should change.

The public inquiry comes as the fight for eyeballs and subscribers' money are heating up amidst the dramatic digital revolution sweeping video entertainment in Africa, affecting everyone from community TV stations and free-to-air and public broadcasters, to subscription TV services.

While fast making inroads in South Africa, although from a small base, local and international subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services like Naspers' Showmax now run by MultiChoice, as well as global streamers like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix are not currently regulated. The global streamers for instance don't pay local taxes and are not encumbered by things like local content quotas and other regulatory restrictions.

TVwithThinus, in a wide-ranging interview with Calvo Mawela, asked him if he's not being too alarmistic about MultiChoice being under threat and why he is painting such a dire picture of traditional satellite pay-TV services like DStv.

"We believe based on the research that we are doing and what we are seeing in terms of our consumer behaviour, yes, people are moving online at a pace much faster than we have seen in the past. The future is definitely going to be online," said Calvo Mawela.

"As to whether tradition direct-to-home (DTH) satellite pay-TV will disappear, I think it's a question of when, not a question of if."

"That is definitely happening on a day-to-day basis. People are moving online and they like viewing content online. It's not like the appointment viewing we used to do."


'We are fighting for eyeballs'
"If you look at the last financial year, we have lost over 100 000 in the DStv Premium bouquet. That is an indication that people are moving on to online. The other element that we're also seeing is that people are leaning towards more DStv Catch Up than what they watch linear TV."

"So definitely there's a big shift in terms of consumption of content. What people don't recognise is that we are fighting for eyeballs. If the eyeballs move from TV to watching YouTube, it means the eyeballs have moved for that period from traditional TV watching to YouTube."

"If people are watching videos on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, it means those eyeballs are not watching TV. That is a definite."

"We are not being alarmist. What we are seeing in terms of the behaviour it is clear that people want to consume content online and it is a question of time as to when they are going to move from a traditional DTH TV offering to consume purely online content in the future," said Calvo Mawela.

"When new technology comes in, people eventually move on and embrace it. So it's definitely going to happen."

Calvo Mawela said the Icasa inquiry seeking to regulate pay-TV in South Africa "is irrelevant in this day and time".

"We think it would have been appropriate for this inquiry to have happened 15 years ago. We are saying traditional pay-TV and how people consume content has changed drastically over the last few years."

"We now have audio-visual services and we include the over-the-top (OTT), we include free-to-air,we include Netflix, Google, YouTube which is where and how people are consuming content. People have moved from appointment viewing of television to decide for themselves when to watch what they want."

"Therefore for Icasa to do an inquiry that narrowly seeks to regulate more traditional pay-TV,we think that Icasa has missed the boat. We have seen internationally a move towards regulating Netflix, Google and Facebook, for instance the European Union (EU) where the EU directive on audio-visual content recognises the over-the-top players."

"They got them into the regulatory net - of course not on the same way that traditional television used to be regulated, but what they said was if anybody is pushing content to the consumer, they need to be regulated."

"So they've introduced a local content quota - we think that is the progressive regulation that you need - it still light touch but it also recognises that the proliferation of OTT services need to be addressed".

"Start considering the market as a broader audio-visual market. Just level the playing field. Make sure that like-for-like services are treated the same - the likes of Netflix and Facebook and YouTube. They need to pay tax, they need to register in the country, they need to pay VAT, they need to have local content quotas, to make sure that we grow the industry as the industry moves to online," said Calvo Mawela.

China's StarSat and StarTimes introduce a daily and weekly pay rate; MultiChoice says it has no plans for a pay-per-day option for DStv subscribers.

China's StarTimes operating as StarTimes in Kenya and StarSat in South Africa introduced a new daily and weekly pay rate, with subscribers who can now pay-and-watch for a daily or weekly fee, while Naspers' pay-TV satellite pay-TV operator MultiChoice says it has no plans to introduce a pay-per-day option for DStv subscribers.

In the same week that Yolisa Phahle, the CEO of general entertainment at MultiChoice, in her speech at MultiChoice's 5th Digital Dialogue Conference, warned that pay-TV operators will have to find new ways of engaging better with viewers who have more choices than ever since shiny substitutes Netflix, Facebook and YouTube "are ready to eat our lunch in an instant, StarTimes threw down the gauntlet to with a new payment formula for subscribers.

Besides paying for a monthly subscription, StarTimes in Kenya and South Africa introduced what it calls a new "flexible subscription payment formula" to slurp up potential pay-TV subscribers who can't afford to pay for a regular monthly subscription but who has enough personal disposable income to pay for a day, or a week or two.

Similar to monthly bus or train tickets that are a lot cheaper than a single, or single return spot price ticket, the daily and weekly StarTimes and StarSat fees work out much more expensively for consumers but are also less than the monthly subscription fees that's a financial hurdle preventing a lot of people from trying and sampling or to get access to entry-level subscription television services.

StarTimes Kenya on Thursday said customers can now pay-per-day or pay-per-week for access to one of four StarTimes Kenya bouquets, ranging from as little as Sh22 (R2.74) for the Nyota, Sh50 (R6.23) for the Basic, Sh83 (R10.35) for Classic, and Sh125 (R15.59) for the Unique bouquet on a pay-per-day basis.

Japhet Akhulia, StarTimes Kenya marketing director, says "in rolling out the flexible subscription payment system, we are providing our subscribers with the choice of daily, weekly or monthly payment options enabling them to plan accordingly based on the resources at their disposal while ensuring they do not miss their favourite programs on StarTimes".

In South Africa, StarSat, run by StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media (ODM), people who want to get access to its service, can now pay-per-day for a fee starting at R9 for the Special (R39 weekly), R19 for the Super (R69 weekly), and R9 (39 weekly) for the Indian bouquet.

Compare that to the monthly subscription fees of R109 for Special, R209 for Super, and R109 for the Indian bouquet.

StarSat didn't respond to a media enquiry.

MultiChoice in response to a media enquiry from TVwithThinus as to whether it's looking at or would introduce a pay-per-day or weekly subscription offering, said the pay-TV operator is not currently considering a plan to give DStv subscribers access to its pay-TV offering on a pay-per-day or pay-per-week basis.

"DStv customers currently pay on a month-to-month basis, with the option to upgrade their service to another package at any time," said MultiChoice.

"This option is quite popular as customers upgrade their service for some of the holidays such as school holidays."

"Our holiday viewing option also offers our customers the chance to only pay for the days they have watched at their holiday home. Each of our customers can designate one decoder at another location to act as a holiday viewing decoder, in addition to their normal subscription."

"While we're always looking for ways to further enhance the service we offer, and give our customers an even better and more flexible viewing experience, we're not currently looking to offer a pay-per-day or -week service."

Meanwhile MultiChoice Nigeria is adding confusion, with the MultiChoice Africa boss of the country with the largest DStv subscriber base outside of South Africa, saying this week that MultiChoice may consider the pay-as-you-consume payment option.

After first being adamant that the so-called pay-per-view option isn't possible and not used anywhere in the world, John Ugbe, MultiChoice Nigeria managing director, according to reports, said at MultiChoice's 5th Digital Dialogue held this past week in Dubai, that "pay-as-you-consume is something we may consider, if it is technologically possible and the business model supports it".

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 13 April 2018.

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

■ People want their printed TV information and TV listings in newspapers and magazines and they don't want it moved or removed.

■ Forget Star Trek: Discovery and Altered Carbon - The Expanse is the science fiction show to watch.

■ By now you would have noticed how Naspers took its subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) Showmax service and and moved it in under its MultiChoice umbrella, with Showmax that is being offered as a streaming service through the DStv decoders set-top box (STB).
That is part of the trend of traditional pay-TV operators bringing streaming services into their pay-TV services for subscribers through their decoders as the idea that traditional pay TV services can stand apart from online video services is fading fast.


■ The reboot of the new Lost in Space series is available from today on Netflix South Africa and worldwide on the streaming service but the real danger is boredom. It's not a must-watch reboot, is a slow-paced, po-faced journey into banality and a formulaic and increasingly sentimental family drama.
You can also watch the (actually good) pilot episode of the  2003 failed reboot.


■ Reality TV supposedly offers valuable lessons to children.

■ The future of television advertising is up in the air.

■ No April fool's joke: Struggling Zimbabwe claims it will have 24 TV channels with digital terrestrial TV (DTT).

■ The NMG wants to sell off its NTV Kenya, NTV Uganda and NTV Tanzania TV channels.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 10 April 2018.

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

■ The SABC's disappointing coverage of the life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela after her death last week.
Why the lack of historical footage on the South African public broadcaster?

■ Naspers' SVOD service Showmax run by MultiChoice, says that in Africa expensive data is slowing down the growth if internet television. 

■ North Americans are the world's biggest TV watching addicts, spending 4 hours per days watching television.

The rest of the world spends nearly 3 hours per day watching TV. Meanwhile millennials and young adults are spending more time on their cellphones and watching TV that way.

■ HBO's Westworld creators are so scared of spoilers leaking about the upcoming 2nd season that will be on M-Net (DStv 101) that they've decided to do spoilers themselves.

■ CBS television executives are freaking out over a looming Charlie Rose expose in The Washington Post.

■ In a new episode "No Good Read Goes Unpunished" The Simpsons addressed the stereotype criticism over the Indian Apu character - and are now facing new complaints. And why The Simpsons' tasteless response to the Apu controversy is so heartbreaking. 

■ Colton Haynes is returning to Arrow seen on M-Net (DStv 101) as a series regular for the 7th season.

■ Star Trek: Discovery available on Netflix South Africa has added Anson Mount who will play Captain Christopher Pike in the second season.

■ FOX News (StarSat 261 / Cell C black 502) accidentally shows viewers that FOX News is the least trusted American TV news channel.

■ How Netflix and Amazon are driving a global reality TV renaissance although the online demand for reality series is still relatively small compared to scripted series.

■ The first photo of the older, reunited Murphy Brown cast.

SHOCKING REVELATIONS. Ex ANN7 editor Rajesh Sundaram reveals how ANN7 lied to MultiChoice, and how Jacob Zuma himself was involved: 'I realised that I had made a mistake - that I was setting up a monster station for the mafia in South Africa'.

If you never knew that ANN7 was trash when Naspers' MultiChoice launched it as a secret propaganda channel laced with bias in August 2013 for then-president Jacob Zuma with the help of the controversial and corrupt Gupta family, then you'll know it now after reading Rajesh Sundaram's insider-account, Identured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV.

Published by Jacana and available since Tuesday at R185 after plans for the book was initially dropped in June 2014, the delicious book is a deep dive into the ugly acrimony, law breaking, physical and verbal abuse, secret political influence, clandestine payments, worker discrimination, out-of-control egos and shocking circumstances and work conditions behind-the-scenes of the setting up of the disastrous ANN7.

All of this of course quickly, and eventually, proved highly destructive from a brand perspective for the Guptas, ANN7 itself, but also for MultiChoice and DStv.

Selective excepts from Identured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV published on Wednesday, media reports about it, and 2 interviews with Rajesh Randaram, added another chapter and more shocking, sordid and extremely lurid details about what allegedly went on behind-the-scenes at ANN7 and its Midrand-based headquarters, and the alleged volatile, abusive behaviour of owner Atul Gupta.

In a must-listen interview with Biznews, Rajesh Sundaram explained how ANN7 was rushed to air on DStv without proper time or testing, and how ANN7 executives blatantly lied to MultiChoice about ANN7 being ready to launch in 2013although it wasn't as far as its technical operations were concerned.

"We went to multiple meetings with MultiChoice. We were not prepared to go on-air technically, but we had to bluff our way through there."

He explained that "there was a lot of arm-twisting involved to get on DStv in the first place, that involved president Jacob Zuma himself".

He told Biznews that Indian staffers, brought to South Africa on tourist visas and who worked in the country illegally, had to live on the ANN7 Midrand construction site "in sub-human conditions".

"I realised that I had made a mistake - that I was setting up a monster station for the mafia in South Africa," said Rajesh Sundaram.

Rajesh Sundaram told Biznews about the physical and verbal abuse staffers allegedly suffered at the hands of the Guptas like Atul Gupta.

"There were staff that Atul Gupta would slap; and physically abuse us; scream verbal abuse at people. For instance say the playout system crashes, Atul Gupta would come into the production control room and start beating up the audio console person".

"Atul Gupta would come into the newsroom and just slap people. There was an audio engineer who was slapped. There were others who were abused. And many instances of him just screaming his lungs out in the gallery about things he never knew about".

Rajesh Sundaram told HuffPost SA in a second interview on Wednesday that "the intention to launch ANN7 was all wrong. The media is supposed to be a pillar in democracy. It was being abused. It was being misused. They just wanted a propaganda station".

He explained that Duduzane Zuma, Jacob Zuma's son sat in several meetings. "Duduzane was there and was the one who was dictating to us all what the editorial policy would be".

HuffPost SA on Wednesday also ran a print report about Identured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV and how Atul Gupta went beserk and screamed at Nazeem Howa when Nazeem Howa suggested that ANN7 hire Debora Patta.

"She's a white bitch! She is not a journalist, she is a sensationalist. She is a well-known face on TV here, but her aggression is reserved for the government and its ministers," Atul Gupta allegedly yelled.

As ANN7 struggled to get journalist and presenters to join, Atul Gupta told an underling "to get the modelling agency to send us sexy young models who will present our bulletins. We will not have to deal with these ugly old bitches anymore."

On ANN7's disastrous launch day that TVwithThinus detailed at the time - as well as the on-air horrific mistakes, Atul Gupta exploded at the Indian studio technicians and told them: "You bloody monkeys. F*cking get out of here, pack your bags and go back to India. You are all useless people."

Atul Gupta told executive, Karun Shawney: "Look down, you fool, how dare you look me in the eye when you talk to me. Don't you know I hate people who dare to look me in the eye? You bastards are f*cking my channel and my reputation."

Indian staff members were paid much less than the South African workers but the Indian staffers were fed staff meals while the South African workers got nothing and had to look on.

"It was extremely distressing to see Indian staff sit down for dinner after a long day's work while the South Africans were not invited to join."

Atul Gupta was allegedly racist towards South Africans, saying "The South Africans are a difficult lot. If you give them a lift back home they will see it as a right. These are leeches that want to suck the organisation dry".

On Wednesday News24 ran a report from the book about how Jacob Zuma himself chose the name "Africa News Network". Because the name was already taken, a "7" was added.

On Thursday in an interview with radio station 702, Rajesh Sundaram told Bongani Bingwa that "Atul Gupta had no sense of what broadcasting is about. There were a few instance where he'd go and hit people you know, right in the middle of a broadcast".

Rajesh Sundaram also explained why the Guptas were so adamant and anxious to get ANN7 onto MultiChoice's DStv.

"Jacob Zuma had given a guarantee that money from government advertising agencies would come in to ANN7 and that this advertising revenue would then be given back to him through his son Duduzane."

MultiChoice finally dumps controversial ANN7 channel from DStv; admits 'mistakes were made - but no corruption' as DStv is looking for a new black-owned TV news channel.

Naspers' MultiChoice pay-TV operator on Wednesday afternoon announced that it's finally dumping the controversial ANN7 (DStv 405) TV channel from its DStv bouquet and admitted that "mistakes were made" but that an internal investigation found no corruption.

MultiChoice SA CEO Calvo Mawela won't release the full report to the public.

At issue is whether Naspers' pay-TV division illegally influenced the South African government's policy on encryption of set-top boxes (STBs) for the stalled digital migration process from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT), by paying the SABC and ANN7 to carry their channels, and through them, get them to apply pressure on the government.

MultiChoice on Wednesday admitted that it "has not performed a due diligence test on any channel ownership," and that "given the experience with ANN7, the committee is of the view that in future such due diligence should be instituted and be made compulsory for all new start-up channels."

In November 2017 explosive, leaked meeting transcripts between MultiChoice and the South African public broadcaster the SABC, as well as #GuptaLeaks contracts between MultiChoice and the controversial ANN7 D(Stv 405) channel became public, showing massive payments from DStv to the Guptas, have raised multiple serious questions over corporate impropriety.

MultiChoice told the SABC it would pay the broadcaster R100 million for the SABC News channel but but only on the strict must-have contract clause condition that the SABC must support MultiChoice's stance on conditional access (CA) for digital television.

MultiChoice also dramatically upped its payments from R50 million per year to R100 million per year and then R141 million per year, as well as a questionable, additional R25 million payment to the Guptas for the low-rated, bad quality, mistake-filled and often criticised ANN7.

MultiChoice is paying ANN7 more despite its barely there low ratings than eNCA (DStv 403) that has more than 50% of the overall TV news audience share.

It's all created the perception that MultiChoice has paid kickbacks to both the SABC and ANN7 to use its influence to get set-top box (STB) encryption dropped from government-subsidised STBs in the switch to digital terrestrial television (DTT).

MultiChoice and Naspers have denied the kickbacks allegations and the MultiChoice board announced that MultiChoice is starting an internal investigation of itself.

On Wednesday MultiChoice at a news conference at its MultiChoice City headquarters in Randburg and in a press statement said "mistakes were made in handling ANN7 - but no corruption".

MultiChoice is now dumping ANN7 at the end of August when the current contract ends and said procedures will be "tightened and controversial issues to be escalated to the MultiChoice board faster" in the future when controversy arise around something like ANN7 where thousands of DStv subscribers started a petition for the channel to be removed.

MultiChoice said that a contract for a "new, black-owned news channel is being put out to tender" to replace ANN7 that critics have said was doing slanted, biased news that's sowing division in South Africa.

MultiChoice SA CEO Calvo Mawela admitted that MultiChoice's internal investigation found that the pay-TV operator it had failed to do due diligence on ANN7 and did not raise initial concerns it had over the channel to its board.

"While we are pleased that the investigation into the ANN7 contract did not discover any corruption or other illegal activity, the questions we have faced throughout this process have been sobering," said Calvo Mawela.

"Today we hold our hands up to our mistakes and set out a path to restoring public trust," said Calvo Mawela, who won't be releasing the actual report the the media and the public.

MultiChoice said that the millions of rand it paid and is paying to ANN7 as part of its carriage agreement "are within acceptable parameters associated with the establishment and cost of producing a news channel".

Calvo Mawela said "this has been a humbling experience for MultiChoice. While we entered into an agreement for the ANN7 channel at a time that the extent of State Capture was unknown, we fully understand the outrage of the public regarding endemic corruption in our country and accept we should have dealt with the concerns around ANN7 far more swiftly."

"There’s also no doubt that we managed our communication of this issue poorly."


A new channel to drive down the eNCA costs
After Wednesday press conference it looks even more clear that MultiChoice decided to start ANN7 in part as a tool to drive down costs in channel carriage negotiations and agreements with eMedia Investments over eNCA (DStv 403), the most watched TV news channel where costs soared.

The existence of ANN7 would mean that eNCA was no longer the only player and that MultiChoice could "threaten" to walk away and drop it in carriage negotiations.

"The negotiations with ANN7 began at a time when MultiChoice wanted to add local black voices to reflect more diverse local news coverage on the DStv platform," said MultiChoice in its statement on Wednesday.

"In addition, annual payments to e.tv had escalated substantially, heading towards R500 million per year. The commercial rationale was to assist in the development of the new ANN7 channel by contributing to their costs and allow it a reasonable term of three/five years to develop. Should it fail, MultiChoice would let the agreement lapse at the end of the period, as allowed for in the contract."

MultiChoice says "the payments made to ANN7 were not abnormal relative to other local news channels carried on the DStv platform".

"MultiChoice paid an amount to ANN7 for a start-up 24-hour local news channel that was substantially lower than that paid to e.tv. The terms of the agreement were renegotiated and payments increased when it became apparent that ANN7 needed to improve quality on the channel."

"In addition, the R25 million upfront payment to ANN7 made on 15 September 2015 was neither abnormal nor unusual. Other channels have previously received upfront payments as part of the channel negotiations," said MultiChoice.


MultiChoice admits lobbying issues that need attention
About lobbying the government, MultiChoice also said there is room for improvement on MultiChoice's side.

"Given the fluid nature of lobbying, which is part of the broadcasting and telecoms industry globally, MultiChoice should study international best practise and formalise its lobbying process<' the company said.

"The new process should be adhered to by all involved to ensure that an acceptable line is not crossed in such activities."

MultiChoice admitted that when concerns were raised about the owners of ANN7, "MultiChoice management should have acted more swiftly to escalate issues to the MultiChoice board for formal consideration and decision".


Yet another new local SA TV news channel
MultiChoice says that it "continues to believe that the wide range of foreign and local news channels
(SABC News and eNCA) on our platform – representing widely divergent views, needs to be
supplemented with another local voice. In particular, a black-owned and run channel that represents the majority of people in this country."

"It must be owned, managed and run by a black South African company, free from any political or other interference. It must be able to provide independent, non-partisan and critical news coverage of
current affairs."

MultiChoice said the TV news channel "must take into account South Africa’s history, diversity of cultural backgrounds, language and socio-economic circumstances in the way it produces
content."