DStv fined almost R1 million in Sierra Leone over subscription fee price hike; only has a week to pay; slammed by regulator for 'unfairly profiteering' from subscribers.

MultiChoice has been fined a massive R968 000 (Le250 million / $63 335) in Sierra Leone by that country's broadcasting regulator after it has been found guilty of overcharging DStv subscribers - and has only one week to pay it.

The shocking fine imposed on the satellite pay-TV operator through its Sierra Leone agent Transnational Sierra Leone Limited, comes as aggressive African broadcasting regulators in several nations the past few months have started to bare their fangs at especially subscription television services.

Nigeria's broadcasting regulator - the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), that has seen several allegations of corruption leveled against it - has twice in the past few months slammed MultiChoice and ordered shows banned, impacting the entire continent.

MultiChoice and Discovery Networks International first had to censor the show I Am Jazz on TLC Entertainment (DStv 135) in October 2015 and yank it from the schedule shortly before it was due to start, and last month NBC forced MultiChoice and NBCUniversal International Networks to immediately remove all remaining episodes of I Am Cait from E! Entertainment (DStv 124).

Since both TLC Entertainment and E! Entertainment only have one channel feed into Africa, the Nigerian regulator's censorship means a blackout of the shows for DStv subscribers across the entire Africa, including South Africa.

Meanwhile the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) in January this year threatened to ban and block Netflix in Kenya since the video-on-demand (VOD) streaming's service arrival in Africa at the beginning of this year, slamming Netflix as "a threat to our moral values and national security".

Now Sierra Leone's National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM) has found Transnational Sierra Leone Limited, the company that's the sole agent to represent MultiChoice Africa in Sierra Leone, guilty of apparently indiscriminately overcharging DStv subscribers in the West African country.

With DStv the dominant pay-TV service in Sierra Leone, Transnational Sierra Leone said DStv subscriptions had to increase given the weakening of the Sierra Leonean Leone against the dollar - the currency MultiChoice acquires most of its TV content in that's shown on DStv.

Transnational Sierra Leone Limited told NATCOM that DStv subscription fee increases come from South Africa and is made in relation to international currency fluctuations.

NATCOM gave the pay-TV operator just one week to pay the fine or said it will be shut down.

Momoh Conteh, NATCOM chairperson told APANews that "If you are doing business and want to maximize profit, fine. But you can't do it at the expense of the people".

According to the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, DStv was fined for "unfairly profiteering to the disadvantage of customers" and that the "decision was as a result of defiance by the management of DStv to review its rates".

NATCOM warned in a letter in mid-May that the DStv subscription increase that happened at the beginning of May was "unilateral and unacceptable" since it wasn't done in consultation with the regulator.

MultiChoice Africa tells TV with Thinus in response to a media enquiry that the fine is being disputed through regulatory channels.

"MultiChoice and its agent in Sierra Leone, Transnational Limited, learnt through the media of the fine imposed on Transnational by Sierra Leone's National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) for the adjustment of the subscription fee in Sierra Leone to reflect the increase in the rate of exchange between the Leone and the US Dollar".

"Transnational is disputing the basis of the fine as subscriptions are charged in United States dollar ($) and there has been no increase in the price of the DStv service."

"Transnational is liaising with NATCOM to resolve this matter through the relevant legal and regulatory processes."

M-Net's Big Brother Africa Hotshots scandal grows as Rwanda and Sierra Leone follow Ghana and are also dumped from the show.

The scandal around M-Net's latest upcoming season of Big Brother Africa set to start on Sunday on MultiChoice's DStv is growing with Rwanda and Sierra Leone contestants now also dumped from the house, following the decision to dump the originally selected contestants from Ghana.

The 9th season of Big Brother Africa, entitled Big Brother Hotshots and produced by Endemol South Africa from Johannesburg in South Africa, is now also eliminating the selected contestants from Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

It raises questions about whether, and how much, the supposedly pan-African reality format voyeur show is really going to be representative of the continent and the countries where contestants were originally allowed, and asked, to enter from.

Big Brother Hotshots is set to start on Sunday 7 September at 19:00 for 91 days with highlight shows which will be broadcast on AfricaMagic Showcase (DStv 150) as well as running for 24 hours per day on MultiChoice's  DStv 197 and DStv 198 channels.

Endemol South Africa and pay-TV broadcaster M-Net last month dumped the originally selected contestants from Ghana, launching a frantic search for people from Ghana already in South Africa to rather include.

Now Rwanda and Sierra Leone's originally selected contestants are also out of the house just days before the reality show is set to start.

The South African government's dramatic and negative change in visa regulations is to blame, now majorly impacting on South Africa's TV and film industry.

Already the confusing new visa regulations impacted on Homeland, the international and award-winning series currently filming some of its 4th season in Cape Town South Africa and which saw production and filming delayed. Homeland will film until November but would have been done sooner.

M-Net's AfricaMagic's Big Brother Africa has become the first and biggest casualty of the non-sensical new visa regulations, impacting not just the production and production values of the show but directly impacting what viewers - not just in South Africa but across the African continent - gets to see (or rather not see) on their TV screens.

Endemol South Africa and M-Net says in a statement it can "confirm that Sierra Leone and Rwanda will no longer form part of the countries participating" in Big Brother Africa Hotshots.

"Unfortunately, due to schedules and logistical constraints there was insufficient time to follow the necessary procedures in order to process the required travel documentation which has recently become a more complex procedure," says Endemol SA and M-Net without mentioning by name South Africa's sudden visa regulations changes.

"M-Net and Endemol SA wish to extend their gratitude to all those individuals, organizations and parties which assisted in working to secure the inclusion of housemates from both countries".

"Whilst it is not possible to include housemates from both countries in this season, M-Net and Endemol South Africa are confident that they are able to improve the process in order to successfully incorporate housemates from both countries if there are future editions of the series".