Four months later On Digital Media has failed to refund dumped StarSat subscribers after pay-TV implosion

by Thinus Ferreira

Despondent and angry former StarSat subscribers have been unable to get the refunds they're due, four months after the collapse of the pay-TV service that abruptly ceased broadcasting in October after its equipment was seized by authorities.

Since July 2023, StarTimes SA and On Digital Media (ODM) kept running the unlicensed StarSat for more than a year after it failed to renew its pay-TV licence and had made changes to the foreign ownership shareholding of the pay-TV operator. ODM refused to reveal its latest shareholding.

StarSat was the only commercial traditional pay-TV operator competing with MultiChoice's DStv in the South African market.

After repeated warnings since March 2024 for StarSat to shut down by September of last year, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) raided StarSat's head office in Midrand in October 2024 and removed equipment which took StarSat off air.

Before this, the Chinese-run StarSat SA and ODM didn't want to tell StarSat subscribers that it was operating without a valid licence, had been ordered to shut down and that it was threatened with a raid - opting to keep subscribers in the dark and continuing to take monthly subscription fees and selling to and signing up new subscribers.

Bewildered subscribers were devastated when they suddenly lost their signals on 2 October, when the South African police and Icasa took servers, cabling and other equipment while StarSat staff huddled in prayer circles.

Jan-Hendrik Harmse, StarSat marketing manager, on that day told SABC News the company would be going to the courts immediately to get its equipment back.

At the time, ODM and StarTimes Media in a statement claimed it would "resolve this issue swiftly and restore services". It also claimed it would continue to keep all stakeholders, including customers, employees and the media, informed as the situation progresses". 

In the past four months none of this happened.

Besides the claim in October of going to court for the seized equipment, the company also claimed that it was involved in another separate legal battle with Icasa.

Earlier in 2024 the company went to court to try and get an urgent interdict against Icasa's shutdown order.

The Gauteng High Court dismissed the urgent application.

ODM then claimed that besides going to court for its seized equipment, "A review order is pending to address the substantive legal issues between the two parties once the court date is set".

Icasa said in 2024 it wasn't aware of any further legal action from the company.

ODM appointed Eclipse Communications to do crisis communications following the raid and shutdown of StarSat but Eclipse told TVwithThinus last week in response to a media query it no longer represents the company.

Subscribers who wanted refunds were told to email emailing wecare@starsat.co.za but haven't had any response for months. 

Former StarSat subscribers say calls to the StarSat call centre number are also not being answered and their questions across social media are ignored.

Since the shutdown in October the StarSat website and its FAQ page have not been changed or updated to reflect that it's not providing a service anymore.

Last week Tarren-Kelly Hendricks, writing on StarSat's Facebook page, summed up the sentiment of thousands of former StarSat subscribers, writing "StarSat can you please reimburse me now. It's been months without any subscription, I can't afford to lose my money. Please just pay back my money for the month of October".

Shereena MacNabe said "Since your last communication with us on 8 October 2024, four months later and you just went mute on us. As if we don't exist anymore."

Last week after trying and giving up with the call centre number, TVwithThinus called the ODM office number 011 582 9802 with a media query,  asking about customers unable to get refunds. 

Jan-Hendrik Harmse said "someone" would call back, but nobody did. He was also emailed a media query a week ago.

Jan-Hendrik Harmse was asked why subscribers have not received their entitled refunds after four months, are not being helped to get their money back, why former subscribers are not getting replies to emails, calls, and on questions through social media channels.

The company was also asked what exactly the steps and process are for StarSat subscribers to get back the money they have paid for a service they haven't received and why the StarSat website doesn't mention that the service isn't running.

There was no response from the company.

ALSO READ: StarSat denies it will be shutting down in September after South Africa's broadcasting regulator Icasa revokes On Digital Media's pay-TV licence

ALSO READ: South Africa's broadcasting regulator warns that StarSat which failed to renew its pay-TV licence in time is operating illegally and should have shut down 18 September

ALSO READ: Half a million StarSat subscribers could be cut as On Digital Media that no longer has a licence defies South Africa's broadcasting regulator Icasa and says it 'will remain operational'

ALSO READ: Icasa and the police shuts down unlicensed On Digital Media's StarSat in raid on Midrand offices as staff huddle in prayer circles

ALSO READ: Unlicensed StarSat kept shutdown order secret for 6 months, says ‘recent order came as unexpected surprise’

ALSO READ: Unlicensed StarSat claims its not illegal, refuses to reveal shareholding

ALSO READ: Angry StarSat subscribers demand and are entitled to refunds

ALSO READ: South Africa's broadcast regulator Icasa says it is unaware of StarSat court action after its shutdown raid while angry subscribers demand refunds

South Africa's broadcast regulator Icasa says it is unaware of StarSat court action after its shutdown raid while angry subscribers demand refunds

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's broadcasting regulator says it's not aware of any further legal action from the shuttered and unlicensed pay-TV operator StarSat which went off-air last week following a search and seizure raid by Icasa, while thousands of StarSat subscribers who lost their service demand refunds and say they're not being helped.

After broadcasting unlicensed for more than a year since July 2023, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) did a search and seizure raid at the Midrand headquarters of the Chinese-run On Digital Media (ODM) on Wednesday last week, ripping out and confiscating equipment, servers and cables.

The regulator warned ODM since March this year that it had to stop and shut down its unlicensed pay-TV service by 18 September and to warn subscribers and stakeholders about it.

StarTimes which failed to renew ODM's pay-TV licence for StarSat in South Africa despite multiple warnings from Icasa, lost an urgent court interdict application to have Icasa's shutdown order be set aside. 

Earlier this month StarTimes's ODM said that it would be going back to court for a review. 

On Wednesday last week StarSat representatives also said that ODM's legal team was in court to contest Icasa's search and seizure raid and to have its equipment returned which also impacts StarTimes' pay-TV operations across the rest of Africa outside of South Africa that saw multiple TV channels go off its platform.

On Monday this week and again asked on Tuesday, Zanele Ntuli, Icasa spokesperson, told TVwithThinus the regulator isn't aware of any further legal action from ODM, StarSat or StarTimes regarding the shutdown order, or last week's raid.

In response to a media query seeking comment from ODM on Icasa saying it isn't aware of legal action over last week's search and seizure operation, the pay-TV operator through its Eclipse Communications crisis communications PR company, told TVwithThinus on Wednesday "the legal action in question involves StarTimes Media, the rightful owner of the equipment wrongfully seized by Icasa, not ODM or StarSat".

"StarTimes Media is currently challenging Icasa in court over the seizure of their equipment, for which

StarTimes Media has a valid licence, and this is the legal process underway."

Asked for clarity on the legal review, the pay-TV operator says "ODM has initiated a legal review in the High Court, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, requesting the court to compel Icasa to review its licence renewal application".

"As of now, the court has not confirmed a date for the hearing. The core of the review is to address whether Icasa's actions regarding the licence termination were justified, particularly given ODM's ongoing renewal efforts."

Furious subscribers

Meanwhile, thousands of StarSat subscribers are furious about being cut off, having paid and not getting a service and battling to get hold of StarSat representatives and to get refunds.

Several angry StarSat subscribers told TVwithThinus that some had made double payments in October thinking that's why their service was suspended, that StarSat's customer call centre number doesn't work, that emails are not answered, wondering why StarSat never warned them in advance not to pay, and that they're now battling to get refunds.

On Monday and Tuesday TVwithThinus called the StarSat customer call centre number multiple times but it no longer rang and no longer went to call options. On Wednesday call options were restored and operators again answered.

ODM told TVwithThinus that its customer call centre "has been experiencing a higher-than-usual volume of calls, which is affecting response times. StarSat is working diligently to address as many customer queries as possible".

"At this point, adding an alternative number would not improve the situation," the company said.

"We encourage customers to consider emailing wecare@starsat.co.za and remain patient as we work to resolve the backlog."

The veteran consumer expert Wendy Knowler said "StarSat subscribers who have paid in advance, through for instance a debit order for the month of October and where there is no way they're getting a pay-TV service for their spend, StarSat's subscribers in South Africa are absolutely entitled to a refund".

"StarSat is definitely not entitled to hold on to that money."

Asked why it failed to warn subscribers that a shutdown was possible, ODM says it "chose not to communicate this potential disruption to subscribers, as we were confident in our appeal and did not wish to cause unnecessary alarm."

"We are currently engaged in legal proceedings with Icasa regarding this matter, and believe the shutdown of our service prior to a court ruling is premature."

ALSO READ: StarSat denies it will be shutting down in September after South Africa's broadcasting regulator Icasa revokes On Digital Media's pay-TV licence

ALSO READ: South Africa's broadcasting regulator warns that StarSat which failed to renew its pay-TV licence in time is operating illegally and should have shut down 18 September

ALSO READ: Half a million StarSat subscribers could be cut as On Digital Media that no longer has a licence defies South Africa's broadcasting regulator Icasa and says it 'will remain operational'

ALSO READ: Icasa and the police shuts down unlicensed On Digital Media's StarSat in raid on Midrand offices as staff huddle in prayer circles

ALSO READ: Unlicensed StarSat kept shutdown order secret for 6 months, says ‘recent order came as unexpected surprise’

ALSO READ: Unlicensed StarSat claims its not illegal, refuses to reveal shareholding

ALSO READ: Angry StarSat subscribers demand and are entitled to refunds

Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT ripped from StarTimes Media's StarSat without warning or any explanation.

by Thinus Ferreira

Warner Bros. Discovery's TNT channel has been ripped from subscribers of StarTimes Media's StarSat satellite pay-TV service without any prior warning, in the middle of a month, without any explanation.

TNT - one of the Warner Bros. Discovery TV channels available in South Africa to pay-TV subscribers of MultiChoice's DStv and StarTimes Media SA's StarSat - was abruptly taken down on StarSat last week on Thursday without any prior warning to subscribers who had already paid for it for the month, and without any explanation from Warner Bros. Discovery Africa, or StarSat.

Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA, through the BCW PR company representing WBD in Africa, was asked repeatedly since last week why its TNT channel was removed from StarTimes and StarSat in South Africa, but hasn't responded with any answer or explanation at the time of publication of this report on Tuesday morning.

StarSat was also asked why WBD's TNT channel went dark and why StarSat subscribers who had paid for the channel for September, got no warning that the channel was going to be removed. 

StarSat publicist Luyanda Cele didn't answer any of the questions but sent an image which StarSat posted to its Facebook social media page and said "please see the attached for your referral".

The image simply says "Unfortunately due to a sudden change in broadcasting rights, TNT is now exclusive to a competitor. StarSat may no longer broadcast the TNT channel to its viewers."

"StarSat would like to apologise to its customers for the inconvenience and regrets to inform them that the situation is beyond our control. StarSat is assessing options to replace the channel as soon as possible."

StarSat failed to respond to the question as to why paying StarSat subscribers were not given any prior warning or notification, since, if the reason is true, StarSat itself would have received prior notification from Warner Bros. Discovery that TNT was getting removed.

Pay-TV channels are hardly ever scrapped mid-month with channel distributors and pay-TV operators removing axed TV channels at the end of the month. 

Warner Bros. Discovery's silence and inability to answer a basic question about something that its executives looking after Africa knew was going to happen is also disgusting and shows a completely lack of respect and disdain to paying pay-TV customers. 

It would also be extremely weird if TNT did become an "exclusive" TV channel to MultiChoice's DStv platform since TNT isn't a premium category TV channel - it's an average general entertainment and movie channel with a lot of non-premium and repeat content and those types of TV channels on pay-TV line-ups are hardly ever exclusive.

Desperate StarTimes SA management breaks 0% price hike promise for 2023 and hikes pay-TV prices by up to 9%.

by Thinus Ferreira

Just three months after promising a 0% price increase for 2023, with "desperate" StarTimes Media SA management saying they have no choice, will suddenly hike StarSat subscription fees in South Africa by up to 9% from mid-June.

In mid-February, China's StarTimes Media SA which runs the StarSat pay-TV service in Southern Africa, announced with glee that a 0% price increase is "the least we can do" after rival MultiChoice announced its annual DStv price hikes which would come into effect from April.

StarTimes Media SA at the time in a press statement said that it would "be increasing its prices by 0% across its pay-TV portfolio" and that it hoped that "these non-adjustments, which are far below the projected inflation rate for 2023, will help its customers continue to enjoy great TV at affordable prices".

On Thursday the Midrand-based pay-TV operator shocked when it suddenly broke its promise and announced that it would be hiking its subscription fees by up to 9% in two weeks, blaming South Africa's deteriorating economy. 

From 15 June StarTimes Media SA is hiking its StarSat Special package by 8.3% from R120 to R130 per month for 60 TV channels. The StarSat Super bouquet is increased by 8.6% from R230 to R250 per month for 79 TV channels.

StarTimes Media SA is hiking its top StarSat Max bouquet by 9.1% from R330 to R360 per month for 140 TV channels.

"On 17 February we, in good faith, released a statement to our loyal subscribers announcing a zero-rated price increase for the 2023 financial year - we did so based on reliable market indicators that rand value would maintain a degree of stability for 2023," StarTimes Media SA says in a statement explaining why it's now backtracking on its 0% promise.

"The seismic devaluation of the rand is historic - caused by several factors acting in unison - what some describe as 'the perfect storm'. Such factors include: rise in interest rates due to inflationary pressures, persistent load-shedding, geopolitical events (war in Ukraine, US allegations of SA weapon supply to Russia etc.), all of which has resulted in a drop in investor confidence."

"Despite desperate efforts by StarSat management to maintain bouquet price stability we are left with no choice but to implement marginal price adjustment of between 8% to 9% across each StarSat bouquet."

ALSO READ: StarSat: 0% price increase for 2023 'is the least we can do'. 

StarSat to add CBS Reality, CBS Justice, Kartoon Channel! and FilmBox Action; improves value of its StarSat Super bouquet.

by Thinus Ferreira

StarSat is adding four new TV channels in late-March and during April, and is improving the pay-TV operator's mid-tier package with four other TV channels as well.

After deciding that StarSat won't do any price increase in 2023, China's StarTimes Media SA that runs StarSat from Midrand with the Randburg-based MultiChoice as its main rival, is adding the CBS Reality, CBS Justice, Kartoon Channel! and FilmBox Action channel later this month and in April to its StarSat Super package.

CBS Reality will be added to StarSat channel 170 on 22 March and carries shows like Judge Judy and Cheaters. CBS Justice will be added to StarSat channel 222 from 22 March and is for crime-lovers with true-crime series, ranging from crimes committed by the rich and famous to passion killings by the guy next door.

Kartoon Channel will go live on StarSat on channel 304 on 10 April and is aimed at kids between two and 10 years of age. The channel has kids shows on weekdays and family-friendly movies over weekends, with content ranging from Stan Lee's Superhero Kindergarten to Peppa Pig.

FilmBox Action will be added to channel 140 on StarSat on 10 April and is dedicated to the action genre, with iconic action heroes in classic Hollywood films, spectacular series from America, Europe, and Asia, and modern blockbusters.

StarSat is also improving its mid-tier offering with the four channels of Manchester United TV (StarSat 252), Real Madrid TV (StarSat 254), MSNBC (StarSat 263) and Fashion TV Africa (StarSat 282) being made available to StarSat Super package subscribers.

StarSat says that with South Africans having experienced a year marked by a "state of emergency, rising inflation and flooding, the average consumer struggles to make ends meet. Service providers should try assisting their customers in this time of need".

"StarSat, unlike some of its competitors, will keep prices for all TV bouquet offerings unchanged in 2023," says John Yan, StarSat CEO.

"Just like all other service providers, our costs go up yearly. We at StarSat, however, have decided to absorb that cost to allow South Africans to continue to afford our rich and diverse content offer."

"We're very pleased that we managed to secure four new channels for our Super Package subscribers," says John Yan. "We trust that these channels will be a boon to our customer's television enjoyment."

From 17 March StarSat, as part of a new content marketing initiative, StarSat is also going to make one higher-tiered TV channel available to StarSat Special package subscribers, starting with the launch of a new English-dubbed telenovela, Marry Me, Marry You.

StarSat says the pay-TV operator plans to announce the acquisition of several new TV channels in the second half of 2023.

ALSO READ: StarSat: 0% price increase for 2023 'is the least we can do'.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice adds Qwest TV to DStv, StarTimes adds Kartoon Channel! for StarSat as 2023's first TV channel add-ons.

Russia's RT channel pulled from StarTimes Media SA's StarSat on the one-year anniversary of Russia's Ukraine war.

by Thinus Ferreira

On the one-year anniversary of Russia's war with Ukraine, Russia's propaganda TV channel Russia Today (RT) has now also been removed from StarSat in South Africa and StarTimes across sub-Saharan Africa after nine months.

Following Russian president Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine and the subsequent war, Russia Today went dark on MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service on channel 407 on 2 March last year, after a flurry of severe international sanctions and trade restrictions imposed against Russia. 

Russia Today has been widely criticised for its one-sided coverage of Russia's war with Ukraine.

Trade sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) saw Russia Today's satellite uplinking - a channel feed connection making use of European companies for transponder uplinking - cut off at the same time that Google and other companies blocked RT's YouTube streaming.

MultiChoice makes use of the Intelsat IS-20 satellite as a transponder through which the Randburg-based company leases capacity on and which is subject to the EU blocking of Russia Today.

Two months after Russia Today disappeared from DStv, the channel suddenly popped up on StarSat in South Africa and StarTimes in the rest of Africa since May 2022. 

StarTimes and StarSat are run by China's StarTimes Media SA on channel 260. 

While China officially takes a neutral position over Russia's war in Ukraine, the country has refused to criticise Russia for its actions or call it an invasion and is helping prevent efforts to condemn Russia at the United Nations.

StarSat told TVwithThinus in May 2022 in response to a media query about how it was able to show Russia Today when satellite transponder companies have been blocked from distributing the channel, that "After we reached a carriage agreement with RT, they deliver the feed to our uplinking station straightly, then we uplink to SES-5 and broadcast to our customers".

StarTimes was uplinking the Russia Today channel feed through SES S.A.'s SES-5 satellite transponder on which StarTimes/StarSat is leasing space.

Similar to Intelsat which has its corporate headquarters in Luxembourg, SES S.A. is a satellite and terrestrial telecommunications network provider also based in Luxembourg in Europe.

In May 2022, SES SA told TVwithThinus that the company had engaged with European regulatory bodies to suspend the distribution of specific Russia Today channels across Europe and that SES "turned the designated signals off per the European sanctions passed on 2 March 2022" but that Russia Today delivered through SES-5 "is not one that has been banned by the European Union".

SES SA said that the company has been "engaging with our customers and regulatory authorities to assess both what we can do and must do under the various legal regimes to which we are subject. SES is prepared to take immediate action and implement any instructions we receive from regulatory authorities".

On Thursday Russia Today abruptly disappeared from StarSat and StarTimes after nine months after EU sanctions have now been applied to block the channel on the Midrand-based pay-TV operator's platform as well.

StarSat in a notification says it "regrets to inform our subscribers that effective immediately, Russia Today (channel 260) will be offline until further notice".

"The satellite company responsible for beaming RT to StarSat has terminated the signal due to sanctions implemented by the European Union. Please note for now it will only be available on the StarTimes On App. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

Meanwhile, Russia Today's work continues on setting up its new African headquarters in South Africa under Paula Slier, the South African TV reporter who previously worked for SABC News and who was posted in Jerusalem, Israel, as RT's correspondent for that region. She is now overseeing the creation of an African bureau.

RT told News24 in July "We are indeed currently focused on developing our English-language Africa hub in South Africa, headed up by Paula Slier - a South Africa native, RT's longtime correspondent and formerly head of RT's Jerusalem bureau".

ALSO READ: The Russia Today TV channel abruptly disappears on Wednesday evening from MultiChoice's DStv, and TelkomONE in South Africa.

ALSO READ: Russia Today channel back on South African television after China's StarTimes Media adds it to StarSat.

ALSO READ: Russia's RT channel eyes African expansion with a South African newsroom run by Paula Slier.

StarTimes Media SA continues to create new jobs with dubbing of global telenovelas into South African languages on StarSat, says diverse slate of Zulu-dubbed series from several countries planned.

by Thinus Ferreira

StarTimes Media SA says it continues to create new jobs in South Africa's film and TV industry through the use of its Midrand-based dubbing studios to create new voiceover soundtracks in Zulu and other South African languages for global telenovelas on its StarSat satellite pay-TV service - and that several more Zulu-dubbed series are in the works.

eMedia was first to start dubbing international telenovelas for its set of e.tv-packaged TV channels in South Africa into Afrikaans, along with ZEE Africa also doing dubbing work into English and other languages.

This was followed by StarTimes Media SA which started to dub international telenovelas into Zulu. Lately MultiChoice is also using its Dolby Atmos equipped studio in Randburg to now dub Turkish telenovelas into Afrikaans for M-Net's Afrikaans-run kykNET channels on DStv.

"In 2021 StarSat launched its state-of-the-art dubbing studios in Midrand, South Africa. The main objective of its new initiative is to adapt its best-performing telenovelas to Zulu and other indigenous South African languages," says Debbie Wu, On Digital Media (ODM) CEO.

"We are very excited about the possibility of ensuring the widest accessibility of South African audiences to award-winning telenovelas dubbed into main indigenous languages."

"Our dubbing initiative continues to create many new jobs along the value chain. Since the launch of our dubbing studios, we have recruited and trained numerous South African youth as voice actors, directors, translators, editors, and sound engineers."

StarSat says that based on the recent success of the Zulu-dubbed version of the Philippine novella The Blood Sisters, StarSat has since launched a Zulu version of the popular Zee TV novella Waaris: Indlalifa.

StarSat says a diverse slate of more Zulu-dubbed telenovelas from Mexico, South Korea, Spain and India are in the works to be broadcast on StarSat's StarTimes RISE (StarSat 120) channel.

"Running parallel to our novella content adaption strategy is our focus on delivering the best English novellas to more South Africans," says Debbie Wu.

"We are proud to announce the broadcast of the Philippine novella La Vida Lena on the StarTimes Novella E Plus channel. Another novella 'must-see' is Zee Novella's My Left Side – the story of a powerful woman whose riches-to-rags experience puts her in direct conflict and interest with a man who has lived in the lap of luxury his whole life."

La Vida Lena is shown daily on ST Novella E Plus (StarTimes 128) at 20:40. My Left Side is shown daily on ST Novella E (StarSat 127) at 19:00. Love by Chance is shown daily on StarLife (StarSat 550) at 18:00.

Neither StarSat, Cell C black nor OpenView HD interested in taking over the ANN7 channel from MultiChoice's DStv.

Neither StarSat, Cell C black nor OpenView HD are interested in taking over the ANN7 channel from MultiChoice's DStv, with none of the three TV providers who carry TV news channels in a position - or willing - to pump the millions of rand into the so-called "Guptanews" channel that's required to keep such a channel afloat.

MultiChoice's has decided to dump ANN7, that's been a mistake-riddled embarrassment since the first day it launched on 21 August 2013, from its DStv satellite pay-TV platform at the end of July.

MultiChoice discarding ANN7 doesn't technically spell the shutdown of the channel since the floundering Mzwanele Manyi owned TV albatross could be taken over by another platform - although nobody else actually wants, or can afford, it.

StarSat CEO Debbie Wu tells TVwithThinus that "as you are aware StarSat just came out of business rescue, our current focus is to re-establish and stabilise the business. Currently we have not mandated any engagements in connection with ANN7.

Surie Ramasary, Cell C black chief executive says "We have a very strong suite of news channels and a news specific package on black with our current content offering and are not looking to include additional news channels at this time.  We will review our news content offering when appropriate."

eMedia Investments that run the free-to-air satellite TV platform, OpenView HD through its Platco Digital division, says "eMedia Investments will not be commenting on the issue you have raised below."

It's extremely unlikely that OpenView HD will take over ANN7 since the channel's operating costs are too expensive, OpenView HD can't pay that, and eMedia Investments already supply the rival TV news channel eNCA to MultiChoice's DStv.


ANN7 can't exist without a platform
ANN7, now owned by Afrotone Media Holdings, can't exist on its own and can't broadcast directly to viewers - it needs a platform through which to broadcast for two reasons.

Firstly ANN7 can't for instance just become a YouTube channel or be turned into a free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) channel since it doesn't have such a license. ANN7 was commissioned by MultiChoice as specifically a satellite TV channel with the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

Like M-Net's Mzansi Magic or ITV Choice or BBC Worldwide's BBC Earth, ANN7 is a channel that was created for and must sit in a TV decoder basket. Like a gold fish in a bowl, it can't exist independently outside of the environment that keeps it alive.

Icasa okay'ed ANN7 as a pay-TV channel for a satellite TV service. Therefore ANN7 can't suddenly broadcast to everyone like a SABC1 or e.tv.

Even if it were to do so, ANN7 would first have to get a type of DTT or analogue television broadcasting frequency and license - something Icasa is not issuing now or anymore.

ANN7 will also then have to find a terrestrial signal distributor like Sentech, and pay millions of rand for its TV signal to be send through the airwaves so that TV antennas can receive it.

ANN7 as an expensive operation also needs millions to keep afloat, and the possible income generated from YouTube or other streaming services simply won't be enough.

Secondly ANN7 is very largely dependent on what is known in the biz as "carriage fees" - the money the platform it is on, pays the channel for its content.

This "carriage fee" is the millions of rand that MultiChoice has been paying ANN7 as part of the carriage agreement or contract. It is the controversially large amounts of money that MultiChoice has been pumping into ANN7 over the past four years although the channel kept damaging the MultiChoice and DStv brands.

It's also interesting to note that carriage agreements between TV platform operators and TV channel suppliers usually stipulate that if a channel's content quality isn't up to scratch that penalties kick in, often in the form of reduced carriage fee payments.

Just like in shops where last season's leftover fashion rejects are marked down in the "bargain bin" and the price of food items are decreased as they near their sell by date because their value are diminishing as a result of their quality going down, bad TV channels as a product are paid less than premium, "good" channels.

In MultiChoice's and ANN7's case however, when ANN7 performed extremely badly, MultiChoice didn't penalise ANN7 by paying it less, but decided to pay ANN7 even more.

ANN7 essentially since launch became a laughing stock for its bad audio and video quality, amateur anchors making mistakes and struggling to read, numerous technical mistakes and spelling mistakes.

MultiChoice decided to pump millions of rand more into ANN7 when the channel under-performed and suffered from bad quality, with MultiChoice saying in a statement it decided to pay ANN7 even more money because "the terms of the agreement were renegotiated and payments increased when it became apparent that ANN7 needed to improve quality on the channel".

StarSat rebrands and replaces some channels, dumps RTP; adds SowetoTV, Trace Africa and 3 StarTimes packaged channels.

StarSat is rebranding and replacing some TV channels, adding some channels - including three StarTimes packaged channels - and ending the Portuguese channel RTP.

The satellite pay-TV operator from StarTimes Media South Africa and On Digital Media (ODM) warned StarSat subscribers at the end of August that it would be terminating the Viasat Life channel after just 9 months on its platform over "contractual reasons" but told TVwithThinus the channel is now remaining.

Instead the international Portuguese version of RTP - the channel from Portugal's public broadcaster - carried on StarSat on channel 370 will be removed from 15 September.

In other changes StarSat has rebranded ST Movies 1 (StarSat 100) to ST Movies Plus; ST Novela E1 (StarSat 127) to ST Novela E; and Star Life OK (StarSat 562) to Star Bharat.

From September StarSat has added the community TV channel SowetoTV (StarSat 488) and TRACE's music channel Trace Africa (StarSat 334) to StarSat'sR99 Special bouquet and the R199 Super bouquet respectively.

Both SowetoTV and Trace Africa are available on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform as well.

StarSat has also added ST Naija, ST Novela E Plus and ST KungFu Plus as further self-packaged channels from StarTimes.

ST Naija (StarSat 324) has been added to the R99 Special bouquet and shows Nigerian and Ghanaian music ranging from Afro-pop, Afro beat, Afro-hip, Hip-hop, R&B, Ragga and Dancehall, including golden classics and international hits.

ST Novela E Plus (StarSat 128) has been added to the R199 Super bouquet. This female-skewed channel shows telenovelas from Mexico, The Philippines and Turkey dubbed into English.

ST KungFu Plus (StarSat 156) has been added to the R199 Super bouquet. ST KungFu Plus shows Chinese Kung Fu as well as China’s landscapes, culture, arts and customs with programmes dubbed into English.

StarSat finally launches its first PVR capable decoder in South Africa; here's all the details about StarSat's new Combo 3 decoder.

Pay-TV operator StarSat has finally launched its first personal video recorder (PVR) capable decoder in South Africa, making it possible for subscribers to digitally record programmes available on StarSat's TV channels for the first time.

The new StarSat decoder called the StarSat Combo 3 decoder, costs R399 and includes a satellite dish and free installation.

The black with orange trim decoder is similar to the black and lime green trim Combo HD decoder that StarSat's Chinese parent company StarTimes introduced elsewhere in Africa in late-2016, with only a different outer shell and the exact same remote control.

The StarSat Combo 3 decoder is so-called since it incorporates 3 abilities. Besides the ability to be used as a PVR if a subscriber attaches an external hard drive or big enough USB, it combines the features of digital terrestrial television (DTT) and digital satellite direct-to-home (DTH) technologies on the same decoder.

This enables StarSat subscribers to get access to subscription pay-TV channels like the various bouquets offered by StarSat, but also the free-to-air digital TV channel signals that might be available.

While South Africa is lagging far behind with the switch to DTT, a process known as digital migration, and with almost no DTT channels available, StarSat subscribers with the new decoder can now for instance pick up the SABC News (DStv 404) channel as well that so far has only been available to DStv satellite viewers.

While the SABC News channel is available exclusively to MultiChoice's DStv subscribers as part of a SABC channels deal, SABC News is already being broadcast as a digital terrestrial channel as well, with people who can receive it with a proper DTT set-top box (STB) able to decode the signal like the new StarSat decoder.

The RF In and RF Out feature also allows StarSat subscribers to connect more than one TV set to the Combo 3 decoder.

The new StarSat Combo 3 decoder has "only" 21 buttons, with users who can also customise menu transparency and has options to change the interface colour.

The new StarSat Combo 3 decoder is the third decoder for the company in South Africa. StarSat, formerly known as TopTV, launched in May 2010 and quickly promised the introduction of a PVR.

After initial promises that didn't come to fruition, TopTV multiple times over the past years promised the introduction of a PVR decoder to the market but it never materialised.

After the struggling On Digital Media (ODM) that entered business rescue got a cash bailout rescue from the Chinese pay-TV operator StarTimes and renamed TopTV to StarSat, StarTimes Media South Africa introduced a new white decoder in November 2013.

Use of this second, white decoder that was R599 but also without digital recording capability, became compulsory in 2016 for StarSat subscribers.

The new third decoder, the StarSat Combo 3, offers "a vastly improved viewing experience to our customers in high definition (HD)," says John Yan, StarSat CEO.

Asked why StarSat is now introducing a new decoder with a PVR ability, the pay-TV operator says it is "constantly striving to improve its service and commitment to the customer experience, with emphasis on providing the highest possible quality digital signal".

"The Combo 3 is capable of providing a full HD 1080p signal, thus ensuring that StarSat is able to deliver on this commitment to its customers".

Asked about the recording capacity and how many hours the StarSat Combo 3 decoder can record, the company says the decoder's recording functionality "is facilitated through any external USB storage device by the customer, either a flash drive or external hard drive, thus not limiting the customer to a set number of hours on an internal hard drive".

Asked what will happen to StarSat subscribers using the white decoder they were forced to upgrade to a year ago or lose their signal, the company says "the white decoder is still an active device and supported by StarSat."

StarSat gives subscribers the opportunity to upgrade. "Any customer wishing to upgrade to the Combo 3 decoder will be able to do so, at a cost of R299, through a StarSat customer experience centre in Gauteng, Durban or Cape Town, or directly through the StarSat customer service centre who will courier a decoder to the customer."

"Customers will also be able to upgrade their older decoders to the Combo 3 through the retail distribution channel in due course".

StarSat subscribers often complain that its electronic programme guide (EPG) is often wrong, out-of-sync with days and time, and some channels EPG grid empty. The EPG is however needed and used to enable PVR recordings.

StarSat was asked if EPG improvement is something it's looking at doing, and if so, what kind of improvements are being made.

"The software innovations in the Combo 3 decoder have facilitated a more responsive, easy-to-use, interactive remote control, as well as improving the accuracy of the EPG, thus facilitating the recording functionality in a simple or uncomplicated manner," says StarSat.

StarSat was asked how many new Combo 3 decoders have been manufactured so far and how much stock is being placed in South Africa in the first batch to market. "Stock of the Combo 3 is en-route to all StarSat retail partners, with sufficient quantities of decoders available to satisfy customers or market place demand," the company says.

StarSat was asked how long StarTimes has been working on the new StarSat Combo 3 decoder, where it's manufactured and what influenced the design and colour.

"The StarTimes headquarters is located in Beijing, China, and this is also the prime location of the group's R&D and manufacturing facilities," says StarSat that recently moved its South African headquarters from Woodmead to Midrand in Johannesburg.

"As a recognised technology provider, continually working on innovative products and services, StarTimes was motivated to deliver a decoder that was sleek and streamlined in design, with a touch of class, and believe that the Combo 3 delivers well on this brief".

If you're wondering why StarSat and information about its content and programming is nowhere it's because StarSat doesn't care and hasn't done any publicity since October 2016.

You as a TV viewer and StarSat subscriber don't and won't see information in the media (a situation going on for months now) about StarSat and what it is showing across its various channels.

It's not because the press and TV critics don't care, but because StarSat can't care a flying ferret about its paying subscribers or the press, or telling viewers through the media what it actually has, why people should subscribe, and what is is showing on its service that is worth tuning in to, on what channel.

For literally months now StarSat hasn't had a PR person or any publicist, and doesn't seem to care to get or have any.

The media liaison person is supposed to deal with media enquiries and be the contact point between the press and the company, and to issue daily, weekly and monthly channel schedules, highlights, images and publicity material for StarSat's StarTimes channels as well as the third-party channels on its platform.

None of that has been happening since at least October 2016.

While you will constantly see programming and announcements for MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform in the media, shockingly StarSat is nowhere and even doing a worse - essentially non-existent - programming publicity job than the very bad SABC.

StarSat's last publicist is gone (fired? left? who knows?) without a word and the PR agency Burson-Marsteller that helped out on the corporate side media enquiries (and even programming enquiries and highlights) was also let go months ago.

While content drives subscriber uptake, awareness, combat churn and lets both subscribers and non-subscribers (the public) know what is actually on and being shown, StarSat can't seem to care about any of it at all.

It has a pay-TV service although On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media South Africa can't be bothered in the slightest to actually communicate what that service is doing and even more crucially - showing.

Executives at the Woodmead based pay-TV operation have made it painfully clear what their priority(ies) is  - and isn't - and that they just don't care if StarSat programming and channel info appear in newspapers, magazines, listings and online: The very things that make people see it and maybe go: "ooh, may I should get StarSat", or "ooh, I want to watch that".

Several media enquiries to StarSat executives - both South Africa and Chinese - the past few months just go, unanswered, into a void.

That is also sort of where StarSat overall remains as existing subscribers continue to complain bitterly, daily about bad programming, repeats, the unresponsive call centre, not getting answers about why channels are being removed, the bad video and audio quality of some channels, and why their basic questions are not being answered.

StarSat has now literally been without any publicist or front-facing PR help for half a year. Half a year. Let that sink in.

That is completely unheard of for any modern-day company, let alone a service provider company like a pay-TV operator.

It's not that StarSat, ODM and StarTimes Media SA doesn't care about trying to get any so-called "good press" for its content or company - it's that it doesn't even care about getting "bad press" or no press.

A local South Africa show like Point of Order is being produced and broadcast but is basically dead in the water - nowhere because of zero publicity from StarSat.

Are StarTimes executives like Michael Dearham and Debbie Wu (apparently StarSat acting CEO but who even knows?) even aware about the ongoing damage StarSat is suffering by being without a person who deals with and interacts with the media? Do they even care?

When not even the media knows what is on StarSat and its channels, how can subscribers, or people thinking of signing up for the service?

It's also a massive disservice from StarSat to distributors and content providers giving channels to StarSat but whose content, line-ups and programming are not being marketed and publicised  - something that is StarSat's job.

From Viasat Life to StarTimes One and from Fine Living and Zee TV and MSNBC, none of any of the TV channel brands on StarSat exist because they're not given the programming publicity push sell-through they deserve.

It's trash-bad that StarTimes wants to hullabaloo that it has 8 million African subscribers and getting close to rivaling MultiChoice, yet can't seem to really bother, or be concerned about StarSat subscribers in South Africa getting a very bad service and the media getting no service at all.

As a journalist and a TV critic I've dealt with On Digital Media (ODM) ever since it launched TopTV in May 2011 and eventually rebranded as StarSat.

It always had at least one in-house publicist although none managed to last, used some PR companies and had someone who could at least point to where to find the door to knock on.

Sadly StarSat doesn't seem to even have a door anymore. At least not one even I anymore know where to find.

MultiChoice Zimbabwe says DStv is not quitting the country, while Zimbabwe regulator slams fake news that StarTimes' StarSat has a licence to broadcast in Zimbabwe.

MultiChoice Africa has no plans to quit Zimbabwe despite dramatically worsening trading conditions in the Southern Africa country for the satellite pay-TV operator, while Zimbabwe's regulator is denying fake reports and says rival StarTimes doesn't have any licence to broadcast and operate the StarSat service in the country.

The Zimbabwe government, through the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank is continuing to clamp down on money leaving the country and last month shifted its focus to DStv, slamming citizens in mid-February for their "illogical behaviour" of subscribing to DStv .

The bank said Zimbabwe citizens who want DStv and pay for it, are part of creating an "unsustainable" situation and should rather spend money on raw material to produce things like cooking oil.

Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank said DStv subscribers in the country's struggling economy are worsening Zimbabwe's foreign exchange situation, since DStv subscription payments are a big cause money leaving the country.

Since late last year several payment options for DStv subscribers in Zimbabwe simply disappeared with payment processing providers announcing that they simply can't continue to process DStv payments, making it increasingly difficult for DStv subscribers in Zimbabwe to maintain and pay for an uninterrupted service.

Zimbabwe's increasingly restrictive stance on money leaving the country is raising fears over MultiChoice Africa and MultiChoice Zimbabwe's future in the country.

The use of Visa credit cards outside of Zimbabwe has already been disabled without prior warning and Econet Wireless has also been forced to stop payments for DStv subscriptions in Zimbabwe in American dollar through its mobile money platform EcoCash.

DStv payment platforms in Zimbabwe like OK Zimbabwe and Telecash have also abruptly shuttered DStv payments over the past few months.

Many Zimbabweans now have to convert their money into South African rand and do payment that way, but there's also amount limits being imposed, making this option increasingly more difficult and almost impossible as well.

MultiChoice Zimbabwe on Tuesday in a statement said it's not leaving Zimbabwe or ending its DStv service.

"Erroneous reports have been made by uninformed people that there has been a cessation or curtailing of DStv services to Zimbabwe," said Lovemore Mangwende, MultiChoice Zimbabwe CEO.

"These rumours are untrue and DStv services remain fully functional. Any speculation to the contrary is inaccurate and possibly misguided. Our call centre and customer care centres are able to assist with answers to queries."

StarTimes' StarSat not authorised to broadcast in Zim

Meanwhile Zimbabwe's Broadcasting Association of Zimbabwe slammed fake news reports that China's StarTimes had been granted a licence to broadcast its South African branded StarSat pay-TV service in Zimbabwe, saying stories are "patently false".

Sites likes Advanced Television and Telecompaper this week reported that China's StarTimes pay-TV operator has launched in Zimbabwe under the StarSat banner that's also used in South Africa by StarTimes Media South Africa and On Digital Media (ODM). 

"The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) would like to advise the public that the claim to the effect that a company called StarTimes has been issued with a licence to provide a direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service in Zimbabwe is patently false," said Obert Muganyura, BAZ CEO.

"The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe would like to put it on record that StarTimes has not been issued with a licence to provide any broadcasting service in Zimbabwe and is therefore not authorised to provide its StarSat service within the territory of Zimbabwe."

"The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe would like to urge the media to verify facts with the relevant authorities to avoid misleading the public".

StarSat adds its first local South African drama, Maseko Ties, as a telenovela on StarTimes One; hopes to lure viewers with its feuding Maseko Hospital family.

Grey's Anatomy meets Generations as StarSat is unveiling its first local South African drama series - a half hour hospital drama telenovela entitled Maseko Ties - that will start tonight (Monday) on StarTimes One (StarSat 120) at 20:30.

The three day a week telenovela that wasn't specifically commissioned but picked up by On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media South Africa for its satellite pay-TV platform, will run on StarSat from Mondays to Wednesdays and has 26 licenced episodes revolving around the Maseko family and their Maseko Hospital.

Described by StarSat as "Grey's Anatomy meets Generations", Maseko Ties is StarSat's first proper and new local South African drama series.

It's the first new longform local drama production broadcast on StarSat since the failed TopTV brand imploded and with it its fledgling local content commissioning plans that never properly got off the ground and produced a few short-lived local shows like Top Entertainment.

While China's StarTimes has made bigger inroads the past three years in producing local African content for some of its StarTimes channels elsewhere in Africa, it has done nothing for specifically StarSat in South Africa that has been in business rescue since the end of 2012 until last month.

StarTimes is now looking to change that through a new focus on local South African television content investment, adding to shows like Puppet Nation and Point of Order.

Filming on Maseko Ties, produced by KMP Productions, started in October 2015, with the first season's 26 episodes that was filmed at Le Chatelat Boutique Hotel in Sandhurst in Johannesburg.

In its tough 20:00 timeslot, Maseko Ties will go up against the SABC1 soap Generations - The Legacy and the e.tv telenovela Gold Diggers. The show has no publicity cast picture.

The story of Maseko Ties is set around the Masekos who has doctors in the family - a bit like kykNET's (DStv 144) longrunning Binnelanders soap and the German series Die Schwarzwalkklinik that the SABC dubbed into Afrikaans as Die Swartwoudkliniek on TV1 during the 1990's.

In classic telenovela style, Maseko Ties sees Dr. John Maseko (Amos Ketlele) fighting to preserve the Maseko legacy and his idea of the perfect family as jealousy, secrets, dangerous ambition and manipulation start to unravel the medical clan.

The Maseko Ties cast includes Samela Tyelbooi as eldest daughter Grace Maseko who falls in love with a "Ben 10" photographer ten years younger than her, while her dad wants her to become the next chief of staff.

Other actors include Yonda Thomas, Monnye Kunupi, Tshepo Desando, Nina Marais, Sibusisiwe Jili and Mpho Mabaso, playing characters ranging from one with a vendetta against the family named Sydney who wants to take over the hospital, to Molly, the youngest sibling who resents Grace.

Meanwhile Aunt Rose is a Sally Spectra type aunt who influences people from the sidelines.

"We believe that Maseko Ties will fast become a firm favourite with our viewers," says Mike Dearham, the vice president of StarTimes.

"At StarSat we are committed to growing local content and enabling producers to provide high quality local programmes for the pay-TV industry. The appetite for local content continues to grow and we will constantly search for new local content to meet the viewing preferences of our subscribers."

Here is a promo for the show (and no, it's not you, it's them: a lot of the acting in it looks cardboard and stilted):

FOX's FOX Crime channel on DStv and StarSat that was introduced in 2013, to change to the FOX Life channel from September - report.

After running for just 3 years for South African viewers, the FOX Crime channel from FOX Networks Group running on DStv and StarSat is set to be replaced with the FOX Life channel from September.

The FOX Crime (DStv 126 / StarSat 132) channel, showing crime and investigative programming, is set to make way for the drama and sitcom channel FOX Life, a "lighter" version of FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) channel filled with mostly library titles and older series as a non-premium TV channel.

TVSA reports that FOX Crime will switch and be replaced from September.

FOX Crime was added by MultiChoice to DStv from July 2013 and was added by StarTimes Media SA and On Digital Media ()DM) to StarSat from November 2013.

FOX Crime has been utterly mangled on the StarSat platform where it's frequently been a channel that got "stuck" over the past two years, with bad signal quality leading to "jumping" video, bad and gone audio and multiple FOX Crime channel blackouts without any explanations from StarSat.

TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice about the reported switch of FOX Crime to FOX Life.

MultiChoice said: "When we are in a position to talk about any changes to the DStv service, we'll make the necessary announcements starting with our partners in the media such as yourself".

TVwithThinus asked FOX Africa, involved with the running of the set of FOX channels like FOX Crime, why FOX Crime is going to change to FOX Life, what is going to happen to series that haven't concluded on FOX Crime by the time of the switch, what the FOX Life channel is about and for a FOX Life channel logo.

No FOX Life channel logo was supplied.

FOX Africa only responded after days and several enquiries (and a day after MultiChoice) with the exact same sentence as MultiChoice - and with an apparently missing word during a badly edited replace change.

"When we are in a position to talk about any changes  FOX , we'll make the necessary announcements starting with our partners in the media such as yourself".

Next channels on StarSat going dark is the NBA TV and NBA TV HD channels from 30 June; taken over exclusively by another pay-TV operator.

NBA TV (StarSat 206) and NBA TV HD (StarSat 207) are the next two channels on On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media South Africa's StarSat.

The channels are being terminated and going dark on the Woodmead-based satellite pay-TV platform's service on 30 June.

StarSat said the NBA TV channel and its high-definition (HD) version has been taken over exclusively by another pay-TV operator, but TVwithThinus has etablished that it's not MultiChoice and its DStv service.

StarSat didn't tell the media about the latest channels' loss but in response to a media enquiry confirms to me that the NBA channels covering American basketball are indeed going dark on 30 June on StarSat's platform.

The NBA TV channels are going dark two and a half years after it was added in November 2013 to StarSat. The NBA TV HD channel is one of the few HD offered channels actually available on StarSat's HD enabled white set-top box decoder.

StarSat sent an on-screen message to StarSat subscribers informing them of the NBA TV channels' removal on 30 June.

As in the past, StarSat tells its subscribers that the loss of the channels creates an opportunity to acquire other TV channels.

StarSat, even with the backing of China's StarTimes for the past two years, seldom delivers on these promises of replacement and new high-quality channels, with ongoing daily complaints from StarSat subscribers about programming and sound and video quality issues.

"StarSat can confirm that as of 30 June, NBA TV and NBA TV HD will no longer be available on its platform," says the pay-TV provider.

"The decision to close the two channels was taken following the confirmation by FOX who owns the rights to both channels, that they have taken the decision to give another pay-TV platform exclusive broadcast rights."

"StarSat would like to assure its valued subscribers that while these two channels will no longer be available on its platform, it does create an opportunity for the company to acquire other high-quality and entertaining channels for its valued subscribers."

MultiChoice tells me that "MultiChoice is not adding the NBA TV channel to DStv because it was acquired by another entity on the continent".

StarSat will start showing the Chinese Super League after StarTimes acquires the exclusive broadcasting rights for Africa for three years until 2018.

StarSat will start showing the Chinese Super League after StarTimes has acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights for Sub-Saharan Africa for three seasons from 2016 to 2018.

There's so far been no announcement from On Digital Media (ODM) and StarTimes Media SA that runs StarSat in South Africa and Southern Africa about the soccer content acquisition.

In 2015 StarTimes and StarSat said it will start to funnel a lot more Chinese TV content - especially Chinese TV series - to Africa and South African television.

The kick off for the Chinese Football Association Super League was 11th March 2016 with the season ending on 5th October 2016. Two matches between the strongest teams per week will have English commentary bringing a total of 60 matches over 30 weeks.

It's not yet clear on what StarSat channel or channels the Chinese soccer will be shown.

StarTimes over the last year secured exclusive rights to broadcast certain soccer, basketball and tennis tournaments across the African continent and is slowly adding sports channels.

Besides this sport content StarTimes acquired the International World Rally Championships, the World Boxing Titles and Germany football league, the Bundesliga that's no longer available on SuperSport on MultiChoice's DStv. Other StarTimes soccer rights  include the Italian League, Serie A.