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

by Thinus Ferreira

StarSat says the pay-TV service will not be increasing its subscription fees this year like rivalMultiChoice and is giving a week free of the StarSat Super bouquet for StarSat Special customers who buy one month of StarSat Super.

After the Randburg-based MultiChoice on Wednesday announced its annual DStv price hike, the Midrand-based StarSat is responding by saying that "From 1 April 2023, StarSat will be increasing its prices by 0% across its pay-TV portfolio".

StarSat currently offers three packages: StarSat Special at R120 per month for 60 TV channels, StarSat Super at R230 per month for 79 TV channels, and StarSat Max at R330 per month for R140 TV channels.

StatSat, run by China's StarTimes Media, in a jab to MultiChoice, says that its 0% pay-TV increase in 2023 "is to help South Africans afford their escapism in a country rife with difficulties".

"The Covid-19 lockdowns and the current power crisis have caused tremendous financial strain on the people of South Africa. StarSat's 0% price increase across its entire TV portfolio is aimed at reducing some of that burden. StarSat hopes 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."

StarSat says that "not increasing prices is the least that StarSat can do to contribute to inclusive and affordable public access to digital television. StarSat will continue to do its best to manage key input costs to keep price increases below inflation".

"Our quest to enrich our content offer is on track. We will soon announce premiere dates for several new internationally acclaimed channels for inclusion in the Super bouquet." 

StarSat also announced that it is introducing a policy to award loyal customers. 

StarSat customers who've been on the StarSat Special package since before 8 February, whether dormant or active, can now buy one month's access to the StarSat Super bouquet and will get one week extra free. StarSat says this limited-time offer is available until 5 March. 

"If a customer commits for a year, they will receive one month extra free," StarSat says.

StarSat's 0% increase comes as eMedia is preparing to enter the pay-TV arena with MultiChoice and StarSat soon, in the form of a pay-TV service through its own existing Openview decoders.

Openview Ultra which will be available through existing Openview decoders will offer existing Openview customers the options of adding pay-TV Bollywood and gay bouquets.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice: Here is the pay-TV company's DStv pricing from April 2023.

ALSO READ: e.tv to launch Openview Ultra as a pay-TV service with Bollywood and gay bouquets.

StarSat axes Afrikaans channels MYtv and OnseTV after 13 years, says it failed to penetrate Afrikaans pay-TV market with enough scale.

by Thinus Ferreira

StarTimes Media has decided to axe its set of Afrikaans TV channels on its StarSat satellite pay-TV service after 13 years, with MYtv - previously branded as ASTV - and OnseTV which has been running for the past five years, both getting terminated at the end of the month and with the Christian channel InPasTV already off air.

StarSat told TVwithThinus in response to a media query that its "Afrikaans-speaking subscriber base is minuscule - less than 2% - the vast majority of our customers (95% or more) use indigenous African language, primarily Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Pedi, Shangaan) as preferred medium of communication".

StarSat says MYtv and OnseTV were on a fixed-term basis contract, expiring at the end of September

"From a strategic perspective in order for StarSat to develop competitive edge in an increasingly crowded media and entertainment space, we are compelled to re-position the business as preferred destination for TV entertainment options in South Africa in indigenous languages not adequately catered for by mainstream competitors."

"Local content production for linear TV is costly and this cost is rising each year. In order to manage cost in a hyper-competitive, unregulated pay-TV environment, we have had to steadily shift our procurement focus away from 3rd party content provision, to a more internally focused content production capability."

"In this regard, we focus are developing strategic capability in areas of; content adaption, dubbing, sub-titling supported by innovative low-cost commissioning of unique programme formats that appeal to the vast majority of indigenous African language StarSat viewers."

StarSat says "In recent time, we have witnessed the launch of several new Afrikaans channels by linear operators and new streaming initiatives. The Afrikaans market has become a highly contested one, supported by cost-intensive investment by the more 'resourced' media players in South Africa".

"Starsat has attempted to pre-emptively challenge such competitor actions with launch of MyTV and OnseTV, and despite best effort our challenge to penetrate the Afrikaans market at scale has not proven very successful."

"We have thus opted to re-align our focus to niche African language groups as first priority. This does not preclude the future possibility of re-entry into Afrikaans community, but for now we have to prioritize deployment of scarce resources to cater for the culturally specific entertainment need of majority of our customer base." 

MYtv, run from Rustenburg, launched as ASTV 13 years ago and was heralded as a competitor for M-Net's set of kykNET channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform. ASTV was added to StarSat, then known as TopTV, in October 2009. 

Due to TopTV and StarSat's much smaller subscriber base and limited programming schedule comprising mostly advertiser-funded shows, ASTV and MYtv never gained the cultural prominence or audience scale that kykNET achieved.

The OnseTV channel was added to StarSat in September 2017, aimed at South Africa's Afrikaans-speaking coloured audience, with ASTV which was also available for a few years on eMedia's Openview free-to-air satellite TV service before that contract was terminated.

MYtv says it got no reason for the upcoming termination of its TV channels on StarSat from StarTimes Media SA.

"We say goodbye to StarSat with a heavy heart, but we are thankful for the 13 years we've had to broadcast there," says Jaco Ferreira, managing director. "We'll forever be thankful for the time we had to spend with the StarSat team."

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

by Thinus Ferreira

Russia's state-sponsored TV channel Russia Today (RT) is back on South African television after China's StarTimes has suddenly picked up the channel despite international sanctions, with RT which is now available on StarSat on channel 260.

Russia Today has been widely criticised for its one-sided coverage of Russia's war with Ukraine. Observers have been faulting RT for presenting information as so-called news reporting although it's not factual or not fact-based.

Russia Today, which was carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, abruptly went dark on 2 March shortly after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war with its neighbouring country, resulting in a flurry of international sanctions and trade restrictions imposed against Russia.

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 the propaganda channel's YouTube streaming.

For the past two months, MultiChoice has been showing DStv subscribers a title card on DStv channel 407 explaining how the EU blocking of Russia Today means that the RT signal is not available through Intelsat's IS-20 satellite transponder that MultiChoice is using and leasing space on.

China's StarTimes Media, operating as StarSat in South Africa, confirmed to TVwithThinus that it has acquired Russia Today and is now showing it on StarSat channel 260.

StarTimes says it's uplinking the Russia Today channel feed through SES S.A.'s SES-5 satellite transponder on which StarTimes/StarSat is leasing space for South and Southern Africa. 

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.

StarSat tells TVwithThinus in response to a media query it got TV channel application permission from South Africa's broadcasting regulator the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to add Russia Today.

"We have received ICASA's approval on 10 May, therefore we launched this channel from 11 May 2022 and it's available in our Super package from R109 per month on channel 260".

Asked why it decided to add RT, a StarSat spokesperson says "StarSat as a platform takes pride in sourcing relevant and current content to enhance our packages, thus we regard RT Global as a 24-hour English-language news channel that focuses on all major economic, political and social issues of our time. RT is broadcast on the StarTimes platform in South Africa and the rest of Africa".

Asked how StarSat is able to show Russia Today although it was removed from transponder uplinking due to EU sanctions, StarSat says "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".

I've reached out to SES. S.A. with a media query on Thursday but didn't get a response by the time of publication which will be added here if received.

I've also reached out to ICASA about the approval process and a response will be added here if received.

In the United Kingdom where Russia Today was removed in March as well, the British broadcasting regulator Ofcom revoked RT's licence and said the channel is unable to comply with the impartiality rules of the UK's Broadcasting Code.

After 29 investigations, Ofcom said "RT is not fit and proper to hold a licence in the UK".

Last month Bloomberg reported that China's vice foreign minister Le Yucheng said that China will continue strengthening strategic ties with Russia despite Russia's widely-condemned war with Ukraine.

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