MultiChoice: SuperSport isn't going to let streamers steal DStv sports rights

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice is fiercely protective of its exclusive local and international sports rights that it pays millions for to bring to DStv and Showmax subscribers and has sown up these rights for several years into the future, with SuperSport that isn't going to let streamers steal it.

Internationally global video streaming services with deep chequebooks are starting to carve out and gobble up sports rights that used to be on linear television in many countries, from basketball and football to cricket and rugby. 

Streamers are also trying to break into live-streaming sports events of their own.

Netflix for instance last month attempted a Mike Tyson and Jake Paul boxing match in Las Vegas that however ended up crashing for millions of users - including South Africans - who tried to watch it, after it suffered production problems and froze due to buffering issues.

While MultiChoice is cognisant that rivals like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are encroaching on its sports rights turf, the pay-TV provider - which is the target of an aggressive buyout from France's Vivendi SE's Canal+ - says it has sown up several of the most valuable local and international sports rights for several years into the future.

MultiChoice also doesn't think that Netflix Africa and Amazon Prime Video have the appetite to acquire sports rights of African sports, and rights for sub-Saharan Africa, for the foreseeable future.

"On all of our critical rights we typically sign multi-year contracts," Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice chief financial officer (CFO), told me in an interview.

"Because of the high risk that we've had over the last couple of years of some of these big, international streaming services that can afford and have massive balance sheets - Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ - these are guys who can write out a big cheque and compete with us."

"Because of that, we've been very tactical about when we renegotiate these contracts and the duration of the contracts."

"We've managed to secure most of our big sports rights and we've managed to secure them for multiple years," he says.

"In that journey, we have also been able - on some of the really big rights, for example, some of our big football rights - we've actually been around the contract renegotiations been able to renegotiate lower prices," Tim Jacobs explains.

"In the past where there's been a lot of international hype around the leagues, what we've seen more recently, is that as these leagues have introduced some competition in some of the markets - for example, the English Premier League (EPL) - the two big competitors there are Sky on the one and BT on the other side."

"They bid up the cost of those league rights to the point where the guys couldn't monetise it and as a consequence, they all started pulling back. You see this in many instances in other countries in the world, where in France, Canal+ walked away from the French league and it made no sense being the dominant broadcaster there."

"They took a view of 'at a certain price point we can't monetise it'. In our markets what we've been able to do, is to go back and renegotiate with some of these big leagues and say to them 'guys, look at what's happening in Africa, look at the currency pressure, look at the pressure on consumers, we can't afford to pay you these exorbitant amounts".

"We've actually been able to negotiate slightly lower amounts."

Tim Jacobs says MultiChoice thinks it is unlikely in the foreseeable future that streamers like Netflix South Africa and Amazon Prime Video will pick up and show big sports that subscribers are used to accessing and seeing on DStv.

"That doesn't mean that we're not at risk of one of the big players coming in and outbidding us. But we've also got to be realistic about the probability of that happening."

"Amazon Prime Video has stopped doing all development of all general entertainment content in Africa. They're only supplying international content to the African market. Why? Because they're not getting any volume for it."

"Netflix has pulled out of all their Africa productions - that's a recent announcement. They're not producing anymore."

"Now if you don't have enough subscribers to justify local general entertainment offerings, chances are also that buying sports rights means that you're also not going to monetise that."

"We're not saying that it's impossible but it's one area of our business that we are very, very focused on and making sure that where possible we do secure those rights."

MultiChoice: Eskom's Stage 6 electricity blackouts wipe out a third of SA's total TV viewership.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice sees a direct impact between the levels of electricity blackouts in the country and DStv subscribers, with the pay-TV operator that revealed South Africa's total TV audience gets slashed by over a third when Eskom is in a Stage 6 load-shedding phase.

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice's chief financial officer, during the Q&A session of the pay-TV company's first MultiChoice Capital Markets Day held on Wednesday as a virtual event, said that the company can directly see how DStv subscribers and TV viewers in general in South Africa are bearing the brunt of Eskom's inability to keep the power on.

South Africa continues to be plagued by Eskom's ongoing electricity blackouts - locally referred to as "load-shedding" - oscillating between Stage 4 and Stage 6 and wiping millions of television households from the country's TV ratings system daily who watch the SABC, e.tv, or various StarSat or DStv pay-TV channels. 

"We see a direct correlation between the level of load-shedding and the impact on our customers," Tim Jacobs said.

"Once you get into Stage 6 load-shedding - where we've been for quite a bit of the second half of this last financial year - we see two direct correlations that we look at."

"The first one is we look at industry data which is independent of us, so when we have a look at the industry as a whole, at Stage 6 viewership dropped by 34%, whereas on the DStv platform we only dropped 12%."

"The second statistic that we use is the difference between what's happening to our 90-days subscriber base and our active subscriber base at any point in time. We are seeing a disconnect between these two where active subscribers have gone negative but we still see growth in 90-days subscriber base."

"What that tells us is that in our view - although people are under economic pressure and they are choosing tactically when to come and renew their subscriptions, they still want to be on the DStv platform. The 90-days - over a period of three months - that number is a lot higher than the active day subscribers.

"That means that our product is still resonating with customers. We're still comfortable that despite load-shedding customers will come back and we've had experience of this in Africa. In a number of markets in particular, if you look at Zambia and Zimbabwe, Ghana's had electricity problems, and all of these markets tend to bounce back quite strongly once those issues are resolved."

MultiChoice: Why Showmax Pro isn't cannibalising DStv's M-Net and SuperSport viewers.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice says the premium tier of its own video streaming service, Showmax Pro, isn't cannibalising its existing base of DStv Premium subscribers paying for and watching premium content on traditional linear pay-TV channels like M-Net and SuperSport.

MultiChoice says existing premium pay-TV customers are not deciding to rather switch to Showmax Pro since the sports offering is limited and actually more comparable to DStv Compact, with a bigger focus on football content and not so much cricket and rugby content that's only accessible on higher DStv tiers.

MultiChoice released its interim financial results for the six months until end-September 2022 with its top-end premium subscriber base that shrunk by another 3% and 100 000 subscribers in South Africa. Its mid-market subscribers in South Africa shrunk by 100 000 DStv subscribers as well.

MultiChoice still managed to grow its overall number of pay-TV subscribers to 22.1 million customers and now has 9.1 million (41%) pay-TV subscribers in South Africa and 13 million (59%) in the rest of Africa (ROA).

In its interim results investors' call, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO, said "Showmax Pro is basically trying to make sure that those customers that are subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) customers and are not on the linear side of the business, are able to get sport over and above the SVOD offering that we give on Showmax".

"We have seen people that are on Showmax, trying to figure out how to get sport and that's why we gave them an offer which is similar to a DStv Compact offer, and the line-up of sports is similar to what is offered on Compact."

He said "we have seen a good traction in Showmax Pro and that's why we are reporting that subscriber numbers have almost doubled in this reporting period and we think that it has got legs to stand on and will continue to expand on it and make sure that we support it and people can see the value that it brings, especially to SVOD customers that are not interested in the linear side".

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice Group chief financial officer (CFO) said "we don't see this necessarily as a massive substitution risk or a cannibalisation risk on our linear platform (DStv) because the sports offering is largely football, which is priced at a similar pricing level to what you can get football on DStv Compact Plus, but it addresses a different market segment that doesn't necessarily want to buy a DStv decoder".

"They want to rather operate in a more of a streaming kind of world. It's not that a premium customer will kind of substitute a premium package for a Showmax Pro package and then be watching cricket and rugby. It is a more limited sports package in there."

"It is still good. It's got most of the football leagues. And for the football fans it's a very attractive offering. But it is targeted at a very specific part of the market," he said.

About its commented video and video streaming subscriber growth, Tim Jacobs said that MultiChoice doesn't want to give specific Showmax, Showmax Pro and DStv subscriber and user numbers since it wants to keep this from competitors like Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime Video and other global streaming services operating in the same space in South Africa.

"Unfortunately we've made a decision, given the competitive space that we're operating in, and the fact that we don't get much information from any of the participants in this space, to be very cagey about what information we share."

"It's just simply too competitively price-sensitive. So we don't disclose what those splits are, even in subscriber numbers or top-line revenue. What we do do, is give everybody a very clear indication as to the direction that we're travelling in and the relative quantum of what that looks like."

ALSO READ: As Eskom blackouts bite MultiChoice its premium DStv subscriber segment declines by another 3%.

MultiChoice drops the DStv Explora Ultra decoder price, as well as decoder prices and subscription fees elsewhere in Africa, as 2021’s annual subscription hike looms for South African subscribers.

by Thinus Ferreira

After a month and a half on shelves, MultiChoice is dropping the price of its expensive new DStv Explora Ultra decoder in South Africa and also lowering decoder and monthly subscription fees across Africa, although the pay-TV operator's annual 2021 price hike for subscribers looms that will be announced later this month.

Specifically citing the debilitating economic impact that the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has had on African consumers and saying it's cutting prices to help them, MultiChoice is lowering DStv and GOtv decoder prices, as well as monthly subscription fees in countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

MultiChoice Nigeria is cutting the price on decoders as well as certain subscription fees from 1 February, while MultiChoice Uganda has slashed the price of a GOtv decoder and subscription set by a whopping 23% from yesterday.

Martin Mabutho, MultiChoice Nigeria's chief customer officer, on Friday told the media in a virtual briefing that DStv is slashing decoder and subscription prices to try and lessen the economic impact of Covid-19 on customers and that it is a reflection of the pay-TV provider's commitment to making quality entertainment more accessible.

Jonah Wegoye, MultiChoice Uganda's head of sales, told the media that "The slow recovery rate of the country’s economy from the recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the recently concluded election period has compelled us at MultiChoice Uganda to consider a price reduction in a bid to ease our customers' burden and cushion them against financial distress".

While MultiChoice is increasing DStv subscription fees in Angola from 4 February, it is slashing subscription fees in notable markets like Ghana, Kenya and Zambia as well, saying that "in the most challenging of times, our priority is to ensure everyone has access to the best viewing entertainment at a price they can afford".

While MultiChoice South Africa hasn't announced any subscription price cut it quietly lowered the price of its expensive new DStv Explora Ultra decoder.

MultiChoice launched the new DStv Explora Ultra decoder in mid-November 2020 and gives DStv subscribers who want to use it access to streaming services like Netflix SA, Amazon Prime Video and Showmax, with more subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services that will be added over time.

MultiChoice launched the DStv Explora Ultra at a recommended retail price of R2 499 for just the decoder, and R3 699 when it includes installation. That compares to the DStv Explora 3 that can be bought for R999, or around R 1499 including installation.

MultiChoice told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry on Monday that it has now dropped the DStv Explora Ultra price by R200 - an indication that MultiChoice has now started subsidising this decoder.

"MultiChoice can confirm that the recommended retail price of the DStv Explora Ultra decoder has been adjusted with effect from 1 February 2021. The new recommended retail price is R2 299 for a standalone Explora Ultra, or R3 499 to have the new decoder installed".

When asked why the DStv Explora Ultra is so expensive, Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice CEO, during the company's investors' call for its financial results for the 6 months until the end of September 2020, said that "what we've decided to do with the DStv Explora Ultra decoder is not to introduce any subsidies as yet, and that is why you see the pricing, if you compare with others, it's a little bit out of sync with what you have seen in the past."   

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice chief financial officer (CFO), said that the DStv Explora Ultra decoder is "really targeted at early-adopters and we think that the initial target market is the guys that want to experiment a little bit".

"But like all of our products, we'll start and then we'll look at the market demand and then make judgement calls about whether to introduce pricing differentials [subsidies] later. It's a good starting point to simply introduce the DStv Explora Ultra into the market."

With the ongoing economic impact of Covid-19 in South Africa that hasn't diminished and with the annual 2021 DStv subscription increase looming from April for South African consumers - always announced in February - MultiChoice was also asked if it's going to increase monthly subscription fees, if it would keep them the same to help South African subscribers, or would be staying unchanged for certain DStv packages.

"DStv will announce any subscription price adjustments to customers in due course," says MultiChoice.

After increasing prices in the United States in late-2020 and from February 2021 in the United Kingdom, TVwithThinus asked Netflix whether it intends to increase prices for Netflix South Africa subscribers in 2021. Netflix SA didn't respond to the media enquiry that was made on Monday.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice: Here's the 4 reasons why the new DStv Explora Ultra decoder that comes with built-in Netflix access is so expensive at R2499.

MultiChoice: Here's the 4 reasons why the new DStv Explora Ultra decoder that comes with built-in Netflix access is so expensive at R2499.

by Thinus Ferreira

When it goes on sale this week, MultiChoice's latest DStv Explora Ultra decoder that comes with the eye-watering recommended retail price of R2 499 is incredibly expensive and has caused instant sticker-shock for existing DStv subscribers who had thoughts of wanting to upgrade their decoders immediately.

The DStv Explora Ultra that costs R3 699 when it includes installation, will make wallets much flatter than the DStv Explora 3 that can be bought for R999 (or around R 1499 including installation).

The DStv Explora Ultra will be MultiChoice's first decoder that will give DStv subscribers access to Netflix South Africa and likely very soon also Amazon Prime Video. 

Other international video streaming services like Disney+, HBO Max, Paramouont+ and others will be added in future to the DStv Explora Ultra's carousel menu of over-the-top (OTT) services. 

But why such an expensive price for a decoder? Doesn't MultiChoice want customers to upgrade to better technology and more possible services where the pay-TV operator can then increase what in the biz is known as the average revenue per user (ARPU)?

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice CEO, on Friday during the company's investors' call for its financial results for the 6 months until the end of September 2020 gave 4 reasons for the hefty price tag of the DStv Explora Ultra.

"If you look at it as a set-top box and considers that it does traditional linear TV, it does Catch Up, it does all of the other elements that we used to have in the previous DStv Explora; we have increased the memory, we have built-in Wifi and then we are able to add streaming apps as and when we have agreements with other subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) players coming into the market - that is the basis on which it is priced at that level," he said.  

"The other thing we have decided to do with the DStv Explora Ultra decoder is not to introduce any subsidies as yet, and that is why you see the pricing, if you compare with others, it's a little bit out of sync with what you have seen in the past."   

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice chief financial officer (CFO), said that the DStv Explora Ultra decoder is "really targeted at early-adopters and we think that the initial target market is the guys that want to experiment a little bit".

"But like all of our products, we'll start and then we'll look at the market demand and then make judgement calls about whether to introduce pricing differentials [subsidies] later. It's a good starting point to simply introduce the DStv Explora Ultra into the market," he said.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice launches its new DStv Explora Ultra decoder offering Netflix in South Africa but not yet Amazon Prime Video.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice passes milestone of 20 million subscribers across Africa despite Covid-19, says it will focus on expanding its video streaming ecosystem.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice's growth plan unpacked: Less investment in international content with overseas shows now funnelled through storefront streamers, bigger investment in the local content the SABC is unable to produce.

MultiChoice boss Calvo Mawela sees pay jump of 125% to R27.5 million after pay-TV employment transfer to Dubai.

by Thinus Ferreira

MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela has had a total pay increase over the last financial year of 125% with the total remuneration of the pay-TV operator's boss that climbed from $708 000 in 2019 to $1.59 million (R27.53 million).

According to MultiChoice's latest consolidated annual report for the financial year until the end of March 2020 Calvo Mawela was paid an annual salary of $570 000, a pension of $67 000, benefits totalling $227 000, and short and medium-term incentive (STI) of 726 000. This STI includes a bonus payment.

Calvo Mawela, like MultiChoice executive chairperson Imtiaz Patel, are paid in dollar according to the MultiChoice Group's Dubai-based contracts that work according to Dubai's cost-of-living metrics.

Calvo Mawela's employment "transferred" to Dubai from South Africa since he has to look after MultiChoice South Africa as well as MultiChoice Africa business.

"Being based in Dubai enables Calvo to be closer to the MultiChoice Africa management team and to have more accessible travel into the rest of Africa and with the added focus on returning the rest of Africa business to profitability," MultiChoice said.

"With the move to Dubai, Calvo Mawela's remuneration was aligned with the policy as applicable in Dubai and is reflected in dollars."

Imtiaz Patel's total MultiChoice remuneration increased 6.16% from $1.46 million to $1.55 million.

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice chief financial officer, saw his total remuneration increase 21% from R8.45 million to R10.22 million.

Advocate Kgomotso Moroka, chairperson of the remuneration committee, said that the global video entertainment industry was becoming more competitive, especially with the growth of global subscription video-on-demand streaming services.

"Therefore, it is critically important that we adopt principles that allow us to attract and proactively retain our top talent."

"In addition, given the growth potential for our business, we also need to ensure our reward practices are aligned with the delivery of desired results and value creation over time."

Mega-millions for MultiChoice's top bosses who bunker out in Dubai and who don't live on the African continent as pay-TV execs oversee 'Africa's leading entertainment company'.

MultiChoice's top bosses are raking in mega-million salaries overseeing "Africa's leading entertainment company" although some of them are bunkering out in Dubai and not even living on the Africa continent.

The MultiChoice Group that calls itself "Africa's leading entertainment company" released the pay-TV business' first integrated annual report for 2019 which reveals the massive remuneration packages of the MultiChoice executive management who don't all live in South Africa and some getting paid in American dollar in Dubai.

Imtiaz Patel, MultiChoice executive chairman got paid $1.463 million (R20.722 million) in base salary, bonuses, pension and short-term incentives, while Brand de Villiers is rolling in the green in the desert after getting paid just over $1 million - $1.020 million (R14.464 million) for the past financial year.

Neither Imtiaz Patel nor Brand de Villiers is living in South Africa while overseeing the proudly South African company that listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in late-February 2019.

MultiChoice in its annual report notes in the small fine print that "Imtiaz Patel and Brand de Villiers are paid in US dollar which is aligned with The MultiChoice Group's Dubai-based contracts and takes into account Dubai cost of living etc.".

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice CEO, got R10.623 million, while the remuneration of Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice CFO, amounted to R8.449 million that including a "sign-on bonus" of R3.8 million.

Their pay packages packages exclude share options which further increase the executives' income.

During the past financial year MultiChoice also included and signed a restraint-of-trade agreement with Imtiaz Patel. If he were to step down as executive chairman or leave MultiChoice, it would apply for a period of 3 years.

MultiChoice has 15.1 million DStv subscribers and GOtv subscribers in South Africa and across the rest of sub-Saharan African combined.

MultiChoice does little to stop the drop of DStv Premium subscribers other than have the call centre phone them after they had already cancelled; top-end segment still 'a long way off' from being 'unable to wash itself' and being unprofitable.

MultiChoice does little else specifically to try and prevent the subscriber count drop of its top-tiered DStv Premium customers other than to have the MultiChoice Call Centre operators phone former DStv Premium subscribers after they had cancelled or downgraded.

Yet the pay-TV operator says that despite falling numbers its DStv Premium segment is still "a long way off" from the point where it becomes unprofitable and the premium content cost required by DStv Premium making it "unable to wash itself".

MultiChoice seemingly does very little to keep DStv Premium subscribers happy and to actively retain them as customers while they're active subscribers.

It happens because MultiChoice revealed that it's still making a healthy profit from the existing number of DStv Premium subscribers and that MultiChoice is "a long way off" from its DStv Premium consumer segment - despite falling numbers - not being profitable anymore.

On Tuesday The MultiChoice Group released its annual financial results for the year to 31 March 2019 showing yet another drop of around 100 000 DStv Premium subscribers - an accelerated decline in MultiChoice's top-tier subscription package that has been ongoing for the past 4 years.

For the financial year, MultiChoice's percentage of DStv Premium subscribers in South Africa decreased by another 7%.

MultiChoice that mentioned that DStv Premium subscribers are falling due to competition from rivals like Netflix now also added that its "premium segment remained under pressure due to the tougher economic conditions", as well as "affordability" as reasons.

MultiChoice failed to mention how it diluted the DStv Premium value offering by taking things away from subscribers like the DStv magazine TV guide and DStv Premium subscribers' ongoing unhappiness and dissatisfaction over the repeats and rebroadcasts of old programmes and movies.

On its investors conference call on Wednesday afternoon, MultiChoice was specifically asked what it has done and is doing to stop the churn of DStv Premium subscribers and the drop in this segment, and when the content cost of what MultiChoice is spending on DStv Premium will make it unprofitable given the number of subscribers.

"There are a lot of initiatives that we have done including the DStv Price Lock, we have seen a gradual increase year-on-year of people picking up the Price Lock options and it resonates well with many of our subscribers," MultiChoice said.

"However in the current economic climate, of course people are feeling the pain and that why we're seeing the decline in DStv Premium despite us giving value-added services like Showmax, DStv Now and the JOOX music streaming service for Premium subscribers."

"It's work in progress that we continuously look at in the business and trying to improve and to arrest the decline and it's an ongoing initiative that we are doing."

MultiChoice said it has brought in content, specifically local content for the DStv Premium segment and that this content - for instance Afrikaans series on kykNET (DStv 144) and the drama series The River on 1Magic (DStv 103) - "continue to perform very well on the DStv Premium bouquet, so it's not an instance of really looking at it separately from the overall bouquet".

MultiChoice executives said that it's part of "the initiatives that we are making to make sure that we look at what resonates with the DStv Premium bouquet and trying to demonstrate value in terms of the introduction of content that we are bringing in. Local content is one area where we see that there is improvement in terms of viewership, even at Premium level."


Significant call centre activity 'trying to bring customers back' 
Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice chief financial officer (CFO), said "we have a significant amount of strategies on all of our bouquets to make sure that we grow and retain as many subscribers as we can".

"On DStv Premium we implemented a 0% price increase for this financial year, specifically not to push more subscribers out of the top-end bouquet."

"We are getting feedback that the primary reason for subscribers leaving the DStv Premium bouquet is affordability so we have addressed that specific feedback that we're getting from the market by putting in a 0% price increase."

"The DStv Price Lock strategy has definitely been one of our success stories, it's been incredibly robust and it's really performing a great job for us."

"Thirdly we do a lot of below-the-line retention campaigns. It may not be visible for your average subscriber but we have a significant amount of call centre activity on trying to bring customers back once they've dropped off the DStv Premium bouquet."

"So I think there's a significant amount of work that we do on all of the bouquets but particularly DStv Premium in order to try and retain."

"The content and at what point does it not wash itself, I mean, that's a really complicated question because effectively what happens is a lot of content starts life in our system as DStv Premium content," said Tim Jacobs.

"Depending on what our rights are, we then would window it down to lower tiers, so some of it goes straight down to some of the lower-tiered DStv bouquets immediately, and others will go down over time."

"Certainly in terms of any of the local content that we develop - and this tends to resonate better with our customers - that is content that we own, there is no time period on its licence, and we typically use those window periods to bring the content down."

"It's very difficult in this context that we don't share the profitability by DStv bouquet. It's a complicated model, especially if you look at the top-end of the market, it effectively picks up quite a big proportion of the content cost, especially if you consider that we're running at a 30% margin in South Africa," said Tim Jacobs.

MultiChoice said its DStv Premium bouquet segment "is a long way off from being anywhere near not being profitable".


ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. MultiChoice CEO, Calvo Mawela, has started spouting some inane gibberish about millennials not wanting or able to watch 90 minutes of something. Get a child - and get a grip.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. Higher prices are not killing DStv Premium - MultiChoice's lack of showing DStv subscribers why it's worth it, constantly diluting it, and failure to add value is what's damaging it. 
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. MultiChoice lies and says in its financial report presentation it 'enhanced content discovery' - in reality the pay-TV operator did the exact opposite during the year and made it more difficult and worse.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. If you want to see some really hilarious sh*t, look no further than MultiChoice's surreal no-numbers presentation in its financial results comparing Showmax and DStv Now with rival Netflix.
ALSO READ: DStv subscribers keep increasing although MultiChoice continues to lose top-end DStv Premium customers who no longer see it as offering enough value for money. 

The massive million rand salaries of MultiChoice bosses revealed as The MultiChoice Group prepares to list and start trading on the JSE from 27 February 2019.

The massive million rand salaries have been revealed of the top executives at The MultiChoice Group as the pay-TV arm of Naspers plans to spin-off and list and trade on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from 27 February 2019.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, MultiChoice that will run DStv, GOtv and Showmax in sub-Saharan Africa plans to pay a whopping R2.5 billion ($181 million) inaugural dividend in 2020 after it has been unbundled from Naspers.

As the highest-paid top executive, The MultiChoice Group will pay Imtiaz Patel, executive chairperson, R22.2 million for the financial year ending 31 March 2019 according to the regulatory filing - up from R19.7 million for the financial year ending March 2018.

Imtiaz Patel will receive a basic salary of R7.6 million for the 2019 financial year, slightly down from the R8 million he was paid in 2018, but will get a bonus of another R7.6 million in 2019 - up from R6.4 million in the previous year.

Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice CEO will pocket R7.7 million in 2019 that includes a R3.2 million bonus and basic salary of R3.8-million. He received R9.8 million in 2018.

The MultiChoice executive Nolo Letele will get R8.5 million, consisting of a R4.6 million basic salary and a bonus of R3.4 million - down from R9.3 million in the 2018 financial year.

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice chief financial officer (CFO), will be paid a total package of R7.9 million with R5.4 million of that consisting out of a bonus and other benefits.

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."

WHO KNEW? Brand de Villiers in as new MultiChoice Africa CEO and Tim Jacobs out as yet another 'pale male' heads up Naspers' Africa pay-TV division.

It wasn't publicly announced when it happened from January 2017, nor was there any stepping down, goodbye statement, but Brand de Villiers has taken over as new MultiChoice Africa CEO following the quiet exit of Tim Jacobs at the end of 2016 at Naspers' pay-TV division for Africa.

The replacement raises questions about MultiChoice Africa's top management transformation - or perceived lack of it - as yet another white male executive in a succession of "pale males" has taken over the number one executive position to look after MultiChoice's sprawling Africa pay-TV business division.

Eben Greyling was MultiChoice Africa CEO, followed by Collins Khumalo for a little bit who decided to "take a break". 

Nico Meyer who then started as MultiChoice Africa CEO in February 2012, left in April 2015 "for personal reasons". He was replaced in turn by Tim Jacobs who left just over a year and a half later in December 2016 "for family reasons".

In all that time - spanning almost a decade - MultiChoice Africa doesn't seem to have adequately nurtured, prepared and corporately laddered up internally, new executive management talent in whom it has enough confidence to fill the MultiChoice Africa CEO role within a black economic empowerment (BEE) perspective.

Now Brand de Villiers is the new boss of MultiChoice Africa since January 2017.

Brand de Villiers of course defected from the Premier League Soccer where he was PSL CEO in late 2015 to become MultiChoice's new general manager for strategy and special projects.

MultiChoice Africa says Tim Jacobs stepped down from the position as MultiChoice Africa CEO in January for family reasons as he decided to re-locate back to South Africa from Dubai.

Brand de Villiers has been running the operations of MultiChoice Africa for just over a year.

MultiChoice Africa in a statement says "MultiChoice Africa is delighted to announce the appointment of Brand de Villiers as CEO based in Dubai."

"He joined the business in November 2015 as strategy and special projects director and has been a driving force in enabling the business to respond to dynamic and complex environment in 49 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa."

"Brand de Villiers is a chartered accountant having held positions as CEO of the PSL and the Marc Group who own Sail, EXP as well as shareholdings in rugby teams such as the Blue Bulls and Western Province."

DStv GIVES THANKS. MultiChoice launches new loyalty programme, DStv Thanks for DStv subscribers across Africa, excluding South Africa.

MultiChoice has launched a new loyalty programme called DStv Thanks across the rest of Africa - excluding South Africa - with DStv subscribers who will be getting access to additional TV channels for free, if they remain subscribed for at least 3 months.

MultiChoice that doesn't currently have plans to introduce DStv Thanks in South Africa, is implementing the new loyalty programme as only South African DStv subscribers will see price hikes introduced from 1 April, with no apparent DStv and GOtv subscription increases for the most of Africa this year, besides minimal price increases for Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland.

MultiChoice Africa is feeling the pinch and churn as subscribers in stalling economies from Zimbabwe to Kenya and from Botswana to Nigeria have been vocal about their struggles to afford DStv and GOtv.

At the same time pay-TV rivals from China StarTimes to Zuku TV and Econet Media's newly introduced Kwesé TV are all ferociously competing to sign up and retain subscription television customers in Africa's growing direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV market.

With Tim Jacobs gone as MultiChoice Africa CEO and replaced by Brand de Villiers in the position since January this year, MultiChoice's African division has now launched DStv Thanks and GOtv Wow to reward subscribers who remain connected to DStv and GOtv for at least 3 months.

According to MultiChoice the first reward is access to additional entertainment TV channels - like for instance Zee Bollymovies, Viasat Life and AfricaXP's new male-focused Trigger channel - offered for free to subscribers in various African countries who remain connected for 3 months or longer. There will also be "monthly airtime bonuses".

"When putting together this rewards programme, we analysed the best global rewards practices, as well as what our customers love about the DStv brands," says MultiChoice in a statement slightly adjusted per African country where DStv Thanks was announced.

"The rewards offered had to provide greater value to our loyal customers beyond the normal, while also providing more motivation to stay loyal to our platform".

"We're confident that the rewards we have lined up for DStv Thanks now and in the future will not only enhance our customers' television viewing experience but also solidify their connection to our platforms."

MultiChoice Africa is adding the Eva+ channel on DStv and GOtv as a sister telenovela channel to Eva from AMC Networks International UK.

MultiChoice Africa is adding the sister channel to the telenovela channel Eva, Eva+, from AMC Networks International, to DStv in several South African countries from 1 November.

Eva+ will not be available on DStv in South Africa, but will be added to the DStv and GOtv platforms in several African countries.

Eva+ will be the first channel from AMC Networks International UK (AMCNI UK) to be made available on MultiChoice's GOtv service in Africa.

The addition of Eva+ follows after Eva was added in late-March 2015 to DStv in South Africa and across Africa.

Just like Eva, Eva+ will have Latin American telenovelas dubbed in English and Portuguese.

"We are delighted to be expanding on our telenovela offering and introducing Eva+ to the African market, in partnership with MultiChoice," says Louise Cottrell, the vice president for affiliate sales for AMCNI UK.

"'Telenovelas are increasingly popular in the region, so it's exciting that with Eva+ offered on GOtv in addition to DStv, we will now be able to reach brand new viewers with our top quality content."

Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice Africa CEO, says "with our focus now on putting our customer first, we are delighted to be adding Eva+ on to our platforms".

"Telenovelas have always been a sensation with our customers and we hope this addition further demonstrates our commitment to bringing programming that will make viewers eager to tune in to DStv".

Eva+ will broadcast double bills of four telenovela titles every weekday and marathons over the weekend, including Buscando a Maria (Searching Maria) on air from Tuesday 1 November at 11:20 every weekday, then on Saturday at 06:00 and on Sunday at 16:00.

Cuando me Enamoro (Timeless Love) willbe broadcast on Eva+ from Thursday 1 December at 11:20 on weekdays at 17:00, then on Saturday at 06:00 and on Sunday at 16:00.

Entries open for African journalists for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2016; new category added to recognise a young African journalist.

Entries have opened for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2016 with the 21st edition that is again expanding, adding another new category to recognise the excellent work of a young African journalist.

Journalists in print, online, radio and television across Africa can enter the continent's most prestigious journalism competition at www.africa.cnnjournalistaward.com that added the new category this year of The Maggie Eales Young Journalist Award.

The award is named in honour of the late Maggie Eales, a CNN executive and former journalist who during her 20 year career at CNN was the driving force behind the development and growth of the African Journalist Awards.

This new award will recognise a young journalist starting out, and telling an impactful story with conviction. A journalist in this category must be born after 1 January 1990.

"Africa is an increasingly important part of the global story, and CNN reflects that," says Tony Maddox, the executive vice president and managing director of CNN International (DStv 401).

"We are committed to the African story, not just editorially, but also in terms of supporting its own journalistic enterprise through the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards. I am immensely proud of our long-term commitment to Africa and there is no better example of that than these Awards".

"The longevity of these Awards is indicative of how these awards continue to play a meaningful role for the advancement of outstanding journalism across the continent," says Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice Africa CEO.

"I'm confident that the 2016 installment of the Awards will continue to unearth extraordinary African talent whose tireless work and search for the truth may otherwise not receive the recognition it deserves".

The categories in which African journalists in any medium can enter this year include the:

• Culture Award
• Innovation Reporting Award
• Economics & Business Award
• Features Award
• Francophone General News Award – Electronic Media
• Energy & Infrastructure Award
• Mohamed Amin Photographic Award
• Health & Medical Award
• News Impact Award
• Portuguese Language General News Awards
• Press Freedom Award
• Sport Reporting Award
• Environment Award
• The Maggie Eales Young Journalist Award

 Out of these entries, the independent judging panel will choose the overall winner - the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2016.

OPINION. Idiotic Nigerian lawmakers are dangerously playing with fire in their desire to break down MultiChoice, instead of creating competition for DStv.

The idiotic Nigerian senate as well as Nigeria's moronic Consumer Protection Council (CPC) are playing with fire with their belligerent and misguided assault this past week on MultiChoice in Nigeria - exposing their uninformed attacks as more uninformed witch-hunt than actual consumer protection.

Too inept and stupid to rather open Nigeria's pay-TV market up to more actual competition and better market conditions, the Nigerian senate and the CPC's clamp-down on MultiChoice is going to make it much more difficult, if not impossible, for MultiChoice to continue to operate its DStv and GOtv services there.

And when MultiChoice in Nigeria no longer feels its worth its while - or possible to adhere to crazy Nigerian legislation, guess what?

MultiChoice will leave Nigeria or dramatically cut back its business, just like companies like Truworths, Woolworths, Tiger Brands, Brunel and Virgin Atlantic just  to name a few have done through ceasing their operations and disinvesting in the West African country in the past year.

Here's the bottom line: If Nigerians lose their DStv it won't be due to MultiChoice Africa CEO Tim Jacobs making such a fateful decision - it will be the fault of Nigeria's clueless lawmakers.

For Nigeria's CPC to order and force MultiChoice to offer "pay per view"  - terribly inept and erroneous language for "let individual subscribers pick only their channels" and forcing it to make "good channels" (meaning premium content channels) available on all (meaning cheaper) bouquets, reveals the mind-boggling stupidity of the CPC and how uninformed they are about how the satellite pay-TV model works.

Neither MultiChoice nor other pay-TV operators buy their/the content (or can buy the content) in that way, which makes it impossible to sell the content to the end-consumer in that way, and nowhere else in Africa - not even South Africa - does MultiChoice operate such a "pay-per-view" service.

Nigeria's consumer body and its senate are slamming MultiChoice for "incessant and unreasonable subscription hikes".

Guess what Nigeria? It's your weak and plummeting naira that's to blame due to Nigeria's weakened economy.

Pay-TV operators like MultiChoice are not charities, they're companies. And they have to buy their content in dollar. And companies are out to make profit, not chasing rainbows.

Nigeria's CPC ordered MultiChoice to allow DStv subscribers to "suspend their service" for between one to two weeks for at least two times a year.

Does the CPC and Nigerian lawmakers think MultiChoice buy their content and channels themselves for two weeks at a time? That MultiChoice is able to give "back [unused] chunks of content in short intervals as well?

The CPC and the Nigerian government won't order its Lagos airport to shut down over the weekend when nobody is using it, but has the audacity to order a company to shut down its service at the beck and call of individual subscribers.

If DStv subscribers get the right to effectively "cancel" their service for half a month, twice a year, will the CPC and the Nigerian legislature also force other like-for-like businesses to do the same?

Can the CPC order its commuter train service to please "put on hold" that already bought monthly train ticket if a commuter is suddenly not using it for a week or two weeks and give them another "extra" two weeks later?

Can the daycare centre where you leave your child please give you a "good-for" extension on your monthly payment if your didn't drop your child there for a week or two because of illness, or vacation?

Can the CPC please tell the milk you've already paid for in your fridge to remain at exactly the same level of freshness if you go away for a few days and are not home to drink it?

Some of the orders the CPC forced MultiChoice Nigeria to make this week are good and positive.

Instructing MultiChoice to make toll free customer care line telephone numbers available, for customer care service to be available for longer periods over weekends and public holidays, and for a DStv subscription billing cycle to only start once a person actually has an activated DStv subscription are great and positive sanctions.

Instead of going after MultiChoice like rabid dogs, Nigerian lawmakers and the CPC should work at opening up the Nigerian pay-TV market to more, and true, competition.

The moronic Nigerian senate president Bukola Saraki had the audacity in a motion entitled "Concern on unwholesome practices by MultiChoice Nigeria" entered on Wednesday in Nigeria's senate to say "we must play our role to ensure that we protect Nigerians and ensure that the best global practices are what is happening in our own country".

Well dear Bukola, protecting Nigerians and "ensuring best global practices" is actually not to go after individual companies [who simply does what companies does] but to open up markets and economies.

"Best global practices" are to foster bigger competition by allowing and supporting competition through policies that allow entrepreneurship, businesses and companies to operate and flourish and makes it easy(ier) for them to exist and to provide products and services.

The Nigerian legislature and the CPC wants MultiChoice to do things it cannot, and to be things it can't - not even as a perfect company in a perfect world - instead of allowing there to be more companies within the pay-TV sphere who will compete harder for consumers which will increase choice, quality, service and drive prices down.

The laughable imbeciles in the Nigerian government and the CPC are clueless when they say they want to "break DStv's monopoly" by attacking MultiChoice.

You "break" - ironically a bad word to use for a country that actually needs and should welcome more foreign investment and companies - a monopoly by opening up a market through licensing and allowing more companies and competition.

MultiChoice also hardly has a "monopoly" in Nigeria - something Nigeria's senators would know if they had even the faintest grasp on Economy 101 or look out the window.

MultiChoice is simply running the better or best pay-TV service in Nigeria, but China's StarTimes, African Cable Television (ACTV), CONSAT, MyTV and Montage Cable Network exist there. Even HiTV existed as a Nigerian pay-TV operator before it spectacularly imploded at the end of 2011.

This coming weekend M-Net and MultiChoice are ironically holding the 5th AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Awards in Lagos, Nigeria, an awards initiative aimed at improving and growing Nigeria and Africa's film industry.

Without MultiChoice, and with a shackled MultiChoice, would Nigeria be fine if there is no further AfricaMagic Viewers' Choice Awards, or if its moved to another African country?

How about the other side benefits and corporate social investment (CSI) flowing into, and happening in Nigeria due to MultiChoice's existence there?

The unjust and myopic view of the CPC and Nigeria's lawmakers now risk forcing MultiChoice to be "more" - which will ironically force MultiChoice in that country to perhaps become, offer and be less.

If MultiChoice is forced to offer "good channels" across all of its DStv bouquets - channels that cost more to buy on which it can't make a return on lower-tiered packages - guess what? MultiChoice will likely shut down and decrease the number of available DStv packages its offering.

If MultiChoice is forced to allow DStv subscribers to "shut down their service" for at least 28 days per year, per DStv subscriber, guess what?

MultiChoice will raise the general price individual subscribers pay in Nigeria even more to make up for that loss - it will work in the estimated loss and tack it on to the overall annual money it needs to get per individual subscriber. It's basic economic principles.

If MultiChoice is forced to make free-to-air channels available to "subscribers" so they can watch it on DStv even after they're no longer DStv susbcribers, guess what? MultiChoice will over time stop carrying those free-to-air channels to begin with as existing carriage contracts expire, so that there's no free-to-air channels on its system anyway.

Are people allowed to go and sit at a restaurant and order just a glass of water for free with no intention of ordering anything and of being a customer there? Of course not. So why is the CPC ordering MultiChoice to accommodate people who are not its clients in such a way?

Nigeria's consumer "protection" council and that country's senate need to stop bitching about MultiChoice and start to allow and put in place more choice and to create pay-TV operators and more pay-TV operators to grow.

That is what will really serve Nigeria's pay-TV consumers - not attacking and wanting to diminish a successful company that wants to invest and try and operate and run a consumer-oriented business in West Africa.

South African journalists win in all their nominated categories at 20th CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015; Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou wins top prize.

All four South African journalists nominated for the landmark 20th CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015 won their respective categories and took home trophies handed out at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Kenya, Nairobi on Saturday night where the Burkinabé journalist Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou won the top prize as the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year.

South Africans proved the strength of South African journalism by making a clean sweep and winning all the categories they were nominated in.

Photojournalist Herman Verwey from the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld in South Africa won the Mohamed Amin Photographic Award for his photos of the murder trial of the paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius.

"When you look at Herman Verwey's work, for a second, you can wonder… The characters are so full of life, these pictures really give you a sense of their feelings. Herman's body of work gives also a proper idea of the high pressure that surrounded this trial, so important for the South African society," said the judges.

Sarah Wild writing for the Mail & Guardian newspaper in South Africa won the Technology & Innovation reporting Award for her story Robot to test health of ocean 'lungs'.

"Sarah Wild delivered an original report on a major innovation in research over global warming, conducted by a South African scientific team. It's an excellent reminder that there are African-led research programs at the forefront of the climate change issue. Sarah Wild transports the reader into the heart of the project, with the team deploying this new generation of sea-cruising robots," said the judges.

Julie Laurenz and Jacqueline Jayamaha working freelance for the e.tv TV channel in South Africa won in the Features Award category for their harrowing profile piece, Viola's Hope, about a mother addicted to woonga, the cut-price heroin spliced with household products.

"Tragic. Educative. Committed. The team which brought us this piece spent over a month putting it together and they stayed with their story which was well-shot, produced and written," said the judges of the TV story.

Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou was awarded the overall CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Award for his story 'Room 143' which was published in the Burkinabé daily newspaper L'Observateur Paalga and covered the ousting of Blaise Campaore, who had ruled over Burkina Faso for 27 years.

The enterprising journalist was clever and booked a room in the hotel in room 143 to snoop as his feature article took readers to the night before when members of parliament attempted to win sufficient support to extend Campaore's term and met in the hotel.

"My story was about power and how people can fight against it – I'm so proud that the story has been told and will now be remembered," said Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou.

He was one of 32 finalists from 15 African countries who attended the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015 held in Nairobi, Kenya for the first time since 2005. The competition drew over 1 400 entries this year from 39 African countries.

"Journalism can be very dangerous and can be very lonely," said Ferial Haffajee, editor-in-chief of the City Press newspaper in South Africa and the chairperson of the judging panel.

"Tonight's winners really demonstrated the very best of journalism – from powerful investigative journalism through to celebratory stories of hope and change," said Deborah Rayner, the senior vice president for international news gathering, TV and Digital, at CNN International (DStv 401).

"I've seen tremendously courageous reporting, brilliantly innovative reporting and highly entertaining reporting. The awards really do cover the full panorama of all that is good in journalism," says Tony Maddox, the executive vice president and managing director of CNN International.

Tim Jacobs, the CEO of MultiChoice Africa said the journalists "words and images reflect the reality of our world and attest to the important role the media plays in Africa's development".

"Our partnership with CNN gives us an opportunity to celebrate and help echo the voices of the best journalists and most compelling stories," says Imtiaz Patel, the CEO of video entertainment for Naspers.

The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards 2015 brought the previous years' winners together on stage for the 20th year and contained a beautiful retrospective insert looking back at how the continent's "Oscars for journalism" has grown over the past two decades.

It will be broadcast on AfricaMagic World (DStv 155) on 17 October with presenters Zain Asher from CNN International and Mark Masai from Kenya's NTV.

Four South African journalists make the shortlist as nominees for the landmark 20th CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015 set for Kenya.

The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015 announced the shortlisted finalists in the various categories, with the continent's most prestigious competition for journalism on the African continent, now in its landmark 20th year, set to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in October this year.

After downsizing the number of categories in 2014 from 14 to 11, the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015 once again expanded, keeping all 11 categories and adding a best features award as well as a technology and innovation reporting award to bring the award categories to 13.

Ferial Haffajee, editor of South Africa's City Press newspaper and the chairperson of the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015 independent judging panel, announced the 31 finalists coming from 39 countries this year.

The CNN MultiChoice African Journalists Awards 2015 once again has some South African journalists on the finalist list this year.

South African journalists nominated this year for their work include Julie Laurenz and Jacqueline Jayamaha working freelance for e.tv; Herman Verwey of Beeld newspaper and Sarah Wild for The Mail & Guardian.

Finalists will again converge for a four day media forum set for early October and the gala award ceremony, which this year will be held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in East Africa. With the landmark 20th year of the awards, winners from previous years will join this year's finalists.

In the past the CNN MultiChoice African Journalists Awards also handed out a Press Freedom Award - ironically, but poignantly - often to a journalist who can attend due to imprisonment or death suffered in the line of simply bringing people the truth and reporting the news.

This award could very likely be awarded this October in Nairobi to the Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed imprisoned in Egypt  and who were sentenced last month, together with journalist Peter Greste in absentia, to an even longer prison sentence.

"MultiChoice is delighted to once again be associated with these prestigious awards that give respect to the work done by journalists across the African continent," says Imtiaz Patel, MultiChoice group CEO.

"We congratulate all the finalists on their achievements and look forward to celebrating with the winners in Nairobi in October."

"We continue to be amazed by the resourcefulness and growth of journalists in the complexity and immediacy of the digital and online age of news and information," says Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice Africa CEO.

"That is why we remain committed to nurturing and growing African journalists who have a huge responsibility and role to play and where tech-savvy readers have the ability to follow breaking stories and are not shy to engage in dialogue on a number of different platforms."

"The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards have for the past 20 years provided a voice for credible journalism. As we celebrate this remarkable milestone, we can only commend the journalists for leaving no stone unturned in telling the important stories."

"The quality and breadth of entries in this, its 20th year, is testament to the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards' position as the most prestigious recognition for journalism across the continent," says Tony Maddox, the executive vice president and managing director of CNN International (DStv 401).

"CNN is privileged to be involved in this important initiative to honour the outstanding work across multiple platforms, topics and journalistic principles."

Here is the full list of finalists in the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards 2015:

Fiifi Essilfie Anaman, Freelance for zonalsports.com, Ghana

Benedicta Asiimwe, Freelance for Daily Monitor, Uganda

Femi Asu, Punch, Nigeria

Domingos Bento, redeangola.info, Angola

Thomas Naadi Bitlegma, Viasat1, Ghana

Sheriff Bojang Jnr, Freelance for West Africa Democracy Radio, Senegal

Ruth Butaumocho, The Herald, Zimbabwe

Ibrahima Diallo, Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise (RTS), Senegal

Adewale Olugbenga Emosu, tribuneonlineng.com, Nigeria

Chahinaz Samir Gheith, Freelance for Al-Ahram Hebdo, Egypt

Carla Gonçalves, A Nação, Cape Verde

Boldwill Hungwe, Zimbabwe Independent, Zimbabwe

Ibanga Isine, Premium Times, Nigeria

Paul Kelemba, Freelance for The Standard on Saturday, Kenya

Deo Gratias Tchédé Kindoho, Radio Bénin, Benin

Julie Laurenz & Jacqueline Jayamaha, Freelance for e.tv, South Africa

Petride Mudoola, Freelance for Sunday Vision, Uganda

Abubakari Akida Mussa, Mtanzania, Tanzania

Pedro Paxi Pereira Ndoma, TV Zimbo, Angola

George Oduor Otieno, Baraka FM, Kenya

Hyacinthe Boowurosigue Sanou, L'Observateur Paalga, Burkina Faso

Enock Sikolia & Charles Kariuki, NTV, Kenya

Arison Tamfu, Cameroon Journal, Cameroon

Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún, Blogger at ktravula.com, Nigeria

Arukaino Umukoro, Punch, Nigeria

Bento Venâncio, Jornal Domingo, Mozambique

Herman Verwey, Beeld, South Africa

Kiundu Waweru, The Standard on Saturday, Kenya

Sarah Wild, Mail & Guardian, South Africa

Pop-up kids channel, Hoolee, from Turner Broadcasting coming in December to DStv Premium subscribers for two months with movies, animated shows.

MultiChoice's next pop-up channel will be the kids channel HOOLEE from Turner Broadcasting System International that will run from the beginning of December 2015 to the end of January 2016 on DStv.

HOOLEE follows after M-Net and Disney's current Star Wars channel on channel 109 on DStv.

Turner already provides kids channels like Cartoon Network (DStv 301) and Boomerang (DStv 302) to DStv.

Turner Africa announced that HOOLEE will become Africa's first pop-up channel on DStv at the MultiChoice Content Showcase held this past week at the Outrigger Mauritius Resort & Spa in Mauritius.

MultiChoice announced that it will be doing 4 pop-up channels in 2016 for DStv subscribers and that the Star Wars pop-up channel from M-Net Movies is an experiment.

South African press and TV critics were not invited, nor told beforehand of the MultiChoice Content Showcase. Turner Africa didn't share the announcement and news of HOOLEE with South African press after it was made in Mauritius.

Turner Broadcasting says it and DStv will be making "African television history" when families all over the African continent, including South Africa, will be able to watch HOOLEE as "a first of its kind Africa pop-up children's channel".

HOOLEE will be for DStv Premium subscribers and the schedule will include "carefully chosen movies and animated shows" created from a selection of programming from Turner Broadcasting and Warner Brothers productions, as well as exclusive acquisitions.

HOOLEE will run on DStv for 8 weeks, from the beginning of December until  the end of January 2016.

"Imagine laughing, sharing surprising adventures and celebrating the summer holidays with your children every day, is the promise of the channel," says Tim Jacobs, MultiChoice Africa CEO.

"HOOLEE will offer to the whole family programmes that they have always enjoyed, as well as new and refreshing, exclusive shows and movies. The range of programming is truly amazing," says Pierre Branco, vice president and managing director of Turner Africa.

MultiChoice's DStv Content Showcase in Mauritius 2015: A summary of the programming upfront and news so far: Day 3

So MultiChoice is having a MultiChoice Content Showcase at the Outrigger Mauritius Resort & Spa in Mauritius.

South African press and TV critics not welcome and not told about it beforehand. I'm covering it anyway since there's a lot of must-know television and channels news that pertains to South Africa and the broader TV industry, and that's noteworthy.

For day 1 and day 2 news and stories check here with links to further articles.


Thursday 3 September
The morning kicked off with a Zee World (DStv 166) presentation. Sadly and unprofessionally, no information was issued to press not actually at the event.

(It's honestly exactly what I expected and thought of first, and thought would happen when I first heard about it taking place - PR people off on a junket and care a bat's behind about what happens to actualy information dissemination).

Zee World Africa apparently says it will be bringing Bollywood to Africa and start to produce content in Africa for the channel. But I have literally nothing to share.

Besides perhaps that Zee World is working on bringing "classics" (whatever that is) like The Promise to the channel. There will also be older movies coming to Zee World. It sounds wonderful.

Zee World (that by the way dumped the PR agency two months ago that they've been using) also didn't respond to a direct media enquiry I made this afternoon. My guess is that Zee World marketing Linda Oliphant is herself in Mauritius.

Here is some of what Ratna Siriah, Zee World business head had to say.


Likewise nothing from Viacom International Media Networks Africa (VIMN Africa) who played games with media on Wednesday night like slushing and lip synch battles and provide channels like MTV, MTV Base, BET and Comedy Central.

"Viacom will be premiering loads of fresh new content across all our channels on the DStv platform in the coming months and we can't wait for Africa to see," said Nickelodeon marketing manager Lindi Davids. Beyond that no programming specifics or information ... nothing.


Meanwhile MultiChoice Africa CEO Tim Jacobs started sitting for interviews (like this one explaining why MultiChoice hiked prices by another 15%) . He says DStv subscriptions wwill come down again after the just introduced 2nd price hike of 15% if the Kenya Shilling recovers against the US Dollar.

It follows yesterday's panel discussion and media conference in which Tim Jacobs said this and this about South Africa's ShowMax and this about piracy and the possibility of offering a sports DStv bouquet.

A+E Networks UK who had panelists like Sarah Williams-Robbins did a presentation on Thursday morning as well. Information in a well-timed press release was also issued to South African press.

Noteworthy announcements include the renewal of Pawn Stars South Africa on History (DStv 186) for a second season; a special episode of Fifth Gear which will form part of the new season also coming to History, Lifetime (DStv 131) lifting its ratings 50% quarter to quarter, and the two upcoming special O.J. Simpsons hidden tapes documentaries for October on Crime+Investigation (DStv 170).

Nothing from A+E Networks UK about apparently looking for local African stories to possible produce and put on History.


Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) did a Fun Factory presentation for channels like the Cartoon Network (DStv 301) and Boomerang (DStv 302) this afternoon.

An Evening with Disney - a lawn movie screening with picnic baskets - is set for Thursday evening.
[Here is a run-down of how that went.]

Disney will present on Friday morning.