TopTV's 100% rerun movie channels are still separate TV channels even though they're exact repeat programming, rules the ASA.

TopTV's separate, yet rerun movie channels are still separate and individual TV channels and can be counted as such, even though the content is 100% rebroadcasts.

The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) said in a ruling following a complaint, that TopTV can count its separate time-shifted TV channels as separate channels on its bouquet offering, even though the content remains exactly the same.

While MultiChoice has no time-shifted TV channels on its DStv bouquet, TopTV has some of these so called time-shifted channels with "+1", "+2", "+12+ and "+24" channels which are very common on pay-TV platforms around the world. The exact same line-up of programming as on an original channel would always start one hour later, two hours later, or 12 or 24 hours later on these channels.

On Digital has the Top Movies +2 (TopTV 101) and Top Movies +24 (TopTV 102) channels on the TopTV platform. On these channels movies always start 2 hours later and 24 hours later than on the original Top Movies (TopTV 100) channel.

The ASA received a complaint saying that TopTV advertising 9 movie channels are misleading since the Top Movies +2 and the Top Movies +24 channels are merely duplicates.

In ad advert headlined "Take a defining journey with 9 movie channels on TopTV" TopTV also advertised Top One (TopTV 150) as a movie channel and not a general entertainment channel. TopTV admitted that this was a mistake.

The TopTV ad also included Star Gold as a movie channel, but that channel is only available on a separate subscription to the Indian TopTV bouquet. TopTV admitted that the advert was incorrect.

The ASA asked South Africa's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) for help and clarification regarding the time-shifted channels issue.

The ASA said in its ruling that the channels, although duplicates, are separate channels, since a subscriber would be seeing, at any given point in time, different movies on the various time-shifted channels.

"While the Directorate accepts that the complainant would have preferred three distinctly different TV channels with different content, the opinion from the NAB appears to suggest that this is a common practice," the ASA says in the ruling.

"The Directorate also accepts that this would ... potentially allow subscribers who were not able to record it, to still see their preferred movie, only at a different time or date."

BREAKING. TopTV and its Top Movies channel guilty of contravening Broadcasting Code with graphic movie; gets a serious warning.

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The South African pay TV operator Top TV (TopTV 100) has been found guilty of contravening the Broadcasting Code of Conduct for Subscription Broadcasting by broadcasting a movie, The Alarmist, which contains graphic sexual content, with a wrong and too low age restriction advisory and showing it way too early at 17:00.

Although TopTV has not been fined for the transgression of showing the movie with an incorrect age restriction and too early in the day, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has given TopTV a stark warning in its judgement: "The error made in this case, should however, caution the broadcaster to take much more trouble in establishing what the guidance of the South African Film and Publication Board (FBP) is".

The FPB is responsible for rating all movies and providing a classification for films for South Africa.

TopTV in its response admitted that it didn't contact the South African Film and Publication Board (FPB) when it couldn't find an age classification and rating for the film online, and only contacted the FPB telephonically after the BCCSA and TopTV received the viewer complaint.

TopTV which applied its own rating of 13 LS, was told by the FPB that the movie carries the substantially higher 16 LS age restriction. TopTV then immediately re-rated the film by by then had already showed it.

"Where a broadcaster departs from a classification made by the FPB by making it less stringent, it must give very good reasons for such a departure," says the BCCSA in its judgement.

"Since the broadcaster immediately rectified the error after the complaint was received and conceded that it had made an error, we have decided that a reprimand will suffice," says the BCCSA in its judgement.

'Plus' movie channels doing well for TopTV; subscribers like automatic time-shifting on additional channels.

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True. The so-called "plus" channels - Top Movies+2 (TopTV 101) and Top Movies+24 (TopTV 102) - are doing well for TopTV. Viewers are watching. 

Although Top Movies (TopTV 100) as TopTV's main movie channel has two time-shifted channels - Top Movies+2 showing all movies 2 hours later behind the main channel and with TopMovies+24 a day behind the main channel - TopTV says viewers love the opportunity to "time-shift" movies.

Heather Kennedy, the vice president for marketing told journalists and TV writers last week at the pay TV platform's first ever programming preview held in Cape Town that movies remain a top draw for pay TV audiences. 

She said TopTV subscribers love movies and series. She said Top Movies+2 and Top Movies+24 are "performing very well". "People who possibly discover a movie which has already started know they have more convenient opportunities to catch it - or to watch it again."

[It's therefore no wonder that the SABC, planning 18 TV channels in the public broadcaster's migration to digital terrestrial television (DTT) has been thinking of employing similar time-shifted channels to help fill out the number of new channels. Viewers without VCRs and PVRs get automatic time-shifted "buffered" TV content with "plus" channels.]

BREAKING. Top movies? TopTV's Top Movies channel makes the grade.

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TopTV, South Africa's new satellite TV pay operator started its commercial service on Saturday, May 1, with several TV channels including some of its own packaged and compiled TV channels like Top Movies (TopTV 100).

So, how does Top Movies (TopTV 100), one of TopTV's premium TV channels, compare to the movie channels South African viewers have had access to before TopTV came along? My verdict: Very well. Top Movies (TopTV 100) has some excellent movies and is as a TV channel on par, and better than several other available DStv movie channels that's available to South African viewers.

TopTV has also introduced another South African first: time-shifted movies by way of TV channels. Besides the Top Movies TV channel, TopTV also have Top Movies 2 (TopTV 101). Top Movies 2 is the Top Movies channel, but time-shifted by two hours. For instance, if you have missed a movie, you can catch it two hours after it has started on Top Movies 2.
Then there is also Top Movies 24 (TopTV 102) employing the same concept but stretching it a day. Top Movies 24 has every movie that was on Top Movies, but starting exactly a day later.

I have the schedule for Top Movies and it compares very well as a single movie channel regarding the films on offer. From comedy like Are We Done Yet? and action adventure like Spider-Man III, to sci-fi flicks like Ghostrider and romance like The Notebook, Top Movies has a selection from every movie genre. In May Top Movies debut - to name just a few, movies running the gamut from Murder on the Orient Express (2001), Reign over Me, Die Hard IV, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, Epic Movie, Wind Chill, Love and other Disasters, Plain Truth, Dragon Hunter, The List, First Comes Love and a lot more.