MultiChoice warns over job offers for new TV news channel on DStv, says there's also no shortlisted operators since the tender process is ongoing with the bidding process only closing on 30 April.

MultiChoice is warning against opportunists trying to cash in on people's gullibility around job offers and the new local 24-hour TV news channel that will be replacing ANN7 (DStv 405), with the pay-TV service that is distancing itself from fake news messages inviting people to send CVs and contact details to would-be operators that's been spread across social media without verification to work for a "MultiChoice News Channel".

MultiChoice is still waiting for applications from interested parties who might want to start a majority black-owned local TV news channel, with the process to accept tenders that is still open, with no tenders that have been assessed yet, and no tender that has even been awarded to anyone yet.

That has not stopped fake news reports claiming that MultiChoice is this week meeting with 16 shortlisted TV news channel operators, nor opportunists trying to lure people with fake claims of having gotten the contract and job offers, or people mindlessly spreading fake messages on social media about job opportunities at a supposed TV news channel.

MultiChoice told TVwithThinus that erroneous news reports doing the rounds about "shortlisted prospective channel operators" are not true.

"We have invited bidders who registered and completed the relevant documents to an information session on 16 March. The aim of the session is to provide information regarding the procurement process and clarify questions bidders might have".

"We have not shortlisted any bidders as the evaluation process has not started.The request for proposals (RFP) closes on 30 April 2018 as communicated in our press release of 26 February 2018. We also communicated that parties who are still interested to register their intention to bid, have until 20 April 2018 to do so," said MultiChoice.

The new 24-hour, local TV news channel replacing ANN7 that is getting dumped in August will have to "provide anchor-based, live broadcasts in the style of Al Jazeera, CNN, Sky News, eNCA, SABC News and others with a focus on national, regional, local and African news, actuality, current affairs and sport with less focus on international affairs".

There is no specific starting date for the new TV news channel, with the set-up and establishment of a newsroom, an electronic news gathering and workflow, editing and playout system, and hiring of staffers that will take several months and that only start after a successful bid has been awarded.

Meanwhile people on social media started to spread messages like one purportedly from ABT Africa saying "the new MultiChoice News channel is launching in September" and that people should email CVs to someone there because the channel is "looking for newsroom staff, producers, technical, presenters" and even "events organisers".

MultiChoice is warning people to be careful of such messages, saying "we distance ourselves from any adverts recruiting for the proposed news channel on DStv. The tender process for this channel is still open and no-one has been awarded the contract".

MultiChoice says 60 interested parties registered their interest to start a new South African TV news channel, tender process is now opening.

MultiChoice says over 60 interested groups have registered their interest to bid to start a new local South African TV news channel on DStv to replace ANN7 that will be removed at the end of August from Naspers' satellite pay-TV service, with the tender process that is now opening.

The new 24-hour TV news channel that will have to compete against eMedia Investments' existing eNCA (DStv 403) and the South African public broadcaster's SABC News (DStv 404) will have to be owned, managed and operated by an independent black South African owned entity.

While globally the appetite to start linear TV news channels that often take very long to turn profitable, if ever, waned over the past decade, MultiChoice wants one more local news channel for DStv.

The requirements for the new TV news channel include some tall orders. MultiChoice says it will have to be "a South African, predominantly English TV news channel that takes into account the history, diversity of cultural background, languages and socio-economic circumstances in South Africa" and will have to broadcast 24 hours per day.

It will have to provide "anchor- based, live broadcasts in the style of Al Jazeera, CNN, Sky News, eNCA, SABC News and others" and will have to "specifically focus on national, regional, local and African news, actuality, current affairs and sport with some focus on international affairs".

Besides doing news, the news channel will also have to "fcus on training and development of news and broadcast industry personnel" and "foster a strong ownership mentality with employees and partners through mechanisms such as employee equity and/or incentive schemes".

The TV news channel will be paid by MultiChoice as part of a carriage agreement to provide the content but MultiChoice says the channel will have to "be independent, non-partisan, unbiased and critical - MultiChoice will have no editorial control or ownership".

While the channel will be widely distributed across several DStv subscription tiers and packages, enabling it to get exposure to a big audience and therefore be able to run advertising, the channel will also have to work to look at getting income from other sources besides just MultiChoice.

"We're delighted and overwhelmed at the response," says Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice South Africa CEO at the over 60 interested parties who've indicated that they would like to bid to start a TV news channel on DStv.

"We're encouraged that we'll be able to offer South Africans another local news channel, which will add to the diversity and plurality of news on DStv," says Calvo Mawela.

MultiChoice is now opening the tender process and all of the 60 parties will be getting a link to respond to a Request for Proposal (ROP) on an online platform. The process will close on 30 April 2018.

MultiChoice says that after this date, the evaluation process will kick off and that the successful bidder will be notified before 31 July. People who are still interested to register their intention to bid, have until 20 April 2018 to do so and can visit multichoice.co.za.

An expensive operation

People who want to start up a new 24-hour TV news channel should do their homework and come up with the most thorough and detailed business plan they can, since specifically launching and creating a sustainable TV news channel is one of the most notoriously difficult type of channels to launch and is fraught with difficulties and challenges.

Beyond technical, editorial staff and a raft of producers, engineers and graphic artists, a TV news channel needs a studio, post production editing suites, a playout system and servers, an electronic news production system to organise stories, video link systems,  

Prior to its launch in May 2010, the DStv challenger TopTV - since rebranded as StarSat - promised a local 24-hour TV news channel, just to suddenly backtrack and can the idea when it dawned just how much it would cost and how much extensive work, labour and expertise it would require.

SABC News International, the SABC's first attempt at a 24-hour TV news channel before it was replaced by SABC News was a shocking disaster and was abruptly ended after just three years at the end of March 2010, bleeding millions of rands.

Even long-established, highly-prized, credible TV news channels are having a hard time cutting it. Sky News (DStv 402) from Sky in the United Kingdom isn't profitable and has been a loss-making TV news channel for years.

The BBC, that has decided against it, has several times until the recent past revisited whether it shouldn't end its 24-hour news channels on TV due to the exorbitant cost and turn them into digital channels.

eNCA that launched as the eNews Channel in June 2008 will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in June this year but it's been even tough going for this channel. 

Although eNCA is the most watched TV news channel on DStv with the largest news audience share, even that didn't help the channel to make enough money to sustain the type of news and coverage, especially of and from the rest of Africa it did for a while. The channel, although successful, has gone through several painful cost-cutting exercises that saw it shed staffers, shutter its international bureaus and cancel multiple news and actuality programmes. 

The new TV news channel will also have to know that it will be entering a very crowded field of established players in terms of TV news providers who are not going to budge for a newbie.