In the past week not only has beleaguered South African satellite pay-TV operator
TopTV (owned by ODM) been granted authorisation from regulator ICASA to broadcast
three adult content channels, but it has reportedly also received another offer, following
the earlier offer from Chinese consortium Star Times, to bail it out of its current
Business Rescue status.
According to Business Day, the new offer is from a consortium called Dynamic TV, which
has financial backing of Naspers-owned MultiChoice, owner of the DStv pay-TV platform.
The executives behind Dynamic TV are Given Mkhari of MSG Afrika Media Group and
Malose Kekana of Falk Trading.
Commenting on ICASA’s authorisation regarding TopTV’s proposed adult content
channels, the ODM management hailed it as “a victory for democracy and freedom of
speech and choice in our country’. They were quick to point out that the channels will be
offered as a completely separate, stand-alone package to the current TopTV channel
offering. This will require a separate monthly subscription, age verification and other
security features such as a secure pin code, as outlined in TopTV’s submission
documents to Icasa. The three channels will be broadcast only in the “watershed period’,
which is from 20h00 to 05h00 daily.
