Financially distressed pay-television broadcaster On Digital Media (ODM), owner of TopTV, has set out a case to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) in which it has argued that it should be allowed to broadcast X-rated content on its bouquet of satellite channels
It’s not all bad news at TopTV. The company has revealed that its new prepaid offering is proving successful, with the financially troubled pay-TV operator activating more than 500 prepaid vouchers a day in recent weeks. To date, TopTV says it has
TopTV owner On Digital Media, the first and only company to launch a commercial alternative to incumbent pay-TV operator MultiChoice’s DStv, is in serious financial difficulty. The company’s management team has decided to seek a “business rescue” under section 129 of the new Companies Act. This
TopTV’s acting CEO, Eddie Mbalo, looked relaxed for someone who had been in the hot seat for eight months. He was thrust into the spotlight when the pay-TV broadcaster’s founding chief, Vino Govender, left in February. The broadcaster maintains the separation was amicable, but it is clear
Satellite pay-TV challenger TopTV, owned by On Digital Media, has launched a prepaid voucher service, saying it’s one of only a few broadcasters worldwide to offer subscription television on this basis. TopTV interim CEO Eddie Mbalo says offering access
Broadcasting regulator Icasa is expected to furnish its reasons within the next week for barring TopTV from launching adult channels on its satellite pay-TV platform. However it tries to justify the decision, Icasa deserves to be challenged all the way to the constitutional court
TopTV chairman and acting CEO Eddie Mbalo is “shocked” that the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) wants to introduce new pay-TV operators just a few years after licensing a range of new players, one of which collapsed. “I’m shocked that after having awarded these new licences
TopTV has no immediate plans to introduce a personal video recorder (PVR) or high-definition (HD) broadcasts, despite earlier promises by former CEO Vino Govender, who recently left the pay-TV operator’s employ, that it would introduce such products. Govender had said previously that TopTV would
DStv rival TopTV has sold 360 000 decoders since its launch two years ago, but of these only about half are actively using the service, the company’s chairman and acting CEO, Eddie Mbalo, has revealed. He tells TechCentral that TopTV, which is owned by On Digital Media (ODM), has between 160 000 and 200 000
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) has no right under the country’s constitution to block pay-TV operator TopTV from launching adult channels and the fact that it has done so is setting a “terrible precedent” that will erode the freedoms that South Africans fought for under