In the days following this week’s general election – the most interesting since 1994 – the focus will shift to who president Jacob Zuma will name to his new cabinet. Whatever shuffling he decides to do, he should leave the communications portfolio in the hands
Browsing: MultiChoice
As South Africa inches slowly towards migrating from analogue to digital terrestrial television, communications regulator Icasa has provisionally granted licences to five new pay-TV operators following an exhaustive hearings process that took place in 2013. The companies and consortia that have bid for the licences
A new South African video-on-demand player, Discover Digital, plans to give broadcasters a run for their money by launching both subscription-based and transactional video-on-demand services, as well as content kiosks, aimed at a broad spectrum of consumers. The company says it has developed the infrastructure required to launch its service
MultiChoice has criticised communications regulator Icasa over its decision to ask the Competition Commission to probe a “possible restrictive horizontal practice” between it and the SABC over the supply by the public broadcaster of a 24-hour news channel
Communications regulator Icasa has asked the Competition Commission to probe what it’s calling a “possible restrictive horizontal practice” between the SABC and MultiChoice over the supply by the public broadcaster to the pay-television operator of a 24-hour news channel. TechCentral revealed last year that the agreement contains an obligation
Two crucial constituencies have been ignored in communications minister Yunus Carrim’s rather ill-tempered response over the past few weeks to questions about his policy on the digital migration of South African television services. Instead of acknowledging the many deficiencies in the option being pursued by government
Long-term MultiChoice and Naspers executive Eben Greyling is stepping down to “take a break” and to “pursue new interests”. Greyling had been with Naspers for more than 18 years in various roles. He leaves with immediate effect, with Jim Volkwyn, the previous head of the group’s pay-television segment, taking the reins from
The small black box at the heart of the move from analogue to digital is about South Africans’ freedom, which communications minister Yunus Carrim’s decision will either narrow or enlarge. This is unfortunate since technology and markets function
The war of words that erupted between MultiChoice and communications minister Yunus Carrim this week is extraordinary. It is also, unfortunately, very damaging. It is unusual in South Africa – or most countries, for that matter – for a large company to take on a cabinet minister directly, aggressively and in public like this. One has to
MultiChoice “cannot speak for the poor” and “has no mandate from them”. It also can’t speak for consumers, from whom it makes “super profits”. That’s the latest broadside directed against MultiChoice by the ministry of communications as the war of words between the Naspers-owned pay-television operator and communications minister