Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      The little-known company disrupting Eskom’s monopoly

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      Chief sub-editor wanted – help shape South African tech media

      16 June 2025
    • World

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » News » WowTV prepares for launch

    WowTV prepares for launch

    By Editor13 May 2011
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Pay-TV provider Walking on Water Television (WowTV) has finally received the funding it needs to get a multi-channel broadcasting service off the ground and will have a commercial product available “as soon as possible”.

    WowTV was one of four new companies to be granted a licence by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) to compete in SA’s pay-TV market in 2007.

    Other licensees were On Digital Media, which launched TopTV last year, Telkom Media (renamed Super 5 Media), which failed to introduce a product, and e-Sat, which opted instead to broadcast a 24-hour news channel on MultiChoice’s DStv.

    The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) decided to hold on to WowTV’s licence until it had found the funding it needed to launch a multi-channel service. The authority has now handed over the licence and the broadcaster has until March 2012 to launch a product.

    WowTV co-founder and chief financial officer Luyanda Mangquku says the company is pleased to have bedded down the funding it needed to get off the ground. He says the company had initially planned to launch a single-channel service, but soon realised that to compete effectively with other incoming pay-TV players it would have to launch a bouquet of channels.

    The company went back to the drawing board last year and has been looking for the funding it needs to expand its proposed offering. Mangquku will not say who is stumping up the cash.

    “With the funding we have, we are able to launch our services, but we are continuing our engagement with various investment houses in order to expand our offering in line with our roll-out plans,” says Mangquku.

    He says WowTV is putting all its efforts into bringing as service to market as soon as possible, preferably well before the deadline set down by Icasa.

    “Our plans are to launch as soon as practicably possible. The market is ready for a pro-family entertainment alternative, we are inundated with calls from WowTV fans to launch, and we are putting a lot of pressure on all our processes to ensure that the launch happens early,” he says.

    Critics have long labelled WowTV a niche player with a religious focus. But Mangquku says the company’s offerings will not be overtly religious, but rather “family friendly”.

    He says the content the company plans to broadcast will have no sex or violence and will have a strong focus on local programming and talent.

    “WowTV is about rediscovering, repositioning and unleashing one’s purpose and full potential in line with the very purpose that God created humanity. This is practical day-to-day lifestyle reform that will shake today’s concepts, thinking and behaviours to their very foundations,” he says.

    Viewers can expect the company to launch services priced at between R49/month and R99/month, depending on the bouquet of channels selected.  — Candice Jones, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook


    Luyanda Mangquku WowTV
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleThe problem facing SA banks
    Next Article TalkCentral: Episode 37 – ‘Three’s company’

    Related Posts

    Eight years later, WowTV ready to roll

    25 June 2015

    What Icasa’s digital TV regulations mean

    14 December 2012

    TopTV boss ‘shocked’ at new licence plan

    23 February 2012
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: smarter sensors, sharper design, stronger performance

    13 June 2025

    Change Logic and BankservAfrica set new benchmark with PayShap roll-out

    13 June 2025

    SAPHILA 2025 – transcending with purpose, connection and AI-powered vision

    13 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.