StarSat Remains Silent Following It's Raid By ICASA

A few months ago, StarSat shuttered it's doors in South Africa after operating illegally for over a year with ICASA alongside SARS confiscating several equipment for the company. This had left at least half a million households without access to SABC 1-3 alongside international channels from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Since then, consumers who had paid for its services have been waiting anxiously for further updates on how StarSat would compensate them with the brand that promised to share further details in the past months. Now they're completely unreachable for those looking to contact their headquarters or use their socials.

I know it's the festive season and a lot of companies give their staff some time off from their jobs to travel and visit loved ones but StarSat can't afford such luxury especially when it involves money. The only other option now should they continue to remain silent through the new year for some would be taking legal action.

Some theories do come in mind over the continued silence.

Firstly with their doors shuttered, employees are likely being retrenched (unknowingly) as StarSat relies on consumer's monthly fee to generate part of their revenue and without it they can't keep up to expenses. So December would be a perfect time for them to let people go as they wouldn't be much productivity by then. 

But MultiChoice still has operators on standby for those looking to make payments and report a problem with their services especially in the festive holidays. What I'm saying here is that these type of services can't minimise their operations to such extent all they can do is reduce work hours or find people that are willing to work in those hours.

Even if they do come back, the trust has been broken how is anyone sure this offense won't be repeated again especially those who turned to StarSat as their go to destination. StarSat knew what they were up against and I think they should have informed consumers ahead of time and mention their attempts in securing a license.

StarSat Looking To Launch A Streaming Service To Rival With YouTube

During the month, ICASA and SARS raided the offices of StarSat confiscating several equipment belonging to owners On Digital Media and StarTimes Media. This has led to a number of TV channels viewed in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda to have been blocked while consumers in South Africa experience a complete blackout.

In an interview on SABC News, the company's head of public affairs had outlined plans to launch its own YouTube type service which would allow bloggers podcasters and other local creators to curate content on that platform. This was part of a recovery plan as the broadcaster was dealing with financial woes during that time.

With this market already crowded with other platforms such as Showmax, Netflix, YouTube, eVOD and SABC+ the best guess here would be that this platform will rollout on the StarTimes app. With the StarSat already platform already having very little consumers this seems like the only probable option for sustainability.

Considering this will take up a format similar to YouTube, it may join the rankings of SABC+ and Freevision Play and offer no monthly fees while as offering a pay service similar to DStv Stream. A lot of streamers are struggling right now so I don't see how StarSat would be any different as some like SABC and Showmax rely on partners to survive.

Let's say this platform does launch how are local creators getting compensation and better yet will this platform ever get anywhere in terms of consumer growth. If StarSat from its 10+ years in South Africa sees their reach sitting under half a million how sure are they that these endeavours won't up like TelkomOne or Acorn TV.

With the company already facing several hurdles with their pay-tv operations, consumers are probably going to refrain themselves from these endeavours. Besides that, YouTube and TikTok are already dominant players in that regard so similar to the likes of DStv it would be challenging to find an audience in a market filled with constraints.

StarSat Offering Bonuses To Those Who Paid Them In The Month Of October But There's A Catch

During the month, ICASA and SARS raided the offices of StarSat confiscating several equipment belonging to owners On Digital Media and StarTimes Media. This has led to a number of TV channels viewed in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda to have been blocked while consumers in South Africa experience a complete blackout.

Since then, the company had seen an influx of angry consumers demanding answers on why their services are down and some had paid (or are continuing to pay) for the month. StarSat said they'd reimburse consumers although haven't done so yet and had warned consumers to withhold further payments to their services.

After the raiding by SARS, their hands are kind of tied now with employees roaming aimlessly wondering how they'll pay for their expenses. With channel providers such as One Freestate Televisual and Rising Sun TV having no other means of continuing their services things are currently at a standstill.

Now StarSat took it to their social platforms to announce the temporary suspension of payments so further charges could as well bounce back to the owner. Those who already paid are promised bonuses once the signal is restored of course that can't be guaranteed as they've been operating without a license for over a year and failed to close as advised.

Even if legal action was underway these things do take a considerable amount of time something consumers don't have. By the time, StarSat were to return only a portion of these consumers would be using their services while a majority migrate to DStv and Openview.

StarSat Issues Out Official Statement After It's Services Were Closed In South Africa With Transmission Disrupted For The Rest Of Africa

Not long ago, we reported that SAPS and ICASA had raided StarSat offices in South Africa after operating illegally for over a year with failure to shutdown as warned. With over 500000 consumers inactive, this will only lead to disaster for On Digital Media and StarTimes as paying consumers will likely raid their offices demanding for their money.

Since March, they were advised to settle their affairs and close by last month but didn't so and now consumers have raided their social platforms demanding answers on when the broadcaster will settle it's affairs with ICASA. Just to let you know, these things take time and we don't know what action awaits them.

If StarSat were to apply now that they were forcefully closed one result is a temporary ban meaning they'd have to wait a stipulated period to reapply which again 500000 can't afford. Consumers will likely just flee from their services and by the time they do return there may not be much to salvage as this market them and DStv harvest is crashing.

Below is a press statement from the company 

StarSat, operated by On Digital Media (ODM), confirms that earlier today, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), accompanied by the South African Police Service (SAPS), entered its Midrand offices and disconnected services.

During this process, not only were ODM’s services impacted but also those of StarTimes Media’s pan-African broadcast. As the service provider to ODM and a subsidiary of the larger StarTimes Group, StarTimes Media holds a valid individual electronics communication network service (ECNS) licence for transmissions across Africa.

While we acknowledge ICASA’s mandate to shut down ODM’s South African services, we are appalled by the manner in which ICASA disregarded ODM’s reasonable initial request for a discussion regarding which equipment should be removed, should the execution order be carried out.

Instead, ICASA opted to remove all equipment, including that belonging to StarTimes Media, which has adversely affected its pan-African broadcast services. This disconnection is highly concerning as it affects legitimate operations under this licence.

While ODM acknowledges an ongoing dispute, it strongly contests the disconnection of a valid StarTimes Media connection, which it believes to be unlawful.

ODM is exploring all legal avenues to resolve this issue swiftly and restore services. The company’s legal representatives have urgently approached the courts and will continue to keep all stakeholders, including customers, employees, and the media, informed as the situation progresses.

As Expected, StarSat Shuts Down In South Africa After Operating Illegally For Over A Year

Last month, it was reported that StarSat which serves as DStv's only competitor in South Africa was suppose to shut down by mid September. Since then, they continued to maintain an active presence in the market by selling their decoders, employing staff and promoting their bulk of entertainment to the media.

At the time, StarSat had stated they had no intention of closing their doors in South Africa as they look to take on ICASA in the hopes to stay on air. They left several consumers and staff members in the dark about their closure and also the fact they were distributing their services illegally not even channel providers Disney and BBC were aware of this.

In recent developments, it was confirmed that both ICASA and SAPS had ordered the shut down of StarSat services in South Africa imagine the feds are now on their tail. The only thing StarSat consumers can see now is a message on screen alerting them of "connection failure or bad whether".

Like I said a month ago, those using StarSat should get their affairs in order and opt for DStv or an Openview if they wish to enjoy a similar offering. Them operating illegally for this long would have dire consequences and there's consumers that probably paid in advance and you wonder if they'll get reimbursed.

StarSat was gloating for a month that they were dealing with financial constraints with part of it stemming from COVID-19 and if they wanted to take legal action or try to retain their services where else would they get these funds. Now over 500000 consumers are now going to be wondering aimlessly with jobs lost. 

The next step in this scenario would be if StarSat's license holder On Digital Media were to apply for a new license and this time on legal grounds they're going back to square one. DStv is already experiencing a decline in consumers due to the current economic climate and also the rise in internet usage.

Now with StarSat being off air, consumers are likely to dump their decoders and explore other means but should they come back these consumers would have moved on. This whole process they are engaging in will take up a lot of time something the "fans" and members of StarSat can't afford at the moment.

StarSat could as well just end up in the same nutshell as Telkom Media or Cell C's Black with On Digital Media that will likely disband. As for StarTimes, they could as well focus on the other pay-tv services in Africa leaving MultiChoice as the only pay-tv provider in South Africa.

Recommendations To Those Using StarSat In South Africa

StarSat is a satellite based pay-tv service that StarTimes managed to acquire a 20% stake for those using their services in South Africa with On Digital Media being majority shareholder. As reported sometime ago, the pay-tv operator has been operating illegally in South Africa for over a year and now ICASA is looking to action.

Since StarSat's inception into the market, they've managed to accumulate over half a million subscribers in South Africa alone which is baffling considering how long Openview had been operational in the market. They also have over 6000 workers whose jobs are as well at stake as they roam around their offices aimlessly.

StarSat is insuring consumers that they won't shut down by all means and it's comes as somewhat of a shock that they've been operating without a license for this long. But there's no guarantees that they'll be able to keep up with their word as ICASA could as well look to have their signals getting shut off making it difficult for them to offer their services.

Although employees may say they will continue to sell and distribute StarSat in South Africa what could happen overtime is that Warner Bros. Discovery, The Walt Disney Company and various other parties may look to having their channels revoked or at least for the audiences in South Africa leaving only the local channels curated by the company.

To put matters into simple terms, don't risk what little you have left on these guys as there's no guarantee how long they could remain active and if ESPN and National Geographic will remain intact during this period. Have a Plan B which could be Openview or DStv just until the dust settles between ICASA and StarSat.

Should it shut down it will have a difficult time trying to recover that lost income and consumer base even the workforce would be constraint as the pay-tv market has been under siege in recent years. So much so that they might as well look into closing their services or deem themselves unfit for the South African market.

In the end, the one who would be most affected is the license holder On Digital Media as StarTimes has a local following in other parts of Africa which amounts to over 10 million subscribers.

"The Bigger Picture": ICASA's Anger With StarSat Explained

Earlier in the week, it was reported that StarSat was set for closure in the South African market by 18 September but this never happened as they mention an active presence by on social media and continue selling their decoders. ICASA made the call for On Digital Media who serve as license holders in South Africa to shut their services.

So corporates at StarSat would rather resolve their matter in court which again didn't work out with the company that is engaging themselves in an another ongoing case with ICASA. This whole thing with retrenchment and also loss in consumers to some appears to be desperate attempt at them antagonising the situation.

With the affects of COVID-19 and the current economic climate StarSat was facing financial constraints or as they would put it "owing to challenges in securing new investment in a competitive market". So where was StarTimes in all this as they got TopTV out of financial turmoil and also was ICASA aware of this.

Regardless of how StarSat wants consumers and the media to perceive this they were operating illegally for over a year as their license expired by July 2023 and a new application was filed by November of that year. What might have got ICASA infuriated by all this was the fact they were promoting and distributing a service without a license.

If you drive on the road without supervision or a license you get penalised for that and imagine if you had caused fatal accident the punishment is more severe for the unlicensed vigilante. What's more baffling about this is employees are being left in the dark and blindly serving as accomplices to this whole ordeal.

If StarSat had shuttered its doors by July 2023 and applied for a new license it's likely that ICASA would have granted them a new license. But these things tend to take time which is what StarSat didn't have and by the time they would have gotten one they would have to build their consumer base again which similar to DStv has been under siege.

Another scenario would be the local content viewed on ST Rise and One Freestate Televisual how would the latter survive if ICASA manages to shut down the pay-tv platform while TLC and Discovery Channel can be accessed on DStv. StarSat would most likely have to start these local endeavours from scratch and compared to other players they've been invisible.

Openview launched several years down the line and are close to hitting the 4 million milestone while StarSat has a half a million subscribers. If they are given the greenlit to continue operations one would imagine ICASA fining them millions another with them still operational they could have their signals cut off and imagine how many angry consumers would fold their socials.

StarSat's Subscriber Numbers In South Africa Likely Revealed

StarSat has currently entered a broadcasting dispute with ICASA after they were ordered to shut down their services in Africa during the week but still continued to operate. This matter was taken to the Gauteng High Court but had since been dismissed with a new case to address the the whole matter between both parties is still ongoing.

After launching as TopTV in 2008 by On Digital Media as a rival to MultiChoice's DStv, with its own lineup of premium entertainment and sports. They accumulated a chunk of debt and were on the brink of bankruptcy received several bids from a MultiChoice funded company, Zuku TV with their successful bidder being StarTimes.

Following the acquisition, StarSat was embroiled in controversy with the inclusion of pornography that led to several legal disputes with The Justice Alliance of South Africa (Jasa), Cause for Justice and Doctors for Life leading to this content to get taken off from airwaves only to be broadcast illegally and get taken off again.

At the time Top TV was broadcast the platform was said to have accumulated around 200,000 subscribers but having the possible closure, last minute bid by StarTimes and porn scandal this was reduced to 160,000 subscribers by 2013. Since then the Chinese broadcaster remained silent on its consumer numbers and rather reported their African base as a whole. 

MultiChoice continues to dominate the African landscape with around 24 million subscribers with StarTimes coming in second with roughly 13-15 million subscribers.

Through a short statement we get to see the current state of its services in South Africa 

Beyond economic growth, ICASA is also committed to ensuring the dissemination of information, entertainment, and education to the public. StarSat plays a key role in this, providing quality content to over 500,000 subscribers at affordable rates. Its service offers a diverse range of programming that supports the informational and entertainment needs of South Africans.

Let's remember, Openview was launched several years later and has more subscribers than StarSat amounting to 3 million which is almost half of MultiChoice SA's business which is 7 million. Although StarSat didn't give an accurate number this "over" thing has been used by DStv when listing the bouquet of entertainment for each package.

If anything, StarSat is probably sitting with 501,000-550,000 consumers in South Africa alone so they're lagging around the same corridor at governments struggling STBs which had its offering reach 400,000 homes by 2020. I think the big question now is how many consumers had they been gaining or if there was any growth in recent years.

When MultiChoice and eMedia Investments dumped the now defunct Glow TV from their platforms there were rumours swirling around that StarSat's consumer numbers were very low and most of the income accumulated by Glow TV resided with Openview.

These numbers sort of prove this theory just imagine how many channels StarSat has under their umbrella while brands like CNN and National Geographic are lucky enough to be viewed in other parts of Africa and through DStv. Local channels like Rising Sun TV and One Freestate Televisual probably have around 2000+ viewers and don't generate as much income.

The issue with StarSat to be honest has barely much to do with DStv I mean Openview launched years after them and still got more subscribers despite charging no monthly fees. If anything the issue would have to be how they position themselves within the market which is very dismal if not almost non existent.

I mean with DStv and Openview these can be found at major retailers like Makro, Game and PEP yet StarSat has no presence in those retailers. Then there's ad space, despite having an Openview at their grasp eMedia Investments even SABC still market DStv yet there's been no presence of StarSat in these endeavours.

StarSat Issues Out Official Statement Following Dispute With ICASA

On Digital Media (ODM), the licensing company of pay television platform StarSat TV, acknowledges the statement issued by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), dated 20 September 2024, regarding StarSat’s potential exit from the subscription market in South Africa.

Owing to challenges in securing new investment in a competitive market, along with the introduction of a new shareholders agreement and the economic pressures following the COVID-19 pandemic, ODM submitted its license renewal application to ICASA later than the required deadline. Despite multiple attempts to seek guidance from ICASA officials to address these regulatory challenges, ODM did not receive the necessary support.

Furthermore, the Gauteng High Court recently dismissed an urgent interdict application filed by ODM to block ICASA’s decision to cease its operations as of 18 September 2024. A review application is pending to address the substantive legal issues between the two parties once the court date is set.

In light of these developments, StarSat is both surprised and concerned by ICASA’s recent statement, particularly as legal proceedings are currently underway. Over the past 18 months, StarSat has maintained consistent and comprehensive communication with ICASA. Any suggestion that the company has failed to engage with the regulatory authority is incorrect, as extensive correspondence is evidence of its commitment to constructive dialogue.

Given ICASA’s commitment to enabling economic growth, the potential loss of jobs is especially troubling. This situation could jeopardise the livelihoods of more than 600 ODM employees and disrupt the broader network of over 4,000 dealers and sales agents who rely on its operations.

Beyond economic growth, ICASA is also committed to ensuring the dissemination of information, entertainment, and education to the public. StarSat plays a key role in this, providing quality content to over 500,000 subscribers at affordable rates. Its service offers a diverse range of programming that supports the informational and entertainment needs of South Africans.

Despite the current challenges, StarSat will remain operational, and is committed to providing uninterrupted service to its users and business partners.

SHOCKING DEVELOPMENT!!! StarSat Has Been Operating Illegally In South Africa After Failing To Renew Its License By July 2023

A few months ago, it was reported that StarSat should have shut down in South Africa from September 18th which was 2 days ago but didn't as they continued maintaining an active presence in the market. At the time, ICASA didn't give a reason on the sudden dismissal of Chinese based pay-tv service formerly known as TopTV.

TopTV was launched back in 2010 by On Digital Media as a rival to MultiChoice's DStv with its own lineup of premium entertainment and sports. Overtime, it had been flooded with debt that it that was on the verge of bankruptcy until StarTimes opted to acquire the company which was met with a lot of controversy.

First for its plan to introduce several pornographic content to some of its consumers and another for the scaling back of local content. As some consumers have seen, StarSat relies in ST Rise to build up it's local offering although it isn't as big of a contender as Mzansi Magic and other local offering are provincial brands.

Now the pay-tv service is set for closure after failing to renew license by July 2023 which was over a year ago and opted to apply for a new broadcasting license by November of that year. In general, StarSat has been operating illegally several employees were unaware of these events and some outlets still continued supplying their decoders.

Their exit from the South African market means that DStv would basically be the only pay-tv service in South Africa while eMedia Investments' Openview platform has competition from PremiumFree and Sentech's DTT. This would also put a damper to the local content conceived on the platform.

After Openview had removed Deen TV this was revived on StarSat as Deen Channel same goes for One Freestate Televisual which expanded to MultiChoice's DStv and only to be shuttered after less than 3 months. StarSat's exit from this market means that these brands have no other means of survival with other brands like Soweto TV viewable on DStv.

Openview: "The Challenges Of Establishing A Competitor To SABC News And eNCA"

MultiChoice remains a dominant player in the African landscape against the likes of Zuku TV, Azam TV and StarTimes with their DStv offering but in recent years this has been under threat against the likes of Disney+ and Netflix. They (or in particular MultiChoice Africa) is currently in the process of being acquired by the French broadcaster after serving as a competitor in the region.

SABC News, eNCA and Newzroom Afrika serve as those leading destinations for editorial news and throughout their existence hpas only been packaged within MultiChoice's offering. This is because the pay-tv company had been allocating funds for content and staff and unlike some brands like BBC News hadn't received much funding from a third party.

It is one of those reasons that SABC News had been removed from DTT platforms and replaced by SABC Lehae and why eNCA is not seen on eMedia Investment's Openview. There was a whole debate about tandrying to get these brands onto more platforms outside of MultiChoice's reach but the trail had since then been dried out of course there were multiple attempts at launching a competitive offering.

Sometime after StarTimes had acquired TopTV, they had explored the idea of launching a local news channel within the South African market but deemed it too expensive and abandoned those plans. eMedia Investments became the second broadcaster with OpenNews (before becoming News And Sports) and the channel wasn't financially sustainable which led to it's demise.

SABC became the third broadcaster with SABC Lehae the only problem was that the channel is accessibility as SABC had reported that DTT had only accumulated around 400,000 activations by 2020. Yet, eMedia Investments had accumulated over 2 million subscribers by then despite rolling out their STBs years after they were made available to the market.

The fact that SABC News is not on Openview doesn't mean the chances of acquiring it for the platform is unlikely. eMedia Investments could as well look into licensing SABC News but from what was speculated from some insiders the costs to acquire such a channel might not came in their favor cause eMedia. relies on advertising while MultiChoice offers a pay-tv service.

Recap To The Decade: Canal+ Owned/Funded Channels Currently Seen On eMedia Investments' Openview And StarSat

As some readers are aware, Canal+ intends to merge their operations alongside MultiChoice which would create an African powerhouse. This would need approval from local legislation including the Competition Commission and ICASA.

Since then, there's been a lot of concern of the implications awaiting this deal should it move forward. Canal+ serving as the new owners of MultiChoice would likely decrease the workforce on top of minimizing production and licensing agreements. 

Although Canal+ doesn't offer any services within in South Africa they had producing content for M-Net. On top of licensing the entertainment channels FilmBox Africa through StarTimes platforms with France24 seen on the Openview platform. 

There has been a lot of concern from consumers that Canal+ may opt to scrap these agreements and make these channels exclusive to DStv consumers as seen with SABC News. Some even fear that StarTimes could opt to scrap FilmBox as they'd aid a competitor. 

But that may never be the case here as such would prove to be anti-competitive or unethical on StarTimes part. If anything, these assets won't be treated differently once Canal+ acquisition of MultiChoice is complete. 

It's possible that part of this offering may never see the light of day on DStv.

Take for instance, Timeless Dizi Channel which serves as one SPI International's most popular entertainment channels in Africa is already seen on StarTimes. But not on any of Canal+ platforms within Africa so if anything this offering could operate more independently. 

Of course nothing can be set in stone on what DStv consumers would get out of this acquisition in terms of additional services. But from what we've seen in recent months with the closures of Me and Ginx TV it's likely these services will lead to more content changes. 

Developing Story: StarSat Scraps Possibly Delays Price Increase Following News Of Its Possible Closure In South Africa

Not long ago, it was announced that StarSat would implementing a price increase effective from July 1st. Now the pay-tv company has removed any mentions of such across their social platforms following possible news of its closure in South Africa. 

On Digital Media, the parent company and license holder for StarSat's broadcast license was said to be revoked by ICASA. With sources mentioning that they had until September 18th to address staff and the various parties affected by this matter.

StarSat in these regards is exploring all the regulatory and legal issues regarding its licencing. This could have been the contributing factor as to why any mentions of these prices had since been taken down.

But StarTimes continues to sell their decoders when in such regards you would have to pause the distribution of your products. Various consumers worried and concerned wonder what will happen with AMC, One Free Televisual and Da Vinci.

MultiChoice had packaged and once distributed some of the channels viewed on their platform. The demise of StarSat means none of this content would be available in South Africa while others like CBS Reality and National Geographic reside on DStv.

Another downside pertains to the local offering viewed on the platform such as One Freestate Televisual and Rising Sun TV. Unlike the latter above whose reach extends to Africa, these are regional channels and as such don't have much avenues to stay on air.

Important Notice: StarSat SA To Implement Price Increase From July 1st Amidst Reports Of A Possible Closure Of The Platform

StarSat, a Chinese based operator which is formed as part of a joint venture with On Digital Media and StarTimes was rumoured to be closing by September 18th. Serving as one of the only pay-tv rivals to MultiChoice's DStv was launched in the market 14 years ago.

In an update, On Digital Media's CEO Debbie Wu is currently looking to explore all the regulatory and legal issues with their licensing. They don't intend to close their doors and should that be the case they will accept all obligations and inform the necessary parties.

Amidst these reports, StarSat will be implementing a price increase from 1st July after MultiChoice made the adjustments to the price rates for their platforms in April. With the new prices listed as follows:

* Special will go up from R130p/m to R140pm

* Super will go up from R250p/m to R280p/m

* Max will go up from R360p/m to R400p/m

For a company whose future is quo, this seems like a risky move on their part. Considering there's still uncertainty pertaining to the future in the market and also stemming from the rise in competition with the likes of Netflix and Showmax. 

MultiChoice continues to lose more DStv customers on the mid to higher end particularly Premium to Compact while their low masses ranging from Family to Easyview experience weak growth. Of course, this isn't a scenario that is carried in other parts of Africa.

Recap To The Year: StarTimes Acquires Exclusive Rights To TNA (Formerly Impact Wrestling) For Consumers In Africa, Exits eMedia Investments' Openview Platform

TNA Wrestling (formerly IMPACT Wrestling) — a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment and a division of Anthem Sports Group— announced a partnership with global entertainment platform StarTimes, bringing exclusive TNA content to more than 30 countries throughout Africa by January 2024.

The agreement further extends TNA’s reach, making the world-class wrestling organization’s flagship weekly series TNA IMPACT! widely available to over 45 million users in locations such as Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa and the Ivory Coast, among many others. As part of the deal, StarTimes viewers will also be able to enjoy exclusive TNA+ specials and hard-hitting Pay-Per-View events, including landmark spectacles such as Bound For Glory.

Since its inception in 2002, TNA has established itself as one of the largest professional wrestling organizations in the world, and the premier destination for wrestling fans. Fueled by blockbuster stories, marquee matchups and larger-than-life personas, TNA’s roster puts the spotlight on some of the industry’s brightest stars, boasting international talent that includes Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Eric Young, Eddie Edwards, Moose, Josh Alexander, Jordynne Grace, Gisele Shaw, Frankie Kazarian and more.

“Africa has long-boasted a passionate wrestling audience, who have warmly embraced our programming and our athletes,” said TNA Wrestling President Scott D’Amore. “We are proud to partner with StarTimes to bring exclusive TNA content to subscribers throughout the continent, and we hope they will enjoy the exciting plans we have in store for what promises to be one of our biggest years yet!”

“We very much look forward to working with TNA Wrestling in 2024 and bringing our audiences exciting wrestling programmes. It’s also our honor to have so many thrilling events and star wrestlers on our platform. By cooperating closely with TNA Wrestling, we aim to expand the influence and fans base of wrestling in Africa continent through this partnership,” said Ben Li, StarTimes Sports Broadcasting & Production Center Director.

StarSat SA Channel Changes From 01 January 2023 To 31 March 2024

Unlike most parties on the list, 2023 had to have been the most productive year for South Africa's underachiever StarSat. Managed by On Digital Media and StarTimes, SA's only affordable pay-tv service had welcomed more entertainment to the telly.

After being exclusive to only DStv, CBS Reality and CBS Justice extended their reach to StarSat which was accompanied by general entertainment brand FilmBox Action and children's channel, Kartoon Channel. 

At the time, it was stated the pay-tv company intended to add more channels after the 31 March 2023 which is where the last financial cycle ended. Most of which never came to pass as the latter to have launched were mostly former channels on the platform. 

This included ST Movies, Trace Africa, TLC and Investigation Discovery with the only new addition being Discovery Channel, Boing and ST Toons.

The only terminations came from Russia Today as its frequency had been phased out in most parts of the world. Other brands to have fallen on the platform were TNT due to contractual issues alongside Glow TV whose agreement had expired with the platform.

New channel/relaunches 

Discovery Channel 

BOING 

ST Toons 

Kartoon Channel 

FilmBox Action 

CBS Reality

CBS Justice 

Trace Africa 

Investigation Discovery 

TLC 

Termination 

Glow TV 

Russia Today 

TNT

New Channel Alert: ST Kids Plus Coming Soon To StarTimes And StarSat Platforms Across Africa

Last month,  StarTimes added ST Toons as a brand new children's channel to their platforms. Serving as a spinoff to the current ST Kids channel, ST Toons incorporates the Nicktoons format airing older shows from ST Kids with dubs in the mix.

Oddly enough, StarTimes looks to launch a third children's channel by April 15th, ST Kids Plus. From what we can gather most of the content already seen on both ST Kids and ST Toons will be added to the lineup with selection of content in local languages.

The languages include English, Swahili, Portuguese and French with the channel set to rollout in 30 African countries. It is looking to position itself as a multilingual children's channel offering high quality children's content for viewers aged 6-12.

ST Kids Plus will launch on April 15th on channel 352 on DTT and 311 on DTH to all Basic and Super customers. 

As some readers are aware, StarSat hasn't launched ST Toons for consumers in South Africa and from the looks of things ST Kids Plus. Considering that the ownership of StarSat in SA varies with other countries it wouldn't surprising if it didn't launch. 

StarTimes in ROA is packaged differently from South Africa this is due to the pay-tv companies voting rights being limited to 20%. In these markets, StarTimes whose rates match that of MultiChoice also offer a range of sport and premium entertainment. 

Recap To The Decade: TopTV's Abrupt Cancellation And Transition To StarSat + Possible Acquisition By MultiChoice And Zuku TV

With Canal+ looking to acquire MultiChoice there's been concerns from various consumers on the intentions of the French company. Following, StarTimes hold on TopTV (now StarSat), it lurks under the shadow of its previous iteration with less media coverage. 

TopTV was a South African pay-tv platform operated by On Digital Media which served as a rival to MultiChoice's DStv. It promised to offer consumers affordable price rates by letting them pay for a selection of entertainment something not seen on DStv. 

Variety was available across every price plan for R99p/m which was home to free-to-air channels SABC 1-3 and e.tv alongside other entertainment ranging from sports like Eurosport News and Senata Sports and news from BBC News and Al Jazeera. 

These consumers were given an option between Kiss and JimJam from Kids & Music, Discovery Science and FOX Retro from Entertainment & Knowledge, and Showtime and FX from Ultimate Movies.

During its span, TopTV was able to lure at least 300,000 subscribers and got a lot of media coverage. Similar to StarSat, there was a lack of communication with the media over the inclusion of content and TV channels.

Similar to the likes of eMedia Investments, TopTV came with their own branded TV channels such as Top One (general entertainment), Top History (factual), Top Junior (kids) and Top Movies. Most of which were scrapped following the pay-tv company's money woes.

Change in ownership/help from DStv

In 2012, TopTV had gone into business rescue under Companies Act behind on debt and in need of cash needed help from another party which most were eyeing to be South African. 

In 2013, Dynamic TV was the only bidder based in South Africa that was looking to acquire TopTV. It was formed by Given Mkhari's MSG Afrika and Malose Kekana's Falk Trading who had gotten "financial help" from MultiChoice to acquire the pay-tv company. 

It's likely that TopTV could have merged with DStv or rebranded to GOtv as MultiChoice were open to pumping out close to R370 million a year. Other suitors included Zuku TV's owners Wananchi Group meaning they wouldn't have been exclusive to West Africa. 

StarTimes was only successful to acquire TopTV as Dynamic TV and Wananchi Group failed to make their offers on time. Shareholders were desperate for a possible deal and reviewed StarTimes offer before making them their new business partner. 

More battles ahead 

News of StarTimes takeover of TopTV was met with poor reception from workers who feared the overloading of "poor Chinese content". A few shareholders within ODM had taken StarTimes to court regarding its takeover of the TopTV trademark. 

Amidst this StarTimes was looking to unveil the new packages and TV channels set to be rolled out on StarSat. Despite the outcome of the court, StarTimes was able to exercise their 65% hold of the company and unveil the new packages and TV channels to debut.

This garnered a lot of media coverage after reports surfaced of porn being part of this lineup which had heavily been bombarded on TopTV. This consisted of Desire TV, Playboy TV and Private Spice all of which are available at an additional charge.

ICASA saw no problem with the inclusion of porn as it didn't form part of StarSat's other offering with the other pertaining to the broadcast times 20:00 viewed by adults. Other parties such as the Doctors For Life had filed lawsuits with various other law enforcement.

StarSat was forced to pull these channels by 2014 (with license revoked) and they resurfaced sometime later. The Justice Alliance of SA (Jasa) was looking to fine the broadcaster R60,000 but ICASA reduced it to R25,000 as they broadcast without approval. 

Conclusion: TopTV's demise could have been prevented 

TopTV was poorly structured during its run despite housing premium entertainment brands like FX and Showtime. They offered a chunk of add-ons part of which likely went unnoticed by viewers as they continued pumping gas in the fuel tank.

StarTimes had identified these flaws and opted to restructure the packages in a similar form to those viewed in Africa and seen on MultiChoice's DStv. They paid up various debts TopTV owed to various companies and retained part of its offering.

TopTV had about 300,000 subscribers before migrating to StarSat and when you look at it they could have minimized their offering. They were moving very quickly to edge out MultiChoice knowing how little consumption numbers were at the time.

MultiChoice by this period had at least 3 million DStv customers within South Africa. 

New Channel Alert: ST Toons Coming Soon To StarTimes Platforms Across Africa Later This Month

After relaunching ST Movies on their platforms, StarTimes will be expanding the kiddies lineup with the addition of a second kids channel, ST Toons. With ST Kids inheriting the Nickelodeon DNA ST Toons will lean more onto Nicktoons. 

According to StarTimes, ST Toons will be a comprehensive cartoon channel covering Chinese, international and African programming. It would serve as a competitor to existing players such as eToonz and Play Room both of which are based in South Africa. 

Third party shows set to form part of the lineup include SpongeBob SquarePants, Totally Spies!, Power Rangers and Transformers. Still no word on the local portion coming to ST Toons if we had to guess they'll probably dub select shows in local languages. 

ST Toons will launch on channel 310 on DTH and 351 on DTT or least from what African officials mention. It will be available from the Basic package which serves as the African counterpart of Max with no word on a package for StarSat consumers in South Africa.

ST Toons will join other children's channels such as ST Kids, Baby TV, Da Vinci, Kartoon Channel, Toonami, Boing and CBeebies.

News Shorts: Disney Channel's Southern Africa Feed Is Being Reduced Across Europe, Broken Bonds Makes It's Freemium Debut On eExtra And ST Movies Channel Relaunches On StarSat Channel 101

Disney Channel is going bust 

Last month, it was reported that Disney Junior would be exiting parts of Europe as further content folds under Disney Channel.  Shortly after, MultiChoice extended the agreement for these channels alongside ESPN and National Geographic through 2027.

Now it has been reported that more European feeds might be looking to exit the Southern African feed following its induction in 2023. This was after a viewer had spotted Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur and 44 Cats shows not seen on Disney Channel. 

Considering the launch of the Nordic feed is a few hours away, it's likely that more regions are looking to align their offering. Aside from 44 Cats and Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur, the viewer had also spotted Pupstruction alongside various content from Disney Junior.

Unlike Africa, Disney Junior is also going dark on Disney Junior in Scandinavia by the end of March.

More Zee World repeats on Openview

During the week, it was reported that Katti Batti would be rolling out on eExtra this was after the channel provided various details pertaining to the 2018 series. As seen through various platforms, that is no longer the case as the channel adds Broken Bonds from Zee World.

Broken Bonds focuses on the lives of Shubhra, Kuldeep and their kids Roli and Rishi. After 10 years of their marriage, cracks start developing in Shubhra and Kuldeep’s relationship. Will Rishi and Roli succeed in erasing the differences between their parents? 

Originally titled Kyun Rishton Mein Katti Batti, it starts 4 March at 14:35 on eExtra.

St Movies Channel on StarSat

After ripping away TNT back in 2023 following contractual issues with Warner Bros. Discovery. StarSat decided to revive St Movies on channel 101 from 10 March following an abrupt end of the open window of the current St Movies Plus on channel 100.

St Movies Channel is a channel dedicated to Hollywood films, presenting the world's finest movies to our viewers. In partnership with several major Hollywood studios, the channel's line-up will consist of various genres including action, romance, comedy, and mystery.

StarSat remains silent on which package St Movies Channel will be allocated on but if we had to guess it will probably be available to the same consumers as TNT when it first broadcast on the platform.