Recap To Last Year: OnseTV And MyTV Are No Longer Available On StarSat, Should eMedia Investments Perhaps Get It For The Openview Platform?

Last year, it was announced that OnseTV and My TV would be scrapped from the StarSat platform. As of 2023, Glow TV join the brands as another list of channels that can't be viewed anywhere in the market.

OnseTV was a general entertainment channel which is meant to serve as a rival to the kykNET channels on the DStv platform offering a lineup of drama series, movies, reality shows and documentaries. It includes shows like Suidooster and Snoek & Patat.

MyTV was a lifestyle channel and by the looks of it a rival to Media24's VIA also seen on the DStv platform. It offers a mixture of lifestyle and factual content ranging from home, decor, food, fashion and several others. It includes shows like Vaskap and Eksieperfeksie.

As seen in 2022, StarSat has been focused on reshaping the South African landscape through content adaption, dubbing, sub-titling supported by innovative low-cost commissioning of unique programme formats that appeal to the "vast majority" of consumers.

Unfortunately, OnseTV and MyTV didn't resonate with those plans for consumers which led to the untimely demise on the StarSat platform after 13 years.

MyTV (formerly ASTV) was added onto eMedia Investments' Openview platform back in 2013 but died out over the years as consumers weren't that invested at the time as seen with eExtra's Kuiertyd which has luckily pulled close to half a million viewers.

Over the years, eMedia Investments had begun investing in more content for the brand including Saturday Night Movies on eExtra and the Afrikaans game show, Die Kontrak.

I mean the idea of getting a brand similar to OnseTV or MyTV perhaps for Openview Ultra wouldn't be the most far fetched thing to happen. eExtra is telenovela skewed particularly with Kuiertyd but with their fanbase they could as well get this content to new heights.

Initially, Openview was more like StarSat with this offering and following Kuiertyd. You got to see more of this brand as well as the community it caters for. At the moment, it kinds of repetitive and maybe content from both these parties will help change that.

StarSat To Kill Off More Channels By The End Of September

StarSat will drop its two Afrikaans channels from the platform on 30 September 2022, the owners of MyTV and OnseTV have announced.

“StarSat, the South African branch of StarTimes Media, has ended Afrikaans on the StarSat decoder after 13 years of broadcast,” said MyTV CEO Jaco Ferreira.

On Digital Media launched TopTV in South Africa on 1 May 2010.

It was South Africa’s first noteworthy DStv contender since MultiChoice launched its satellite pay-TV service.

Ferreira says that ASTV was accepted as the only Afrikaans channel on TopTV in October 2009. It operated out of Rustenburg and was later rebranded MyTV.

On Digital Media soon ran into financial troubles and Chinese pay-TV player StarTimes bought the company out of business rescue in 2013.

OnseTV started broadcasting on 29 September 2017 on StarSat channel 462.

“Because OnseTV management works daily with a wide variety of people in the industry, it was clear from the start that there were no focused channel to cater for the largest Afrikaans-speaking community in South Africa,” Ferreira said.

“It was decided to create a TV channel, specifically for the brown Afrikaans community.”

Ferreira said OnseTV has been broadcasting with great success for the past five years.

“The response from our immediate communities of colour has been and continues to be incredible,” Ferreira said.

Despite this, StarSat informed OnseTV and MyTV that their contracts would not be renewed. The channel operator said it received no reason for this decision.

“OnseTV have become an entertainment home for the brown community. To fully live out their culture and language and thus bridging cultural gaps,” Ferreira stated.

“The untapped talent and talented people present in this community, previously and presently dismissed from mainstream media, are still looking for well-deserved recognition. Something OnseTV gave them for the past five years.”

Ferreira said E-tv’s owners approached him in 2013 and struck a deal to broadcast ASTV on Openview HD.

“After this contract expired, ASTV’s broadcast on OVHD stopped. But ASTV still continued broadcasting on the StarSat decoder,” Ferreira said.

“InPasTV (a Christian channel) was also accepted by StarSat together with OnseTV but was later removed.”

Ferreira said they bid StarSat farewell with a heavy heart.

“We are very grateful for the 13 years we have been able to broadcast on this platform, and we will be forever grateful for the time we were able to spend with the StarSat team,” said Ferreira.

MyTV and OnseTV are now streaming online for free.

“Perhaps we have outgrown our teenage shoes, and it is time to venture into the ‘grown-up world,’” the channels said.