Could Openview Be Losing More Channels In The Near Future?

During the year, Openview consumers lost a total of 3 channels Rewind and News And Sport from eMedia Investments as they were reviewing their offering on the platform with Soul Music's exit on the platform remaining as much of a mystery.

Compared to other outlets there hasn't been much bloodbath coming for these consumers as they inherited the likes of eXposed, ePlesier, The Home Channel+ and an upcoming entertainment channel scheduled to launch by the end of 2022.

Of course, there's been a pair of channels viewers have been questioning for a while now and as the year is about to come to a close why not bring it up now.

Last year, eMedia Investments and Nismedia engaged in a brawl in regards to the carriage agreement for Glow TV. Long story short, things haven't been the same between both parties and signs of its demise on the platform are as clear as day.

If you browse Openview's website, there's no mention of Glow TV despite its presence on the decoder. So just like how eMedia's 4 channels remained on DStv due to a technicality, could the same matter be the case for Glow TV?

SA Music is currently the only music channel on the platform kind of like how France24 and SABC Sport remain as the only news and sports channel respectively but in this case it's more serious.

Later in the year, Openview consumers awoke to the news of Soul Music's demise on the platform which served as a sister channel to SA Music but that's not where the worries originate but to its previous distributor StarSat.

StarSat has seen a loss in channels and it's interesting how it remains relevant at least to South Africans following the loss of current DStv channels like Discovery Family, Real Time, Investigation Discovery, TLNovelas and DreamWorks with more likely to join that list.

On Openview, the only channels consumers from eMedia Investments inherited were SA Music and Soul Music with its termination on the platform having to do with StarSat. Imagine if the same action seen on StarSat were to have fallen on Openview but this time with SA Music.

Honestly, the future isn't certain for any channel at this point but SA Music and Glow TV seem closer to the light than any other channel.

Soul Music Channel Is Next Channel To Stop Airing On The Openview Platform

Following the termination of News And Sport and rebranding of Rewind to eXposed in April, Openview consumers are set to lose yet another channel which is none other than Soul Music.

Soul Music ran on the Openview platform for at least two years initially as a holiday pop-up in 2020 alongside SA Music delivering a mash-up of music and nostalgia for those who enjoy Soul, RnB and Jazz music with the sounds of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye to Alicia Keys and John Legend.

The channel alongside SA Music once operated on StarSat in December 2014 which is 6 years before it launched on Openview till they were suddenly discontinued by the pay-tv platform alongside several other channels in 2021.

 

A year later, Soul Music is also being discontinued on Openview while SA Music remains on the platform for the time being. It wouldn't be shocking if it followed too as seen with StarSat.

Soul Music doesn't state exactly why the channel is being phased out but only responded to say:

The Soul Music Channel would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your constant love and support of the channel. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Soul Music Channel will no longer be available on the OpenView platform as of 30/06/2022. We are beyond grateful for the love and support always!

As outlined in eMedia's financial year results, they will be sourcing out more channels in the near future.