South Africa’s SABC public broadcaster has struck a deal with Disney which allows it to tap into ESPN’s international live sporting portfolio as well as a library of key sporting content from ESPN’s archive. The SABC Sports channel will also include European football games. The output will also be available on eMedia Holdings’ free-to-view Openview […]

BritBox, the ITV/BBC OTT joint-venture, will launch on August 6th in South Africa with a charge of R100/month (€5.70). Customers who sign up for a one-year subscription – a Rand 999.90 commitment — will get two months free. There is also a free, seven-day trial with no obligations to subscribe. BritBox says that its output […]

South Africa’s SABC public broadcaster is asking the country’s media regulator, the Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) to introduce new rules which limit the amount and scope of revenue that pay-TV operators can earn. The SABC proposals cover advertising revenues as well as cash generated by infomercials, sponsorship and similar sources. SABC says the existing regulations […]

South Africa’s MultiChoice/DStv pay-TV operator insists it has paid all its Nigerian tax demands. It says it will prove the payments to the Nigerian Government’s Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS). FIRS is claiming that the DStv broadcaster has evaded taxes of some Naira 1.8 trillion ($4.4bn) and has instructed local banks to freeze MultiChoice/DStv bank […]

South Africa’s parliament is to issue a draft Bill on how the nation could collect television licence fees in the future. A report from the country’s Government Communications and Information System regarding a recent cabinet meeting stated that the Bill proposes reforms in the SABC’s funding model and the TV licensing system. Two alternates are […]

STARZPLAY, the MENA SVoD service, has announced the expansion of its sports portfolio with the signing of a carriage deal with Premier Sports to exclusively stream the upcoming Lions Rugby Tour in the MENA region. Premier Sports acquired the broadcast rights to the 2021 British & Irish Lions Tour of South Africa in the MENA […]

Sky Sports has announced a full schedule of programming and pop-up channel for its coverage of the British & Irish Lions 2021 Castle Lager Series in South Africa – complete with archive footage, documentaries and exclusive behind the scenes content, in addition to five Lions warm-up games and the three Test matches. The Sky Sports […]

South Africa-based conglomerate Naspers has reported a 24 per cent rise in profits for its trading year which ended on March 31st. Naspers earnings per share were $8.14 (compared with $6.56 a year ago). Naspers has a 28.9 per cent stake in Tencent which it holds through its Amsterdam-based subsidiary Prosus which manages Naspers international […]

Premier Sports has secured the broadcast rights to the 2021 British & Irish Lions Tour of South Africa where rugby fans can enjoy every match live and exclusive, available in 23 Asian countries. Edinburgh plays host to a pre-Tour game before the Series gets underway when The Lions face World Cup quarter finalists Japan on […]

Eutelsat Communications and Vox, an end-to-end integrated ICT and infrastructure provider and telco, have reached a multi-year distribution agreement to extend high-speed network connectivity to South Africa. As of June, Vox will leverage the operational flexibility and power of Eutelsat Konnect, the new-generation high throughput satellite, and Eutelsat’s service to further grow its satellite customer […]