DStv Channels: Animax killed, but a new channel will fill the gap

Performance levels often dictate which division of a company remains and which division will be terminated and the pay-TV market and even pay-TV bouquets and channels are no exception.

According to MultiChoice spokesperson Marietjie Groenewald each channel in its DStv bouquets has pre-agreed performance levels that they need to maintain.

“That includes customer ratings and enjoyment (which we determine through research) and a prescribed maximum level of repeats and general refresh rate on programmes (adding X new programmes every month and taking off X old programmes),” said Groenewald.

“Our platform team in the content division reviews each channel on a regular basis. Should a channel not adhere to pre-agreed performance levels, there are a number of actions open to us including penalties and ultimately termination.”

ANIMAX to be culled

AMIMAX seems to have performed poorly, and MultiChoice has officially confirmed that ANIMAX, DStv channel 126, will go off air Sunday, 31 Oct at 23:25. This channel is set to be replaced by “a new channel from Sony in February 2011,” said MultiChoice’s Fathima Ebrahim.

“The reason why ANIMAX is going off air is because the Japanese anime genre that was featured on the channel did not attract the broad viewing audience that MultiChoice had targeted,” said Groenewald.

“Channel 126 will be reserved for a new channel from Sony Pictures Television which will launch in February 2011. The new channel will retain some of the very popular live action and reality-based programmes that were popular on ANIMAX. In order to appeal to a broader audience, the new channel will focus on action-oriented movies, game shows, series and reality programmes,” said MultiChoice.

MultiChoice said that the name and detailed programming of the channel will be shared closer to the time, but it is widely speculated that the new channel with be Sony MAX.

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DStv Channels: Animax killed, but a new channel will fill the gap