\u201cWhat do you expect?\u201d asked analyst at Renaissance Asset Management Khulekani Dlamini in response to talk that the company had tied up content in exclusive deals with at least two major channel providers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that MultiChoice was the first into this market is not enough, it was expected that they would do whatever it took to defend their space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It is thought that the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) brought the pay-TV licensing announcement forward because leaving it any later would give MultiChoice sufficient time to sign up a list of exclusive deals with channel content providers for its satellite broadcasting platform DStv.<\/p>\n
But, according to MultiChoice spokesman Jackie Rakitla, \u201cit\u2019s been business as usual\u201d at Africa\u2019s foremost satellite broadcaster. \u201cThere will be some channels that do have exclusive rights and some that don\u2019t,\u201d he said. The company had not done anything \u201csinister\u201d in the way it had secured channels.<\/p>\n
GM of content Aletta Alberts echoed this, saying that while she could not give exact figures as to how many channels held exclusive rights, \u201cit was high\u201d.<\/p>\n
Contract terms were between three and five years and were dictated by the channel provider.<\/p>\n
Rakitla said that tying channels into a long-term contracts was more difficult than it was made out to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you have to remember is that these channel providers are always looking for better agreements which give them more exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Icasa has been overseeing the licensing process and the industry authority confirmed on Tuesday it would be issuing new licences to an unknown number of the 16 applicants next week. Originally, 18 applied for licences but two of the applicants, Worldspace and Multichannel, later withdrew their applications.<\/p>\n
Analysts have predicted that no more than three competitors could play in the market simultaneously \u2014 for the time being \u2014 and even this could be too many.<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from MultiChoice entering the market, I don\u2019t see there being space for more than one more player, unfortunately,\u201d said Dlamini.<\/p>\n
His money was on Telkom Media being that competitor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really a money game and Telkom Media has deep pockets \u2014 they\u2019ve already announced that they would place R7,5bn into their offerings in the next five years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n