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Cape Town – On Digital Media (ODM) which runs the struggling TopTV satellite pay-TV service in South Africa, will now have to register as a porn purveyor broadcasting sexually explicit content, says South Africa's Film and Publication Board (FPB).
South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) last week approved ODM's application for authorisation for a trio of sex channels as part of a separate porn bouquet.
According to the FPB, "distributors of sexually explicit content which may be classified as X18 must register with the FPB and must also be holder of a licence to conduct the business of adult premises (broadcasting)".
TopTV wants to broadcast the three TV channels – Playboy TV, Desire TV and Private Spice - as a separate bouquet and with a rating classification of R18.
The channels are provided to TopTV by Playboy TV UK / Benelux Limited in England and are uplinked through SES Platform Services in Munich, Germany to South Africa.
StarTimes saves TopTV
It was reported earlier that TopTV will effectively be taken over by China's StarTimes after 99.3% of shareholders and creditors voted in favour of the bail-out of the beleaguered South African pay-TV operator.
TopTV would have gone dark and the service suspended on Tuesday night – one day before the struggling Woodmead-based pay-TV service's third birthday – if shareholders did not agree to the StarTimes business rescue plan offer.
On Digital Media (ODM) also saw late bids on Sunday from Dynamic TV which was backed by millions from pay-TV platform MultiChoice which is TopTV’s rival, as well as the Wananchi group from Kenya also running a successful pay-TV service, Zuku.
With its business rescue plan adopted and StarTimes ready to flush cash into the loss-making TopTV, StarTimes and China is getting its first – and very important – foothold in South Africa, the continent's most sophisticated, developed and most lucrative satellite pay-TV market.
South Africa's broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) last week approved ODM's application for authorisation for a trio of sex channels as part of a separate porn bouquet.
According to the FPB, "distributors of sexually explicit content which may be classified as X18 must register with the FPB and must also be holder of a licence to conduct the business of adult premises (broadcasting)".
TopTV wants to broadcast the three TV channels – Playboy TV, Desire TV and Private Spice - as a separate bouquet and with a rating classification of R18.
The channels are provided to TopTV by Playboy TV UK / Benelux Limited in England and are uplinked through SES Platform Services in Munich, Germany to South Africa.
StarTimes saves TopTV
It was reported earlier that TopTV will effectively be taken over by China's StarTimes after 99.3% of shareholders and creditors voted in favour of the bail-out of the beleaguered South African pay-TV operator.
TopTV would have gone dark and the service suspended on Tuesday night – one day before the struggling Woodmead-based pay-TV service's third birthday – if shareholders did not agree to the StarTimes business rescue plan offer.
On Digital Media (ODM) also saw late bids on Sunday from Dynamic TV which was backed by millions from pay-TV platform MultiChoice which is TopTV’s rival, as well as the Wananchi group from Kenya also running a successful pay-TV service, Zuku.
With its business rescue plan adopted and StarTimes ready to flush cash into the loss-making TopTV, StarTimes and China is getting its first – and very important – foothold in South Africa, the continent's most sophisticated, developed and most lucrative satellite pay-TV market.
