The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has granted provisional subscription TV broadcasting licences to five new applicants.
The five operators, Close-T Broadcast Network Holdings, Kagiso TV, Mindset Media Enterprises, Mobile TV and Siyaya TV, had applied for pay-TV licences in 2012 and also participated in ICASA’s public hearings in 2013.
Each licence is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions. “ICASA has specified a time frame in which certain conditions need to be fulfilled and thereafter the licence will be issued,” said Mia Groenewald, director of Close-T Broadcast Network Holdings. Close TV plans to offer the country’s first pay-TV bouquet for the LGBTQIA community.
Siyaya TV is working with Motive Television to implement its services. Leonard M Fertig, CEO of Motive Television commented, “The award of the provisional licence is another important step toward the launch of Siyaya’s business, and as a participant in the upside Motive is delighted with this news.”
Each licence is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions. Siyaya has been required to submit more research from other provinces, not only Gauteng where Siyaya has been running a trial, as its intended service is national in scope.
On 27 March 2014 the Company announced that it has begun installing Motive’s Content Express™ platform in South Africa in anticipation of commercial operations beginning in autumn 2014. The provisional licence award is in response to application and hearings held in July 2013. Motive executives attended the hearings in support of Motive’s client Siyaya.
Siyaya intends offering South African and African content, along with football, for a monthly subscription fee starting at ZAR70 (approx. £4) per month, targeting black South Africans with an average age of 30 and a monthly household income of between ZAR4,000 and ZAR10,000.
