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Porn decision on hold

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 14 Oct 2014
ODM's research has found there is a niche market in SA for adult content.
ODM's research has found there is a niche market in SA for adult content.

The Western Cape High Court has reserved judgment in what has become SA's most protracted fight over the broadcasting of adult content - On Digital Media (ODM) versus anti-pornography factions.

This comes after the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) in April gave ODM's pay-TV operator StarSat (formerly TopTV) the green light to offer three pornographic channels. The move was lauded by some as entrenching South Africans' constitutional right to the freedom of choice, and opposed by others on the premise that the content promotes immoral behaviour.

ODM's intention to broadcast adult content first came to light at the end of 2011, when the company revealed it had entered an agreement with Playboy TV and that it would be bringing three pornographic channels to the SA market "in the near future".

In November last year, the Justice Alliance of SA (JASA) submitted an application to the court for ICASA's decision to be reviewed in a bid to stop the broadcasting of pornography on SA's airwaves. The alliance was joined by two other non-profit organisations, Doctors for Life and Cause for Justice.

The review application case was heard for four days in August, during which time JASA argued that ICASA had been misled into believing StarSat's adult channels would show "conventional" sexual content, but that this was not the case. The organisation said the channels' content was such that it would promote unsafe sex and infidelity. JASA said ICASA had unlawfully granted StarSat its licence to broadcast adult content.

It is not yet clear when the Western Cape High Court will present its judgment.

Niche market

ODM started airing its three pornography offerings - Playboy TV, Desire TV and Private Spice - in November 2013, as a standalone StarSat sex TV package, at a subscription fee of R159 per month. The company has been tight-lipped around whether the offering has gained traction.

At the beginning of the then TopTV porn saga, the operator said research had shown there was a "definite market for adult content and channels among South African television viewers".

"As a pay-TV operator, we are constantly reassessing the market. We have established that there is a niche market for such a service and are ensuring that we offer it to potential subscribers in a responsible and secure environment," TopTV's senior vice-president of sales and marketing Marius Liebenberg said at the time.

MultiChoice, SA's leading pay-tv operator - with about 95% of the market - also considered airing pornographic material for a brief period in 2012, before deciding against it in the light of a public outcry.

ODM interim CEO Eddia Mbalo was not available for comment.

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