Close-T Broadcast Network Holdings and its branded pay-TV platform, CloseTV, last week submitted an application for a subscription broadcast licence to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).
ICASA is holding public hearings for five possible new licences for pay-TV broadcasting services from Close-T Broadcasting Network, Kagiso TV, Siyaya Free To Air, Mindset Media Enterprises, and Mobile TV.
According to Mia Groenewald, director of Close-T Broadcast Network Holdings, SA has a growing need for choice in the pay-TV market from the consumer's perspective, as well as developed niche audience bundles that won't comprise rehashed bouquets of older or lower-quality programming, but rather high-quality international and local programming.
She says the company's intention is to allow consumers to custom-build their viewing experiences, by paying only for the bouquets that are of interest to them, as opposed to paying a monthly subscription for a premier service, and then only watching 20% of the total bouquet.
A 'pay-per-view', demand-based service will feature as one of the offerings, should something of interest fall outside of the bouquets that form the basis of the subscription, Groenewald explains.
The company says, as part of its launch phase, CloseTV will offer the country's first pay-TV bouquet for the dynamic and thriving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex and asexual (LGBTQIA) community, and has set up exclusive partnerships with global content providers such as OutTV group, LOGO TV and OUT in African Film Festival.
"Our research shows that there are approximately six million LGBTQIA lifestyle consumers in South Africa, with virtually no television-based programming [aimed at this market]," adds Groenewald.
To complement non-LGBTQIA interests, the operator says the bouquet will include independent and art house movies, cinema nouveau, foreign language films, cultural programming, and travel and fashion events.
It has already identified other niche audience groups that will form a critical part of its growth and service extension strategies. Groenewald pointed out that service is split into audience-specific bouquets of approximately five channels per bouquet. This is done via lifestyle, ethnicity, geography, common interest and consumer profiling.
"As such, each bouquet will have a target number of subscribers. By our research, there are approximately 1.4 million TV households above the LSM 5 pay-TV 'trigger threshold' that are LGBTQIA or LGBTQIA-friendly."
Regarding other niche audience segments, she says, research predicts there are approximately two million TV households that are likely to migrate to a pay-TV platform over the next five years. "We will aggressively pursue as many of these that we can service via our niche bouquet approach," says Groenewald.
Meanwhile, other applicants, like Kagiso TV, say they are targeting low-income households with their pay-TV services. Kagiso TV intends to allow viewers to choose specific channels and create their own bouquets. Others, like Siyaya Free To Air, were granted digital terrestrial television testing licences that will enable them to develop and test satellite TV stations that would be available in rural areas.
Top TV, another local satellite pay-TV player, has struggled to attract viewers amid reports that it has been undergoing a formal business rescue process since last year.
IDC analyst Spiwe Chireka says, so far, Top TV has been unsuccessful in its bid to mount a serious challenge to DSTV, operated by MultiChoice. "If we look at it from the perspective of taking the market share from DSTV, then from that perspective, with an estimated 360 000 customers, [Top TV] has failed dismally," she says.
Chireka believes that content will be a key differentiator for any pay-TV player seeking to operate in SA.
"I believe there is still room for growth in the market. I am not privy to info regarding what is the number of households in the LSM 5 to 7 brackets [which has been Top TVs target market], but I believe it is substantial enough to warrant healthy competition," Chireka notes.
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