This month marks TopTV's first birthday, and the satellite TV newcomer is confident it is providing unprecedented access to what was once a luxury service.
“The introduction of TopTV changed the face of home entertainment,” says TopTV in a statement.
“A recent survey conducted by the service provider shows that the majority of subscribers have not had access to pay TV before, confirming that the company achieved what it set out to do - bringing pay TV to thousands of homes across the country.”
The company acknowledges it has had its share of “teething problems”, but maintains that its launch last year saw a shake-up in the pay TV market, with prices being lowered, new software being introduced and a previously-ignored market being catered for with specific channels.
Healthy competition
TopTV's entry to market has brought some much-needed competition in the industry. Dominant market player MultiChoice unveiled a DStv Lite package, in retaliation to TopTV's offering, for R99 per month.
TopTV's slashing of its decoder, dish and installation costs to R199 also prompted MultiChoice to offer a more competitive package at R479. Even the DStv HD PVR offering has come down in price from R1 999 at its launch, to R1 299.
“TopTV subscribers can look forward to new and exciting shows and series on the platform in the upcoming months,” says the company.
VP of marketing, Elouise Kelly, says: “As a young company, TopTV is aware of its current challenges, but also very proud of its achievements to date.
“June and July will see new developments taking place and it is then that we will be in a position to provide our stakeholders with accurate and more detailed information.”
Last year, TopTV reported strong growth and looked well on its way to achieving its 500 000 subscriber goal. According to the company, the greater goal, however, is to reach the 5.5 million available households in the market.
No sign of Super5
TopTV also expected to be competing with another new entrant into the market, Super5Media, by now, but controversy has plagued the company, which has yet to launch.
Super5Media failed to reach its first go-live deadline, and was granted its third extension on its licence at the beginning of March by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).
After originally being meant to debut in June last year, the company's go-to-market date is only expected to be around September.
However, speculation holds that the company is going under. The company has also been the subject of media reports suggesting it had gone into liquidation.
But ICASA has said that, despite what has appeared in the media, there has not been any formal communication about Super5Media going into liquidation.
However, former employees, who prefer not to be named, say it has closed down, and about 40 staff members had been retrenched. “We were given retrenchment letters from June already,” they told ITWeb last year.
Attempts to contact Super5Media have been fruitless to date.
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