SA's second satellite television provider TopTV has been told that it will lose three Turner Broadcasting channels.
The broadcaster says it was recently informed by Turner Broadcasting that the three channels it supplies to the pay-TV operator will be discontinued as from midnight on 31 December.
"The supplier of the three affected channels, Showtime, Silver and Star!, has taken the decision to terminate the African distribution of its channels for operational reasons, and this decision is thus beyond the control of TopTV," the broadcaster says in a statement.
Ian Woodrow, VP of channels at TopTV, says "although this comes at a challenging time in the company's development, with a business rescue process currently underway, TopTV is confident that it will be able to secure alternative channels early in 2013. In the interim, and until these replacements are found, we will endeavour to secure additional channels and programming that will be of interest to our subscribers."
In October, TopTV said it wanted to double its active user-base within the next two years and was looking at selling a stake in the company to fund its ambitious growth plans.
The provider - owned by On Digital Media - has sold about 450 000 decoders since it launched as a rival to incumbent MultiChoice in May 2010. However, more than half of the consumers who bought boxes have since ditched the service.
In January of this year, TopTV said it had lost one of its "hugely popular" third-party channels, Current TV. This follows the discontinuation of two channels, Hi Nolly and One Music, which were suspended after their operator, HiMedia, was placed under liquidation in November 2011.
"TopTV is grateful for the continued support of its loyal subscribers during this period, and would like to reassure them that the company is working hard on a renewed product plan for the New Year," it says.
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