BROADCASTING SECTOR
Netflix and Amazon hold unfair advantage, Icasa told
Ahead of the Icasa pay-TV hearings, MultiChoice CEO says streaming services have superseded traditional broadcasters
The hearings into the subscription television broadcasting sector by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) are "irrelevant", says MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela. This is because streaming services like Netflix have superseded traditional broadcasters.The week-long hearings will come to a head on Friday when MultiChoice makes its oral submissions. It will argue that though it contributes R14bn to the economy and employs 8,000 people, so-called over-the-top players should be regulated and subject to value-added tax and black economic empowerment requirements."Our view is simply that this discussion document is irrelevant in the way they structured it," Mawela told Business Day."It would have been relevant if they put it up 15 years ago."The proliferation of over-the-top players like Netflix and Amazon "are denting our business. We have lost over 100,000 subscribers in SA and the rest of Africa," he said.Such providers are "global giants with big pockets" which are "unre...
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