Icasa moves to open up pay-TV market
Multichoice objects to plan, saying this would virtually destroy its business and hand over the market to international internet streaming giants such as Netflix
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) is set to introduce a raft of measures to open up the pay-TV market, despite objections by MultiChoice, the dominant pay-TV operator in the country. On Friday, Icasa published its draft findings following an inquiry into subscription television broadcasting services. The findings highlight remedies to boost competition and lower subscription prices in the pay-TV market. These include reducing contract duration, specifically for sports rights, and splitting content rights and selling them to more than one broadcaster. MultiChoice, which owns DStv, dominates the market in part because it has exclusive contracts for premium and international content, such as the local Premier Soccer League (PSL), the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga, and the Uefa Champions League. “These are the most popular competitions in SA … these sports rights are held by MultiChoice and this is considered to be its competitive advantage”, Icas...
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