ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK: It's too early to cast fading star MultiChoice into a mere cameo role
The announcement that Naspers will shed its pay-TV division has led many to believe that MultiChoice is on its way down. After all, the parent company has evolved from media giant to internet giant thanks to good bets on the future. It made a fortuitous investment in $400bn (R5.6-trillion) Chinese juggernaut Tencent when it was worth a fraction of that, parlaying a $132m investment into a global e-commerce empire. But there is a deeper justification for the separate listing. MultiChoice remains a massive success story, with a R47.1bn turnover in the past financial year. It employs 9,000 people and its Phuthuma Nathi share scheme is one of the great BEE successes. However, it is almost impossible to mention it without that other entertainment giant, Netflix, with its global reach and a massive original-content catalogue. "Ultimately, although we lead in pay-TV, we are going to have to transition into the internet-content world, which is very different from the commerce world," said I...
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