Daggers at the ready for TV news war
In the next few months MultiChoice will decide on who will take over the 24-hour news channel previously run by ANN7. In the background, an almighty tussle is developing for that right
The diversity of broadcast news that South Africans will get in the run-up to next year’s elections will be determined behind closed doors by a corporate committee with little news experience. This is the clearest indication of the inordinate power and reach of pay-TV giant MultiChoice and the impact it has on our television industry. If you have confidence in MultiChoice content managers to make the right decision and act in the best interests of a country hungry for greater news diversity, remember this same group approved the much-criticised ANN7 channel. And the same group was at the centre of the controversial three-way deal with the SABC and ANN7, in which it seems to have made generous payments to them to secure support on key policy issues. After these revelations were leaked, MultiChoice conducted an internal review. That was never published but it denied corruption while admitting to having made "mistakes". As part of a clean-up, MultiChoice announced it would not renew AN...
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