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TopTV gets go-ahead for three porn channels

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has approved an application by On Digital Media (operating as TopTV) to broadcast three adult content channels. They are Playboy TV, Desire TV and Private Spice. The broadcast of adult content will be limited to between 20h00 and 05h00.Viewers will also need a double pin to access the channels.

“The Authority upholds the view that there is no law of general application prohibiting the production and distribution of adult content in the Republic. Only the production and distribution of child pornography is expressly prohibited by law,” said ICASA in a statement.

Analysis of 2012 Amps readership figures: what lurks beneath for SA newspapers?

by Gill Moodie (@GrubstreetSA) The ABC circulation figures tell us that South African newspaper sales with the exception of the vernacular press are in a sustained decline but the Amps readership numbers – the full-year 2012 Amps were released last week – say that most newspaper titles have maintained their readership.

What gives here?

As we puzzle over the numbers, we know that newspapers have been hammered in developed markets – particularly in the US – and as online and cellphone usage spreads and deepens in SA, we all wonder if the downward move of print circulation will accelerate to match the trends overseas.

On the other hand, there is also the view that because we are an emerging market, print still has legs in this country – particularly in the vernacular press led by the fantastic success story of the isiZulu-language Isolezwe.

What actually is the state of the health of our newspapers?

I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in between the ABC and Amps pictures but, first, let’s look at the main trends in the recently released 2012 Amps figures from the South African Audience Research Foundation.

Mixed reviews for online launch of news brand eNCA

by Herman Manson (@marklives) eNCA, the South African based satellite news channel, recently launched a beta version of their website promising “an immersive experience for users”.

eNCA should be a much bigger news brand in the South African media market than it is. Its reach is limited to subscribers to MultiChoice’s DStv platform (and more recently the SKY digital satellite platform in the United Kingdom) although it also syndicates news content to free-to-air channel e.tv. The rebranding from eNews to eNCA in late 2012 means the brand is also still new to consumers.

While it dominates satellite news and its viewership figures is nothing to sneeze at, as a news brand it can and should be much stronger. A multi-channel approach is required to build any media brand today, and with revenue under pressure, the stakes for this business could not be higher.

Remgro, which owns a substantial stake in the eNCA holding company, Sabido, said in its unaudited results for the six months ended 31 December 2012 that advertising sales on e.tv and eNCA were “under pressure during the period under review but programming and operating costs remained stable.”

To address this, Remgro announced in a SENS statement that “the focus of the group for the forthcoming months is the ongoing development of a multi-channel strategy to enhance its competitiveness across a multiplicity of platforms and provide opportunities for new revenue streams. This includes the launch of e.tv Online and eNCA Online in the first half of 2013.”

There is obviously a lot at stake for the larger eNCA brand in pulling off the successful launch of eNCA.com

But reviews thus far have been mixed, at best. “Creating a new online home for eNews Channel Africa could have presented the news brand with a great opportunity to differentiate itself from the public broadcaster, but unfortunately an outdated look and cluttered execution just makes it look like more of the same,” says journalist and media commentator Mandy de Waal. “Fonts aside, the SABC and ENCA news sites are much of a muchness.”

Digital magazines and the future of magazine covers

MarkLives.com runs a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week. We recognise well thought out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three in one) magazine covers and celebrate the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them.

Times Media buys out Pearson stake in BDFM

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Times Media Group (TMG) has announced that Avusa Publishing, a subsidiary of TMG, has reached an agreement with Pearson to acquire Pearson’s 50% shareholding in BDFM Publishers.

BDFM publishes Business Day and the Financial Mail and owns African Broadcasting Channel which broadcasts Summit, the Home Channel, Ignition and Saffron on DSTV in Southern Africa.

“The full acquisition of BDFM by TMG will allow for economies of scale, an integrated operations platform and operational synergies, and will permit BDFM, under unified ownership, to accelerate its digital transformation,” TMG said in an announcement on the JSE news service SENS.

Best magazine covers & coverlines plotted like a game plan

“Harder than hard”: Iron Lady front pages across the world

by Gill Moodie (@GrubstreetSA) It’s all about Margaret Thatcher today on most of the front pages of newspapers across the world so I thought it would be interesting to survey some of the big papers from around the globe.

The Daily Mail’s poster pic of the Iron Lady with the headline “The woman who saved Britain” says so much about that doggedly conservative paper while a similar treatment by The Guardian with the quote “She became harder than hard” speaks volumes for its liberal, working-class stance and history.

I really like The Guardian’s treatment because I think it goes beyond ideology. It pays tribute to the massive effect Thatcher had on Britain but also projects the paper’s view that she tore the guts out of the country.

How the Eskom-Billiton pricing discount story was exposed

by Gill Moodie (@GrubstreetSA) One cannot overestimate the significance of Sake24’s recent PAIA win in the Bloemfontein Supreme Court of Appeal that forced mining giant BHP Billiton to reveal how much of a power discount it was getting from Eskom for two of its aluminium smelters.

This was a long court battle – almost four years’ long – and the outcome sends out a strong message that if a journalist – or a member of the public – requests information involving the state and a third party, the request cannot simply be refused on the grounds that the third party can expect some measure of privacy.

“The ruling shows that the public’s right to access information can trump commercial secrets,” media attorney Willem de Klerk, who represented Sake24 in the bid, told Grubstreet last week. “It shows that large corporations doing business with state entities may expect their commercial dealings to be placed under the spotlight.

MarkLives Best Read – March 2013

The ten best read stories on MarkLives during the month of March.

Category archives: Media