Telkom Media is a

pay-TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

company based in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is intended to be the first provider of

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...

services in South Africa.

History

South African fixed-line telephone operator Telkom announced the creation of Telkom Media in August 2006, when it also applied for commercial satellite and cable-subscription broadcast licenses from the

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the ICASA Act to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the publ ...

. Shareholders in the company included Telkom, Videovision Entertainment,

MSG Afrika Media Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is a sodium salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a flavor enhancer with a ...

and WDB Investment Holdings. In April 2007 the company said it was conducting an internal IPTV trial. The total investment in startup was to amount to R7-billion, with R3.5-billion due to be sourced from Telkom. Telkom Media received its licence in September 2007 in a process that included the award of three other new pay-TV licences.

Attempted sale of Telkom stake

In March 2008 Telkom said it would reduce its funding by R2.2-billion as other investments, such as a mobile wireless network, provided a shorter period for return. In June 2008 Telkom said it intended to sell its (then 66 percent) stake in Telkom Media. By June it was said to have identified a buyer from among several interested parties and in November 2008 Telkom confirmed that negotiations were at an advanced stage. The interested party was rumoured to be a South African consortium funded out of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In March 2009 the interested Chinese party was identified as the

Shenzhen Media Group Shenzhen Media Group (SMG, ) is a state media company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. It owns twelve TV channels and four radio stations which broadcast music, report news and Chinese talk shows. Shenzhen Media Group is controlled ...

amid reports that negotiations had failed because Telkom sought compensation for its sunk investment in the business.

Winding up and sale

In late March 2009 Telkom said it had failed to find a buyer and intended closing down the company, having written down a R430-million

shareholder loan Shareholder loan is a debt-like form of financing provided by shareholders. Usually, it is the most junior debt in the company's debt portfolio. On the other hand, if this loan belongs to shareholders it could be treated as equity. Maturity of sha ...

to it. The total costs of the company were estimated to be R700-million. A shareholder meeting to approve the shut down was due to be held before the end of April 2009. However, in early May 2009 Telkom announced that it had sold its stake to Shenzhen Media, without immediately releasing further details. Moneyweb(3)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * *{{cite web , url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=594&set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20070912134940818C826528 , title=Icasa awards new pay-tv licences , publisher=Independent Online , accessdate=2009-03-27 Television in South Africa