
PlatformZA is Launched posted: 06/11/2020
PlatformZA is an ambitious new just-launched digital pay-per-view media channel which was germinated during the first Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa.
A small subscription fee covers an amount of free content and the pay-per-view price varies for other material. It is a completely new concept for South Africa and the brainchild of Christiaan Ballot from technical supplier Blond Productions and production manager Pieter-Jan Kapp (Kappie) from PJK Project Management. The two would usually be working together extensively during the arts festival season which has effectively been canned this year like almost every other live' event as the country fights the pandemic.
Like so many new Covid-era inspired projects PlatformZA started with a series of Zoom chats between connected industry people and influencers, during which, explains Christiaan, It became very apparent that there was the need for a mechanism other than streaming to which artists and producers could bring their content.
He and Kappie - known for their can-do attitudes and seizing good opportunities - then hatched a plan!
With the whole industry being affected, they wanted to proactively offer artists like comedians, singer-songwriters and bands plus other performers and presenters working in all genres of visual entertainment - from vlogs to games shows to cooking demos - the chance to produce high-quality new material cost-effectively with full and professional technical production facilities and crew, stated Christiaan, in addition to be able to host quality content that is made elsewhere.
To facilitate the former, they have transformed the Blond Productions warehouse in Midrand near Pretoria into a fully functional high production value pop-up recording studio, and to stimulate the latter he and Kappie energised their enormous and diverse client and contacts base.
With a large inventory of Robe moving lights in stock, the studios feature plenty of Robe products on the lighting rig.
The studio's goal is to be as adaptable and widely accessible for those wanting to use it. Flexible staging and a lighting design by Ryan Lombard - with 12 Robe ESPRITES providing all the front and key lighting - are included in the package together with audio, LED screens and video / media servers.
The six-camera system and PPU is supplied by Alfacam SA.
Additional Robe lighting includes LEDWash 300s for back washes, 12 x miniPointes for beams and effects and 24 x LEDBeam 100s which kick in for side light. Other specials can be added as required.
The Robe PATT 2013s are also a big hit, particularly with artists and singers wanting some scenic style back-of-camera props, while the raw warehouse backdrop brings a signature dash of edgy-industrial DIY style.
In addition to the studio shoots, the house team also works on location, with full technical packages to suit.
The studio has also been used for streaming since it was set up, but now with the added flexibility of pay-per-view access via PlatformZA, Christiaan and Kappie feel that artists, creatives and producers working in multiple different sectors have so much more scope to reach wider audiences.
There are currently four categories of content - music, stage, sitcom & comedy and lifestyle. Already, Platform ZA has over 2500 minutes of premium material available - a mix of footage produced in house and elsewhere, all of which will be available on the platform for periods of up to 3 months and sometimes longer.
Creating Platform ZA and recording the initial house' produced shows has provided work for over 200 technicians, camera operators, artists, etc which has been desperately needed since events and entertainment came to an abrupt halt in March.
The platform is designed to work on a revenue share basis, so everyone involved can benefit from more people viewing and enjoying the content.
Quality is absolutely the key, emphasises Christiaan, adding that artists are now starting to approach them to re-shoot homegrown content in the studio and have access to improved facilities. The aim is to grow the range of artists and dynamics of the material on offer in the process encouraging all involved to hit the quality bar' every time.
Christiaan thinks that Covid has effectively flattened the playing field in terms of creating a climate where a greater number of artists and producers could potentially have more and better chances to share their content with new audiences and demographics.
The intention is to appeal to as diverse a spectrum of people, talent and entertainment as possible, commented Kappie, as well as promoting a house' channel where people can launch their own projects with very little resources and with assistance from our technical crews - from a cell phone movie to a stand-up comedy festival. We are providing a forum for engagement where they can get started.
When festivals, concerts, tours, events, and live entertainment can and do re-start, Christiaan and Kappie see a healthy integration and many more possibilities for Platform ZA in that world, where they can continue the knowledge and resources exchange.
The overall Platform ZA vibe is very much collaborative, with music programmes like Stroom which brings artists together to perform two new songs and then spontaneously create a fresh new work with another artist. Fishing and cooking programmes are already proving popular, while cancelled 2020 arts festivals like Aardklop have utilised the studios to record and release new stage works that would otherwise have been scrapped altogether.
With numerous possibilities ahead, this enterprising and still embryonic venture has a huge amount of marketing activities ahead to get established - but the seeds are firmly sown and the interest is growing!
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
20/10/2025
Inside TAMS: How Time-Addressable Media Stores could redefine sports workflows By Paul Markham
Friday, October 17, 2025 - 08:57
Print This Story
A penalty...
20/10/2025
Transformational production: Inside TVN's remote production push for the DFL...
20/10/2025
How NBC Sports Transitioned Stamford Facility to One Format: 1080p HDRMulti-year plan harmonizes workflows, simplifies operationsBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial ...
20/10/2025
NBA on NBC' Studio Production Team Is Ready for Tip-Off With Coast-to-Coast...
20/10/2025
Under pressure: TVN CEO Markus Osthaus considers the German sports broadcasting ...
20/10/2025
(L-R) Maria Dizzia, Carmen Emmi, and Russell Tovey attend the Plainclothes pre...
20/10/2025
In March, we launched Concerts Near You to help listeners find concerts from their favorite artists. Since then, more than 3 million people have used it to disc...
20/10/2025
Em diversas cidades do Brasil, um movimento tem se fortalecido para celebrar o poder, a beleza e a profundidade da criatividade negra. O Dia AMPLIFIKA, agora em...
20/10/2025
In cities across Brazil, a movement is growing that celebrates the power, beauty, and depth of Black creativity. AMPLIFIKA Day, now in its fifth edition, return...
20/10/2025
Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft rendering...
20/10/2025
DENVER and MUNICH Imagine Communications today announced its plans to acquire Pixel Power Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohde & Schwarz. Financial terms of...
20/10/2025
LOS ANGELES G Morgan has joined Globecast, a provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, as executive vice president of sales, Globecast Am...
20/10/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. Heartland Video Systems and Zixi have partnered to enable broadcast-quality live video delivery over any IP network....
20/10/2025
A. R. Rahman on Facing Fear and Finding the Divine In an interview with Berklee President Jim Lucchese, the Oscar-winning composer reflects on how courage and...
20/10/2025
Monday 20 October 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. ...
20/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz transfers Pixel Power to Imagine Communications Companies work collaboratively to ensure continuity and ongoing support for existing customers...
20/10/2025
RT 's Prime Time is set to host the final Presidential Election Debate this Tuesday night, October 21, providing an opportunity to hear directly from Irelan...
20/10/2025
NVIDIA and Google Cloud are expanding access to accelerated computing to transform the full spectrum of enterprise workloads, from visual computing to agentic a...
19/10/2025
Back to All News
Sins of Kujo' Comes to Life in New Live-Action Series Set for Spring 2026
Entertainment
19 October 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to cl...
18/10/2025
New England Sports Network (NESN) has chosen Harmonic, working with Astound Business Solutions, as its enterprise technology partner to transform primary distri...
18/10/2025
NEW ORLEANS, La. In the run-up to the start of the NBA season, WVUE-TV and Gray Local Media have announced a deal with DirecTV that will greatly expand access t...
18/10/2025
Berklee Celebrates 40 Years of the Fall Together Concert Faculty composers Bob Pilkington and Greg Hopkins are among the featured artists for this year's ...
17/10/2025
NEP Group Receives New Equity Investment From 26North Partners LP, Co-InvestorsCarlyle remains the largest shareholder as the company prepares for the futureBy ...
17/10/2025
Apple Lands Five-Year Deal for F1 Distribution in the U.S.Besides airing on Apple TV, the sport will be amplified on other Apple servicesBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Ed...
17/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Marshall Electronics' Bernie Keach on the Future of PTZ Camera...
17/10/2025
L2 Productions' REMI Facility in Austin Can Produce Content From AnywhereMusic festivals, sports events are produced via flypacks and remote control roomsBy...
17/10/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
17/10/2025
(L-R) Christopher Meyer, Addison Timlin, Cooper Raiff, Lili Reinhart, Alyah Chan...
17/10/2025
M sica e arte se uniram em uma noite especial na semana passada na ZIV Gallery, ...
17/10/2025
Music and art came together for one special night last week at ZIV Gallery, an i...
17/10/2025
Spotify and FC Barcelona are extending our partnership through 2030, continuing a collaboration that's redefining how fans, players, and artists connect. Th...
17/10/2025
MURRIETA, Calif. The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC) has deployed DigitalGlue's creative.space storage platform to streamline video production by centrali...
17/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. Football continued to cement its reputation as a bulwark of TV advertising in Q3 2025 with new data from iSpot that showed both the NFL and coll...
17/10/2025
The Sports Fishing Championship (SFC), the premier competitive saltwater fishing series, has transformed its production workflow by adopting creative.space, the...
17/10/2025
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning multi-camera video productions and remote contribution solutions, announces the release of StudioPro Version 4, ...
17/10/2025
Although the annual Grammy Awards celebration is best known for recognizing achievements in the recording industry, the show often proves a visual spectacle as ...
17/10/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leading provider of software-defined data storage and data services, has promoted Alex Dunfey to Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from his for...
17/10/2025
The University of Arizona (UofA) has significantly upgraded its broadcast communication infrastructure with the integration of Riedel Communications' advanc...
17/10/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that New England Sports Network (NESN), owned by Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North, has selected Harmonic as its en...
17/10/2025
Austin PBS has recently upgraded its facility-wide communications infrastructure, deploying Clear-Com 's Eclipse HX, FreeSpeak II beltpacks, and V-Series ...
17/10/2025
ZEISS announces an open call for the closed BETA testing phase of CinCraft Virtual Lens Technology, the innovative digital tool that brings authentic lens chara...
17/10/2025
Situated in the town of Kokkola, Centria University of Applied Sciences offers higher education across five core fields: engineering, business, social and healt...
17/10/2025
Public information channel in Georgia, USA, to implement a powerful, simple, and cost-effective playout automation platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, co...
17/10/2025
HBO Max is reporting that it has launched in 15 new markets, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Macau, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ukraine, boosting the streaming serv...
17/10/2025
Netflix said it will make a major push into video podcasts, inking a wide-ranging deal with Spotify through which it will offer 16 podcasts in the U.S. starting...
17/10/2025
Lexington, Ky. As part of a push to highlight its advanced advertising capabilities, Viamedia has launched a new AI-powered ad tech platform and officially rebr...
17/10/2025
NEW YORK QuickLink has announced the release of StudioPro Version 4, which the company is calling the most significant upgrade yet to its flagship video product...
17/10/2025
NEW YORK and CUPERTINO, Calif. Apple and NBCUniversal said they will sell Apple TV and Peacock streaming bundles to U.S. subscribers starting Oct. 20....