On Digital Media (ODM), effectively taken over by Chinas StarTimes TV conglomerate following a cash bail-out, is ordering Chinese from the menu for its new TV dinner. The struggling Woodmead based pay-TV operator is rebranding the damaged TopTV name into StarSat. by Thinus Ferreira
At the same time ODM and StarTimes are in the process of launching and restructuring a new bouquet of TV channels with new packages, heavy with Chinese TV channels and Chinese sourced content.
Besides multiple self-compiled channels which will now bear the StarSat name and logo - Star Music, Star Gospel, Star Guide, Star Movies 1, Star Movies 1 2Hrs, Star E1, Star One, Star Africa 2, Novela E1, Novela E2, Kung Fu 1, Star Chinese 2, and Star Bollywood - ODM and StarTimes is adding a new StarSat Chinese package from January.
Like the StarSat Indian additional package and StarSats pornographic package, StarSat Chinese will be available as an additional bolt-on subscription for R149 per month for 17 further Chinese TV channels.
Also included in the new StarSat general channel line-up is Chinese news and documentary channels such as CCTV9 Documentary, CCTV News and the Times Now news channel sourced from India.
A new white high definition (HD) enabled StarSat HD decoder manufactured in China is now available in South Africa. A StarSat installation costs R599 but existing TopTV subscribers who want to upgrade can order the new StarSat decoder for R300. No HD channels will be available however until 2014 according to the pay-TV operator.
e.tv's new channels added
e.tvs newly launched e TV channels are also being added to ODM and StarTimes' StarSat bouquet according to the new StarSat website.
Sabido Investment Limiteds eKasi , eAfrica and eMovies channels are coming to StarSat which is already available since mid-October on Platco Digitals new OpenView HD (OVHD) platform but not on MultiChoices DStv.
e.tv, asked for comment about the additional e.tv channels to be added to StarSat says e.tvs policy is platform-neutral and we aim to be on as many platforms as possibe. A media statement will be issued as and when e.tv becomes available on new platforms.
Porn channels already up and running
StarSat's porn channels are already running although ODM and StarTimes are not publicising the fact.
Instead of the three sex channels ODM applied for and for which South Africas broadcasting regulator granted permission, two of the pornographic channels - Private Spice and Playboy TV - are available in a separate sex TV package of R159 per month.
Although no mention is being made of the porno package in press releases or marketing materials, the package is available to subscribers who call the ODM call centre and request the porno bouquet specifically.
In response to a media enquiry ODM says the Playboy package is being managed and marketed in a very targeted manner. Its not yet clear why the third applied for sex channel, Desire TV, is not available, and whether it would be added later.
Other new StarSat channels
Other new TV channels ODM and StarTimes are planning to add to StarSat according to their website include Nat Geo Gold and FOX Crime. FOX Crime is already available since June on MultiChoices DStv.
While still lacking a proper sport offering, StarSat is adding NBA TV with basketball coverage, and retaining Fuel TV and Setanta Africa.
Other new planned StarSat channels which were not available on TopTV before include Animaux (a French TV channel about the animal world), news channels CNC, TVC News and Bloomberg Television.
StarSat says it hopes to have over 100 channels by 1 January 2014. Eddie Mbalo, ODMs acting CEO who will soon be replaced by a CEO from StarTimes, says in a statement that the new [channel] structure offers more channels per package, and at more competitive prices .
Although TopTV subscribers were promised at the end of October by ODM that they will get free access in November to new channels, no further channels have so far materialised.
On Sunday ODM and StarTimes broke the promise and told subscribers free channel sampling will now only take place from December.
For December you will be charged your current package price, but will receive additional channels. In January you will be charged the new package price. If you would like to choose a different package, you should call before 10 December, ODM has now told existing TopTV subscribers.
http://www.channel24.co.za
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
On Digital Media (ODM), effectively taken over by Chinas StarTimes TV conglomerate following a cash bail-out, is ordering Chinese from the menu for its new TV dinner. The struggling Woodmead based pay-TV operator is rebranding the damaged TopTV name into StarSat. by Thinus Ferreira
