Just weeks before it finalises its evaluation process for a new 24-hour black-owned news channel MultiChoice has been urged to make its short list public.
In February, MultiChoice which owns DStv, called for interested parties to register their intention to bid for the channel. This was after DStv said it would not renew its contract with the controversial formerly Gupta-owned ANN7 (now Afro Worldview) when it expires in August 2018.
Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird said it was important for MultiChoice to avoid having similar issues it had with ANN7. The channel was accused of shoddy journalism, bias and promoting a factional agenda.
"They [MultiChoice] must make the short list public if they haven’t already done so and also core elements of the bid including shareholders and what they would bring. We understand not all of the bids can be public but in the interest of fairness and transparency it is critical that they do," said Bird.
The prized contract — the first by MultiChoice in many years — is coming as the market for around-the-clock news continues to show promising signs of growth.
The new 24-hour news channel will compete with eNCA, which currently enjoys just over 50% of MultiChoice’s news audience, and the 24-hour SABC news channel, which looks set to regain some lost ground under a new board and an executive leadership team.
MultiChoice spokesman Jackie Rakitla said last week that the short list would not be made public.
"We received interest from more than 60 parties for the proposed new black-owned news channel, of which 24 submitted their formal proposals for consideration," he said.
The parties involved were going through an evaluation process, which would be concluded before the Afro Worldview contract expires in August.
"We will only communicate after the successful bidder is selected at the end of this process," said Rakitla.
Those who tabled initial bids for the new channel included Mzwanele Manyi’s Afrotone Media Holdings which owns Afro Worldview, Tiso Blackstar (which publishes the Sunday Times and Business Day), MSG Afrika, led by Given Mkhari (which owns PowerFM) and Primedia (which owns 702 and Cape Talk). MSG Africa is widely seen as the front-runner.
Earlier in June, Manyi said that Afro Worldview was "advanced in the bidding process" for the new MultiChoice contract. Being black-owned and managed, and having amended its editorial policies to align with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA, "we are quietly confident that MultiChoice will do the right thing because we are exceeding their requirements", Manyi said at the time.
"Afro Worldview is a going concern that poses virtually no risks to MultiChoice," he said.
Manyi also told the Financial Mail that it would be irrational for MultiChoice to give the licence to anyone else.
"They will be putting 500 people out of work and wasting all these facilities. If they are fair, they will see this is a totally different company," he said.
In its initial request for bids, MultiChoice emphasised that the winning bidder must be black-owned and produce a predominantly English-language news channel "that takes into account the history, diversity of cultural background, languages and socioeconomic circumstances in SA".
The operator said the new channel should provide anchor-based, live broadcasts in the style of Al Jazeera, CNN, Sky News, eNCA and SABC News. Furthermore, the channel must focus on national, regional, local and African news, actuality, current affairs and sport, with some focus on international affairs.
Correction: July 2 2018
In a previous version of this article, we incorrectly stated that Sekunjalo tabled bids for the new channel. Neither Sekunjalo, nor Independent Media, nor any companies related to Sekunjalo Investment Holdings tabled a bid for a news or any other channel on the MultiChoice platform. We apologise for the error.
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