SA Has Another Pay-TV Service To Rival DSTV | WoWtv Starts

Another pay-tv broadcasting service, WoWtv which got a pay-TV license in 2007 has finally entered the market to take on the sector giant DSTV and the less successful OpenviewHD and StarSat. The 'new' kid on the block will start its commercial pay-TV service in South Africa with 19 TV channels and 8 radio stations.

Walking on Water Television (WoWtv) was granted a license in September 2007 to start a subscription TV service joining a long list of applicants for pay-tv services license which includes new provisional pay-TV licences recipients; Siyaya TV, Close-T Broadcasting Network Holdings, Mindset Media Enterprises, Mobile TV and Kagiso TV.

While one might read these names and think the television industry in Mzansi is growing, the reality is that many of these companies have just been dormant since recieving their licenses. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has recently had to serve warning that companies who had received licences for communications services but  are not using them or the spectrum will run the risk of losing these licences.

Furthermore, much like OpenviewHD, these new channel platforms have very little if at all any impact on the entertainment industry landscape. With the exception of OpenviewHD these channels do not commision local content which means no new jobs in the industry are created or talent is being introduced. 

With that these new channel platform offer no real competition to DSTV as we have seen with the struggling TopTV which is now called Star Sat.  

Word from WoWtv is that they applied to start a "family-friendly" and multichannel pay-TV service to broadcast "only 100% Godly television content and entertainment"... uhm... I guess there will be no Beyonce or those ungoldly Hollywood movies then? {yes I am being sarcastic}

WoWtv says it wants to operate through "divinely inspired television programmes and genres that are designed to be relevant in today's world of entertainment".

I do not have a list of the channels as yet but what I have been able to gather is that subscribers will pay R675 for a decoder, a smartcard of R110, the dish of around R400 and a once-off installation cost of around R450. The price is a tad too expesive considering that OpenViewHD offers all that at an extremely low cost and they have local shows on their platform. 

Openview has recently slashed their price to  R399 at Game Stores in South Africa. Sorry but I personally so not think WoWtv is worth it but I guess if you are into religious content, this might just be the "devine" viewing you have been looking for so you can fork-out almost R1600 for this.

   

Are you ready for WoWtv?