TV moving online fast – US major reacts to internet threat with $20pm offering

Naspers chairman-elect Koos Bekker has been warning shareholders for some time the going would get tougher for Multichoice, the cash cow at the middle of his empire. Today’s news from Las Vegas emphasises that was no idle warning. The unveiling of Dish Network’s 12-channel, $20 a month offering is in direct response to inroads made … Read more

Murdoch to pay $8.3bn to create pan-European TV group

Rupert Murdoch plans to forge a new pan-European pay TV group with his British-based BSkyB paying 4.9 billion pounds (8.3 billion dollars) in cash to buy the media mogul’s television offshoots in Germany and Italy. Until now, the German and Italian pay TV operations had been owned by the US media group 21st Century Fox, … Read more

Naspers: New CEO promises even faster growth, more internet investment

The departure of Naspers’ long-time CEO Koos Bekker came over a weekend, giving punters time to reflect before voting with their chequebooks. As a result, a message of a “second sabbatical” before his return as chairman, had sufficient time to be absorbed. As did the decision to appoint a 40-something Dutch ecommerce specialist as his … Read more

Why SA firms struggle in Aus; and BHPB “not exactly bullish” about Zumaland

Paul Whitburn, a team member of deep value investment house Re:CM, shares the forthright approach of company founder and chairman Piet Viljoen. Whitburn, our market watcher on CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch today, dispensed with diplomacy in a conversation which ranged from BHP Billiton’s bearish view on South Africa through to a view on why companies … Read more

“We’re not just betting on porn” – StarSat CEO defends his company’s reboot

  Going toe-to-toe with MultiChoice, the satellite giant that dominates the South African pay-TV market is no easy task. Just ask the folks at StarSat, the reincarnation of the troubled TopTV which struggled to establish a foothold in the South African market when faced with MultiChoice’s dominance. CEO Eddie Mbalo is back, however, and armed … Read more

Rational Alternative: The “know F-Alls” whose ignorance destroys wealth

Last week’s column for the Financial Mail generated a lot of heat. Especially the part towards the end criticizing the Naspers directorate for agreeing an open-ended deal with its brilliant CEO Koos Bekker which has netted him R14.5bn so far. The magazine’s space restrictions made it difficult to record the other side of the argument … Read more