MultiChoice gives ANN7 the boot
News channel ANN7 will stop airing on DSTV when its contract
comes to an end in August.
MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela released the results of a review done by the board into its contract with the former Gupta-owned channel.
“The board of MultiChoice South Africa has decided that in light of the ongoing controversies it will not be appropriate to renew ANN7’s contract. Instead we are starting the process of finding a new black owned local news channel. We firmly believe there is a need for plurality of voices in South Africa.
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MultiChoice has been accused of paying millions of rand to ANN7 to allegedly influence South Africa’s digital migration from analogue to digital TV.
Mawela admits Multichoice ignored a lot of red flags when it concluded the deal with ANN7.
“We failed to do a comprehensive due diligence around ANN7, secondly we didn’t raise concerns about ANN7 and its associates as they came to light, instead waiting for the public controversy to take hold, thirdly poor management of communication around ANN7 and lobbying efforts.”
He says while mistakes were made, no corruption took place.