Pay-television operator TopTV has had to discontinue two of its channels, citing “a situation which is out of [its] control”.
The newcomer to the pay-TV industry yesterday confirmed HiMedia, the channel operator for Hi Nolly and One Music, has been placed under liquidation, resulting in the “temporary discontinuation” of the channels. Hi Nolly aired specially selected movies from the Nollywood film industry, while One Music broadcast African and international hit music videos.
The channels, 120 and 506 respectively, currently display a message on the screen that reads: “This channel has been suspended and a replacement is being obtained. We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Failure to communicate
The channels were relayed from HiTV in Nigeria, the offices of which were reportedly stormed by police earlier this month and abruptly shut down. According to TopTV, HiMedia is challenging a liquidation order, and the case is set to be heard today.
“Apparently, their building has been shut down and they have been barred from accessing the premises, thus being unable to attend to the packaging of the channel. They did not fully communicate the details with us.”
TopTV says it was sent from pillar to post when trying to rectify what was first reported as merely a transmission problem following signal interruption on 21 November. “This was to be resolved within 48 hours. We were then informed that there was a fire at the uplink site in Lagos, which had caused considerable damage to equipment.
“However, they had expected to repair the damage and be back on air. We were then informed that the service would only be back up mid-December. Upon further investigation, we managed to establish, on 29 November, that not all was as presented.”
TopTV was unable to notify subscribers of the discontinuation in advance, it says, as details of the problem were not known until Wednesday afternoon, when TopTV “received confirmation from HiMedia about the legal challenge they are disputing through the Nigerian court system”.
Replacement hunting
TopTV says it is “feverishly exploring alternative channels to fill the slots”, preferably pertaining to the same genre. “We cannot, at this stage, confirm what and when will replace the channels. We also have to factor in an ICASA channel authorisation process which could take up to 60 days from the date we file the appropriate documents.
“TopTV, in co-operation with other African operators that also broadcast these channels, are doing everything humanly possible to assist our supplier in Nigeria to revive the channels and get them back on air.”
TopTV says there have been numerous queries from subscribers regarding the loss of the channels, and its content department is in the process of finding replacement channels. “We will keep our subscribers up to date [with regard to any developments].”
Share