Cape Town - MultiChoice has invited interested parties to register to bid for a new “24-hour black-owned news channel” after the group decided not to renew its contract with ANN7.
In late January MultiChoice announced that the Gupta-linked news channel’s contract will not be renewed when it lapses in August 2018, and it would be removed from the DStv bouquet.
In a statement on Thursday MultiChoice, which is owned by Naspers, said the new invitation was only to register an intention to bid, so the company could gauge the level of interest for a new channel.
“A further, formal invitation to submit bids with details of the process and further guidelines will be shared in mid-February,” it said.
MultiChoice stipulated that the new channel must be a “South African, predominantly English news channel that takes into account the history, diversity of cultural background, languages and socio-economic circumstances in South Africa”.
It must be broadcast 24 hours per day, and provide anchor-based, live broadcasts “in the style of Al Jazeera, CNN, Sky News, eNCA, SABC News and others”.
The new channel must also be owned, managed and operated by an “independent black South African-owned entity” and focus on the training and development of news and broadcast industry personnel.
MultiChoice said it would have no editorial control or ownership of the new channel.
* Fin24 is part of 24.com, a division of Media24, which is a subsidiary of Naspers.
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