DSTV ready to pull plug on bungling Gupta TV

08 May 2016 - 02:01
By QAANITAH HUNTER
Stills from ANN7 programmes and social media underline the error-prone nature of the channel.
Image: Screengrab Stills from ANN7 programmes and social media underline the error-prone nature of the channel.

Pay-TV giant MultiChoice is considering pulling the plug on the Gupta-owned ANN7 news channel - a move that would add to the growing list of companies that have cut ties with the controversial family.

MultiChoice recently informed ANN7 management that it had received a number of customer complaints about the channel's failure to adhere to programming standards.

The Sunday Times understands that MultiChoice said it was disinclined to renew ANN7' s contract, citing the customer complaints as the primary reason .

Several ANN7 staff members told the Sunday Times that Oakbay Investments CEO Nazeem Howa last month informed them that the company could only guarantee their jobs until June.

Howa blamed this on the decision of four major South African banks to close Oakbay accounts and told employees to rally around the company and the Guptas to save their jobs.

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However, Howa did not inform workers that the channel may be off air by August, when its contract with MultiChoice is due to lapse.

"Nazeem said if banks are not going to budge we are going to lose our jobs. But they [are] using workers as pawns," a source said.

"DStv has decided not to renew the contract so ... they have been pushed into a corner," the source added.

Oakbay's communication team failed to respond to detailed questions sent last week and again on Thursday. Company spokesman Gary Naidoo also failed to answer a list of questions forwarded to him.

On Friday MultiChoice declined to comment on its negotiations with ANN7, saying: "There are no developments to report on the ANN7 channel."

The viewer complaints apparently included that there was a lack of consistency in programming, no communication on news anchor changes and widespread mistakes.

The channel has failed to keep anchors amid frequent resignations and with many changes to the daily programming schedule.

A source close to the channel said ANN7's failure to communicate to viewers changes in the channel was a big concern for MultiChoice.

"Management does their own thing. People are hired and fired and no one knows [why]," the source said.

Insiders said MultiChoice was concerned about the channel's repeated failure to abide by its programming schedule - a strict requirement for the company.

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ANN7's waning viewership numbers were another issue of concern for MultiChoice.

Official viewership numbers of the channel remain unknown, but industry players said it was ranked fairly low when compared with other news channels on DS tv.

MultiChoice declined to disclose ANN7 viewership numbers.

Employees of the Gupta company have expressed concern about the possibility of wholescale job losses.

Communication Workers Union general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala, whose union has members at ANN7, said there were processes that needed to be followed during retrenchments or liquidation.

"We don't know anything about [impending retrenchments]," he said.

Oakbay this week went on the offensive in an attempt to put pressure on banks to re-open their accounts, placing adverts in newspapers urging CEOs to "do the right thing and restore banking services for Oakbay".

hunterq@sundaytimes.co.za