ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners of multiple licences of the ITV network. Starting as ONdigital in 1998, the service was rebranded as ITV Digital in July 2001.
Digital terrestrial television is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technological advancement over analog television, and has largely replaced analog television broadcasting, which was previously in common use since the middle of the 20th century.
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and streaming television. In the United States, subscription television began in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the form of encrypted analog over-the-air broadcast television which could be decrypted with special equipment. The concept rapidly expanded through the multi-channel transition and into the post-network era. Other parts of the world beyond the United States, such as France and Latin America have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.
M-Net is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, sport and movies. While the TV signal is generally encrypted, M-Net showed some programmes 'free to air' in its "Open Time" slot between 5 p.m. and 7 pm, until the slot closed on 1 April 2007.
Digital Satellite Television, abbreviated DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based and with headquarters in Randburg, South Africa. DStv provides audio, radio and television channels and services to subscribers across 50 countries, mostly in South Africa, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
SuperSport is a prominent sports broadcaster with a rich history of international operations. Originally, it extended its reach beyond Africa, operating in various European regions, including Scandinavia, Benelux, Italy, Eastern Europe, Greece, and Cyprus. These operations were initially launched by FilmNet and later came under the ownership of MultiChoice. However, these channels have since been replaced. SuperSport also operated in Thailand under the name True Sport and had a presence in Egypt and the Middle East through partnerships with the Cable Network of Egypt (CNE) and the Arab Radio and Television Network.
MultiChoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa, and GOtv, a minor service operating in over nine countries of this area and Showmax service. MultiChoice was formed out of the subscriber-management branch of the M-Net terrestrial pay television company, and broadcasts the full range of M-Net channels on the DStv service. MultiChoice is owned by the media conglomerate of the same name. One of the subsidiaries of MultiChoice is DStv Stream, formally DStv Now then DStv App, a service that delivers television transmission to mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and notebooks.
High Television was Entertainment Highway's multi-channel digital satellite television service in Nigeria, launched in 2007. It used Hypercable Digital Terrestrial technology and launched Direct to Home (DTH) Satellite technology on the August 1, 2007.
Television in France was introduced in 1931, when the first experimental broadcasts began. Colour television was introduced in October 1967 on La Deuxième Chaîne.
Canal+ Afrique, originally Canal+ Horizons or Canal Horizons, is an African version of subscription TV provider Canal+. It was originally available mainly in the francophone countries of Central and West Africa, as well as some non-francophone countries such as Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, and Cape Verde, but has expanded considerably since its first broadcasts in December 1991. Groupe Canal+ has its biggest market in Africa since its acquisition of 32.6% of South African provider MultiChoice in June 2023.
Investigation Discovery is a pay television channel available in several European nations. It competes in the same genre as Crime & Investigation Network which is also available in several European nations. The ID channel features crime programming, including "missing persons and murder inquiries, cold cases and historical crime," as well as documentaries on forensic investigations. One such program is Deadly Women, an investigative series in which former FBI agent and profiler Candice DeLong looks at female killers throughout history.
BET International is an international television channel centred towards black culture. It is available in Africa, along with the Middle East/North Africa region. It was launched on 28 February 2008 in the UK & in South Africa It was launched on 1 December 2015 with headquarters in London. BET broadcast content from the main Black Entertainment Television channel in the US and Canada. No UK-originated content was ever produced for the channel.
M-Net Movies is a group of South Africa-based film-only television channels launched as Movie Magic in 1995 and broadcast across Sub-Saharan Africa on pay TV satellite services DStv and GOtv. The channels broadcast films/movies based on genre as well as clips featuring behind-the-scenes looks at previous, current and future breakout box office hit films.
Africa Magic is a collection of Pay TV entertainment channels that focus on African programming, most popularly Nigerian series and movies. Africa Magic, which started off as single channel of the same name, is a brand owned by M-Net and now comprises seven channels.
StarTimes is a Chinese electronics and media company in Sub-Saharan Africa.
AREWA24 is a Nigerian satellite television channel available on DSTV, GOtv, and Startimes that showcases the lifestyle of the Northern Region, Nigeria. It is the first free-to-air channel to use the Hausa language.
John Ugbe is a Nigerian business executive. He is the chief executive officer at MultiChoice Nigeria. He was the chairman of the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria till November 2023.
