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| Sony Channel South Africa | |
|---|---|
 Sony Channel South Africa logo | |
| Launched | 2 November 2007 (as Sony Entertainment Television) 22 September 2014 (as Sony Channel) |
| Closed | 28 February 2019 |
| Owned by | Sony Pictures Television |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Country | South Africa |
| Broadcast area | Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Formerly called | Sony Entertainment Television (2007-2014) |
| Sister channel(s) | Sony MAX (South Africa) |
| Website | http://sonychannel.co.za |
Sony Channel South Africa (formerly known as Sony Entertainment Television South Africa) was a general entertainment channel that was part of the DStv bouquet of Sub-Saharan Africa satellite channels owned by MultiChoice. The Sony Channel was the local South African version and subsidiary of the Sony Entertainment Television brand, which is seen in over 100 countries worldwide. It was launched in South Africa on 2 November 2007 and was based in Johannesburg. The channel broadcasts a mix of programming including drama, comedy and reality series as well as commercial and independent movies. The channel was also the premiere broadcaster of the reality series The Amazing Race . The channel ceased airing on 31 October on DStv alongside Sony MAX. [1] The channel remained on Black. As of 28 February 2019 Sony Channel and Sony Max were no longer carried in South Africa as well as the rest of Africa.
DStv is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice. The service launched in 1995 and provides multiple channels and services to their subscribers, which currently number around 11.9 million. The majority of subscribers are in South Africa and Nigeria, with Kenya, Ghana, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Mauritius, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Lesotho, Ethiopia, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Swaziland and Botswana additionally served by the company.
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. According to the United Nations, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara. It contrasts with North Africa, whose territories are part of the League of Arab states within the Arab world. The states of Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and the Arabic speaking Mauritania are however geographically in sub-Saharan Africa, although they are members of the Arab League as well. The UN Development Program lists 46 of Africa’s 54 countries as “sub-Saharan,” excluding Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia.
MultiChoice is a South African company that operates the DStv Satellite Television service, a major satellite TV service in Sub-Saharan Africa. MultiChoice was formed out of the subscriber-management branch of the M-Net Terrestrial Pay TV company, and broadcasts the full range of M-Net channels on the DStv service. MultiChoice is owned by the MultiChoice Group media conglomerate. One of the subsidiaries of MultiChoice is DStv Mobile, a service that delivers television transmission to mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and notebooks. In 2018 Multichoice had a total subscriber base of 13.5 million viewers and Naspers claimed that MultiChoice was one of the fastest growing pay-TV operators globally.
