With MultiChoice losing access to Germany’s Deutsche Welle, the pay-TV operator has announced that more TV channels are going ‘dark’ on its DStv platform, with the religious TV channel Emmanuelle TV going offline on 17 January.
According to media reports, Deutsche Welle stopped broadcasting on 30 December 2023 as a linear TV channel.
Its demise comes as linear TV channels and the traditional pay-TV bundle come under increasing threat and pressure, with channel distributors and operators moving out of the business, meaning that the number of available linear TV channels for pay TV has started to decrease globally.
In March 2023, Deutsche Welle announced that it would be shutting down its linear broadcasting service to focus resources and money on its digital services as part of the digital transformation of its German international service.
Deutsche Welle Director-General Peter Limbourg said, “We have to make some difficult decisions as a precaution so that we don’t find ourselves in an infinitely more difficult situation in 2024.”
“At the same time, we must respond to the highly dynamic digital transformation, which poses a major challenge to us in the international media markets. The young, digital-savvy target groups, not only in Africa and Asia, inform themselves primarily via digital offerings.”
MultiChoice said, “We regret to inform you that Deutsche Welle has decided to terminate this channel on all platforms, including DStv, across all territories worldwide, effective 30 December 2023”.
Also going away is the controversial Emmanuel TV, with the religion TV channel, in a statement, announcing that it’s exiting MultiChoice’s DStv and GOtv, as well as other pay-TV services, on 17 January 2024.
MultiChoice confirmed that Emmanuel TV “will no longer be available on DStv and GOtv packages, effective 17 January 2024.”
The Nigerian-based Emmanuel TV was founded by the late televangelist T.B. Joshua in 2006 and expanded to a YouTube channel, becoming one of the most-subscribed Christian ministry YouTube channels worldwide.
