Telkom Media is a pay-TV company based in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. It is intended to be the first provider of IPTV

IPTV

Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...

 services in South Africa.

History

South African fixed-line telephone operator Telkom announced the creation of Telkom Media in August 2006, when it also applied for commercial satellite and cable-subscription broadcast licenses from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the public interest....

. Shareholders in the company included Telkom, Videovision Entertainment, MSG Afrika Media and WDB Investment Holdings.

In April 2007 the company said it was conducting an internal IPTV trail.

The total investment in startup was to amount to R7-billion, with R3.5-billion due to be sourced from Telkom.

Telkom Media received its licence in September 2007 in a process that included the award of three other new pay-TV licences.

Attempted sale of Telkom stake

In March 2008 Telkom said it would reduce its funding by R2.2-billion as other investments, such as a mobile wireless network, provided a shorter period for return.

In June 2008 Telkom said it intended to sell its (then 66 percent) stake in Telkom Media. By June it was said to have identified a buyer from among several interested parties and in November 2008 Telkom confirmed that negotiations were at an advanced stage. The interested party was rumoured to be a South African consortium funded out of China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

.

In March 2009 the interested Chinese party was identified as the Shenzhen Media Group

Shenzhen Media Group

Shenzhen Media Group is a media company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. It owns four radio stations which broadcast Chinese music, report news and Chinese talk shows.-Shenzhen Radio:...

 amid reports that negotiations had failed because Telkom sought compensation for its sunk investment in the business.

Winding up and sale

In late March 2009 Telkom said it had failed to find a buyer and intended closing down the company, having written down a R430-million shareholder loan

Shareholder loan

Shareholder loan is a debt-like form of financing provided by shareholders. Usually, it is the most junior debt in the company's debt portfolio, and since this loan belongs to shareholders it should be treated as equity. Maturity of shareholder loans is long with low or deferred interest payments...

to it. The total costs of the company were estimated to be R700-million. A shareholder meeting to approve the shut down was due to be held before the end of April 2009.

However, in early May 2009 Telkom announced that it had sold its stake to Shenzen Media, without immediately releasing further details.