Press release
Johannesburg, South
Africa
Helsinki, Finland
September 5th,
2006
MultiChoice Africa, the leading satellite TV operator in southern Africa, has launched the first interactive SMS TV games channel in Africa on their Direct-To-Home satellite service bouquet, DStv. The new satellite channel broadcasts multiplayer games, which are played using premium rated SMS messages. The new channel uses the Sofia Backstage® Game Channel solution by Sofia Digital.
"MultiChoice already runs several different interactive services." tells Mr. Richard Fyffe, General Manager of New Media at MultiChoice Africa. "This is, however, the first time we have launched a channel where the content is based solely on viewer interactivity. We are very excited to introduce our customers Sofia Digital's SMS TV services. The initial response from the audience has been very enormous."
"MultiChoice Africa is known to be an innovative TV service provider. We are very happy to work with MultiChoice Africa in bringing SMS TV games to African markets" comments Mr. Olli Väätäinen, CEO of Sofia Digital.
About MultiChoice Africa:
MultiChoice Africa (MCA) is a multi-channel pay television platform with channels from Africa, Europe, Asia and USA. It provides premium television entertainment to over 1.4 million digital subscribers in 49 countries on the African continent and adjacent Indian Ocean islands through its DStv Bouquet. MCA is one of the outstanding examples of a pioneering African company, owned by the MIH Group, an international player providing entertainment, technology and e-commerce services. For more visit: www.multichoice.co.za
Sofia Digital is an internationally recognized provider of interactive TV solutions, bringing new services to different TV terminals utilizing new digital technologies. Sofia Digital focuses on open standard interactive platforms, such as MHP, OCAP, DVB-H and IPTV as well as interactive SMS TV services.
Sofia Backstage® Game Channel is a turn-key solution for managing and broadcasting interactive SMS TV games and applications. It has all the tools and utilities for SMS TV games, complete with the game titles of customer's choice.
More information:
MultiChoice
Mr. Richard
Fyffe,
General
Manager, iTV
email: Richard . Fyffe @ multichoice . co . za
phone:
Sofia Digital
Mr. Vesa Jaakkola
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
email: Vesa . Jaakkola @ sofiadigital . com
phone: +358 50 385 5504