It is becoming quite hard to keep up with the changes on the DSTV bouquet at times. First Bloomberg was gone, then it was back and then before we knew it ANN 7 had bumped Russia Today out of its position on DSTV 405. ESPN, which is the sports channel on which Mickey Mouse is funded – it is Disney’s biggest profit centre and has basically subsidised the rest of the business during some tough times, is now gone from local television.

That apparently is beyond DSTV’s power, with ESPN deciding it no longer wanted to be broadcast in Africa at all, so many fans will lose out on Nascar and quite a lot of American football. ANN 7, which some people call “Gupta TV”, got off to the most cringing and embarrassing start that anybody could imagine. Videos on You Tube indicate shocking presentation, with presenters looking at each other and almost egging each other on to talk, while you can clearly hear producers and people in the background trying to give them instructions on what to do. The clips on You Tube are so embarrassing that some of them were soon blocked due to copyright claims – and you can guess why and by who!