Oracle Airtime Sales (OATS) will, from now on, be called DStv Media Sales. The name change was officially announced last night, Tuesday, 24 May 2011, during a vibrant party held at the Yamaha building in Johannesburg. The company felt the time was right to make the switch in the interests of maximally leveraging the DStv brand's powerful continental reputation, according to its CEO Chris Hitchings.
The new logo
Hitchings pointed out that the name change was a better reflection of the company's ownership and core focus, which include digital media in its offering and a consistency across South Africa and the rest of the continent. The new logo was designed by M&C Saatchi Abel.
Formerly called M-Net Media Sales and later becoming OATS, the 15-year-old company, which flights over 700 000 commercial adverts per year, has been in existence since the launch of pay TV in SA, withstanding the test of time and various challenges to now emerge as one of the most powerful players in the industry.
The old logo
"Media sales is our lifeblood"
"Media sales is our lifeblood. We thank our advertisers, agencies and channel partners for being here tonight and for supporting us all the way," Hitchings said last night.
DStv Media Sales, which used to be 50% owned by M-Net and 50% by SuperSport, is now fully owned by MultiChoice.
"With MultiChoice now our sole shareholder, we believe it is time to align ourselves more closely with DStv to avoid any confusion about who we are and what we represent and to leverage the power of the DStv brand," Hitchings explained.
OATS' name change occurs at a very challenging moment - when the industry faces an absolute fragmentation of audiences - a trend which appears to be not unique to Africa.
"Not unique to SA"
Hitchings said: "The problems OATS and MultiChoice face are not unique to SA. Many other pay TV operators and broadcasters have to deal with exactly the same issues of audience fragmentation with the increase of channel choice, inadequate sample size and issues with channel ratings."
DStv Media Sales has also, in partnership with 24.com, acquired a 50% share in digital sales house, The SpaceStation, thus extending its sales proposition into new areas and providing innovative marketing and communication opportunities for advertisers to reach DStv subscribers across multiple platforms,
He said DStv Media Sales has harnessed the most up-to-date audience measurement technology, and is embracing new media and constantly developing new packages to suit advertiser's needs.
"We now have the continental might of the DStv brand backing our efforts, so the future is looking bright and we look forward to breaking new ground in the African TV market."
The new website is now live at www.dstvmediasales.com.
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Updated at 10.03am on 25 May 2011.
