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Author Topic: Worldspace’s Africa service closing  (Read 217 times)

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Offline khurramdar

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Worldspace’s Africa service closing
« on: January 14, 2010, 11:22:00 PM »
Worldspace’s Africa service closing     
Written by Chris Forrester  
Thursday, 14 January 2010 17:57

The flow of comments into Rapid TV News' about Worldspace (US, India and now Africa) continues to grow. The latest news is that Worldspace's Africa service is going dark.

The official announcement was made by Worldspace Satellite Radio (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login), which has announced that it will be ceasing all of its operations in the country at the end of January 2010. The termination notifications that were sent out by Worldspace Southern Africa to its subscribers, Liberty Media is never mentioned. The letter merely cites that the "potential buyer of much of Worldspace's global assets has decided not to buy the assets relating to and supporting Worldspace Southern Africa's subscription business in Africa", which will result in the discontinuation of the Worldspace subscriber business on the continent.

‘James' tells us: "I have also received word from Worldspace South Africa that the African operation will cease next week- again with no appropriate notice it would seem. This would be a disaster as there are many thousands of loyal WS followers on this continent and any closure would be devastating." ‘Redsaid' added: "I'm a South African subscriber to Worldspace and I have not been notified of this yet! If true, it would be extremely bad news for so many loyal subscribers. We are not being informed and will probably be completely and cruelly blind-sided like they were in India."

The degree of loyalty shown by Worldspace listeners (and most staff) to its service is a credit, but there are still plenty who have some justifiable complaints.

Here's one that's typical (we have the full details of the sender): "Mr. Forrester, as a former Worldspace employee, I have been following your column for some time. I must tell you that the Indian team are mistaken if they think that US employees who were terminated have been "made whole" with severance pay, etc. We were let go with nothing, and are still waiting for this painfully long bankruptcy proceeding to end, so that we may receive pennies on the dollar for what is actually owed to us. The Indian employees have been treated no worse than we were. We were asked to continue working for months with no pay, all the while being told that money was just around the corner, and ultimately we were called in on 17 October 2008 to be told we were terminated, and that we would not be receiving pay for vacation, severance, or back wages. I'm doubtful that the Indian team will have any luck suing Worldspace, since the company is protected by the bankruptcy court. I do however, admire their tenacity, and willingness to bring to light the fact that Robert Schmitz, Worldspace's Chief Restructuring Officer, is indeed, making a salary of $90,000 a month. It's all in the court documents that are updated regularly on the internet. The truth is, the only people making any money on this are the lawyers and various consultants."

The Africa letter to subscribers

Dear customer,

On January 31, 2010, the WorldSpace satellite radio broadcast service will be terminated for all customers serviced from South Africa.

This action is an outgrowth of the financial difficulties facing WorldSpace Southern Africa Pty. Ltd.'s parent company, WorldSpace, Inc. ("WorldSpace"), which has been under bankruptcy protection in the U.S. since October 2008. The potential buyer of much of WorldSpace's global assets has decided not to buy the WorldSpace assets relating to and supporting WorldSpace Southern Africa's subscription business in Africa. As a consequence, we must discontinue out subscriber business in Africa.

Your subscription contract is with WorldSpace Southern Africa Pty. Ltd., which will soon effect a creditor's winding up of the company. We recognize that you may have paid for services to be rendered beyond the termination date. A company liquidator will contact you soon to advise you of your rights with respect to any unused portion of your subscription.

Our sincere apologies for this circumstance.

WorldSpace Southern Africa Pty. Ltd.

(c) Rapid TV News 2010
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