Upstart digital KykNet speaks to Afrikaans auds.(South Africa)(KykNet)

JOHANNESBURG As the South African Broadcasting Corp. grapples with the problem of fulfilling its public broadcasting language mandate in a country with 11 official languages, a tyro Afrikaans-lingo digital channel is showing that local + indigenous =profitable.

KykNet, launched four years ago as part of Multichoice's DStv satellite bouquet, has surprised observers with its quick uptake, and has become DStv's third-most-watched channel after M-Net and BBC Prime.

Afrikaans, spoken only in South Africa and Namibia, was recognized as an official language equal to English during the apartheid years. After 1994, it lost its privileged status and became one of the …