Cabinet has approved the draft white paper on audio & visual content services policy framework.
Cabinet approved the draft during a virtual meeting this week. The next step is for the department of communications & digital technologies to conduct provincial consultations before the bill is finalised.
The paper proposes policy and regulatory changes and makes recommendations to reposition the “audiovisual media sector” for future growth and investment promotion.
It emphasises the review of sports broadcasting rights, promotion of foreign direct investment within the broadcasting sector and the licensing of so-called over-the-top services like Netflix.
The paper also delves into competition issues in pay-television and free-to-air markets, availability of spectrum for the transmission of audiovisual content, and skills development to fast-track digital transformation in the sector.
“There is a growing need to level the playing field between traditional broadcasting, on-demand services providers — these include catch-up TV service, video-on-demand services as well as news portals — and video-sharing platforms,” said communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
