Communications regulator Icasa has turned down a formal request from e.tv to cancel its primetime news bulletin, saying doing so would not be in the public interest.
The move is a blow to the free-to-air broadcaster, which had wanted to move the 6.30pm news bulletin to a slot outside prime time because it was not generating sufficient audience numbers and revenue.
In terms of its licence conditions, the channel is required to broadcast at least two hours of news programming per day, of which at least 30 minutes must be packaged as a single programme and broadcast during prime time.
Icasa acting chairman Rubben Mohlaloga said at a press conference in Sandton on Wednesday that the authority had taken the decision to refuse the licence amendment, but said detailed reasons will only be furnished later.
Mohlaloga said that although Icasa doesn’t believe e.tv will challenge the decision, he said it is entitled to take the matter on review to the courts.
When e.tv launched the application a year ago, it argued that the idea of a primetime news bulletin made less sense than in the past.
“We are living in the digital age, and our viewers are consuming news on demand. The idea of relying on a single primetime bulletin has inevitably become antiquated and e.tv needs to be able to take this into account with regard to its overall programme scheduling,” said eMedia Investments group chief operating officer Mark Rosin. eMedia Investments owns e.tv.
“We have a long history of broadcasting quality news on e.tv, and while the primetime condition may have catered to our audience’s needs in 1998, when we first launched the service, it no longer makes sense now.”
E.tv said English news bulletins in prime time have seen a rapid decline in ratings across all free-to-air channels in recent years.
“Having always met and often exceeded our news requirements, we have seen our English primetime news audience decline rapidly, despite numerous attempts to retool the bulletin,” it added.
Said Rosin: “As a commercial broadcaster generating most of its revenue in prime time, this presents serious revenue challenges, which ultimately lead to commercial viability challenges.”
He added that by moving English news bulletins out of prime time, e.tv will be able to “showcase content that has a significantly greater audience demand and curb current revenue losses”.
Asked by TechCentral if Icasa had considered the financial impact of its decision to disallow e.tv’s request, councillor Botlenyana Mokhele said it had studied audience patterns and conducted a profitability analysis, among other measures. “The outcome of the analysis is contained in the reasons [to be published later],” she said.
Meanwhile, e.tv has issued a statement saying it is “disappointed” that its application has been refused.
“We remain committed to providing our audience with independent news of the highest editorial standards, but we are disappointed that we have not been afforded the flexibility to do so within what we think are reasonable parameters,” said Rosin in the statement. — © 2017 NewsCentral Media
