SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng says the public broadcaster will now launch with only five television channels once the long-delayed commercial start of South Africa’s switch from analogue to digital broadcasting begins.
When South Africa’s TV industry switches from analogue to digital broadcasting, terrestrial TV broadcasters like the SABC, e.tv and M-Net are each supposed to grow their own existing analogue channels to bouquets of multiple digital TV channels — just like DStv and StarSat — to entice TV viewers to make the switch and buy a set-top box to get access to more channels and content.
The SABC’s initial digital terrestrial television (DTT) offering will now however only consist of SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3 as well as the SABC News (DStv 404) and the repeat channel SABC Encore (DStv 156) — the last two of which are already available on DStv. It’s far from the 18 channels the broadcaster promised parliament just a few years ago.
“We are preparing ourselves for migration. When [communications] minister [Faith Muthambi] announces the date of migration, switching on, SABC will be ready,” said Motsoeneng.
“We’ll be having five channels. For the first time in the history of South Africa. But if we don’t pilot these channels on that bouquet of MultiChoice, we will still have three channels. What will be the use of migrating if we don’t have more channels?” asked Motsoeneng.
In September 2011, SABC executives and the SABC board told parliament that its DTT offering will consist of 18 TV channels — 17 TV channels (which includes SABC 1, 2 and 3) and one interactive video service channel — as well as 18 SABC radio stations, plus Channel Africa.
The SABC won’t launch DTT with SABC Sport, a health channel, SABC Education, an SMME and children’s channel or the two regional channels, a regional north (SABC 4) and regional south (SABC 5) channel, which is what it told parliament.
For DTT, the SABC also promised parliament new services like closed captioning (on-screen subtitles) in multiple languages that can be accessed by the set top box’s remote control, multiple language soundtracks with up to four different audio tracks per programme for certain shows, audio description to provide contextual information in programmes, as well as some interactive applications. With the scaled back DTT plans, all of these now look very unlikely to be available at launch.
According to experts, broadcasters will have to offer ordinary terrestrial viewers more with digital TV — more TV channels and services and a better viewing experience and image quality — than what they’re currently receiving, in order for the millions of free-to-air TV households in South Africa to feel the need to pay R700 to R800 for a set-top box. — Channel24
