Sports minister Gayton McKenzie has warned broadcasters MultiChoice Group, the SABC and eMedia to resolve the ongoing battle around the sublicensing of major sports matches “peacefully” – before he “declares war” on them.
Speaking at a media briefing late last week, McKenzie said none of the national teams belongs to the broadcasters, and warned them not to act as if the teams were their property.
“I am not going to be an enabler of the majority of our people not being able to watch the national rugby or soccer teams. There exists a piece of legislation, which has never been used, that prevents them from engaging in the current action that they are engaging in. I intend to fully use that legislation,” said McKenzie. “We come in peace, but if they want war, they will get war.”
McKenzie did not say which piece of legislation he was referring to or what section of the law he might utilise.
The ongoing battle regarding the sublicensing of free-to-air broadcasting rights for sports events licensed by MultiChoice to the SABC and eMedia has become a heated issue fought both in the courts and in the media.
One major issue is a clause MultiChoice subsidiary SuperSport has placed in sublicensing deals with the SABC that prevents the public broadcaster from transmitting the matches on its own channels via eMedia’s Openview free-to-air satellite platform.
eMedia took the matter to the high court on an urgent basis in October 2023 when this condition arose in an agreement between SuperSport and the SABC over the broadcasting of Rugby World Cup matches. The high court threw the matter out on the basis that eMedia had failed to meet the criteria for urgency, to which the Openview parent responded by filing a complaint with the Competition Tribunal instead.
Investigation
The tribunal decided competition in the sublicensing of sports rights was a matter worthy of investigation by the Competition Commission, but the commission would need time to have a proper look into the matter. In the interim, the tribunal granted a relief order barring the SABC from concluding agreements that sidelined eMedia’s Openview platform for a period of six months or until the commission concluded its investigation, whichever came first.
The SABC and SuperSport then, earlier this month, each announced they had reached an agreement over the broadcast of the T20 World Cup cricket final as well as two rugby test matches between the Springboks and Ireland in July – an agreement that once again sidelined the Openview platform.
eMedia quickly filed an application with the high court in Pretoria, claiming the agreement was in breach of the interim relief order granted by the Competition Tribunal. However, the SABC then backed out of the deal, citing the litigation by eMedia as the reason.
McKenzie and his newly appointed counterpart in the communications ministry, Solly Malatsi, met with broadcasters to discuss the impasse. Only the SABC and eMedia attended the meeting. MultiChoice did not respond to queries by TechCentral regarding its reasons for not attending.
“As new ministers in our portfolios, we need to understand what the sources of the deadlock are,” Malatsi said after the meeting. “The second aspect [we needed to understand] is the commercial aspects of the contest for bidding for sports rights, which is a far more complicated issue because it is about market competition, etc.”
McKenzie was not vocal immediately after the first meeting, but his stance on the matter is now clear. “This is a very friendly warning: fix this thing before we declare war!” he declared. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
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